There’s nothing worse than doing a car journey with nothing but white noise in the background, this is one of the biggest downsides of having a locked car radio unit that is asking for the unlock code.
But, don’t despair, luckily, there’s more than one way to recover a lost radio code, in this article we will go through the different steps you can take to get your radio back up and fully working again.
The owner’s manual
It may sound obvious, but the first place we would suggest looking is the owner’s manual as it may have your unlock code, you can often locate the owner’s manual in the glove-box of the vehicle so be sure to check there first.
It’s also worth noting that, if your radio unit has been changed then the unlock code in the owner’s manual will not work, generally speaking the unlock codes in the owner’s manual are for the original radio unit only.
On the radio label
Sometimes, you can find the radio unlock code written down on the unit label, however this may require that you partially remove the unit using radio release keys, so if you go down this route you need to be confident enough to partly remove a radio unit.
There’s plenty of YouTube video tutorials that can show you how to do this, however, there’s still no guarantee the unlock code will be written on the unit and generally speaking it’s less likely with original radio units.
The internet
The internet is a truly great place when it comes to getting help and fixing problems, this still rings true when it comes to recovering your lost radio activation code.
The internet provides one of the easiest options for recovering your lost radio code, below we have listed some of the free services we found: Get My Radio Codes who offers a free way to recover a lost radio code for Ford vehicles and radio units and decode my radio who offer a free and instant service. It’s always worth trying a free service before parting with any cash as some websites and apps may charge.
The free option provided means they will email your radio activation code for free within 24 hours, there’s also a paid option for an instant on screen delivery for only £4.99.
Call the car/radio manufacturer
If the owner’s manual, label and internet did not reveal your unlock code, then try contacting the car or radio manufacturer by telephone or email, in most cases they are more than happy to help you out or give you further assistance.
Go to a local car garage
It’s often the cheaper option before going to a main dealership, but you could always call around a few local car garages first to see if they are able to unlock your radio unit before making the decision to head into a main dealership which could cost a fair bit more.
When contacting smaller garages be sure to tell them the make and model of your radio unit and vehicle to avoid any confusion as to whether they are able to unlock the radio unit.
Visit the dealership
If all else fails, then it may be time to visit a main dealership to get your radio unit unlocked. There are certain occasions when the only option left is to visit a dealership, for example, if you have tried everything in the above list or if your radio unit displays “LOCKED 13” then this means the unit is permanently locked and you either have to visit a dealership and pay the price or buy yourself a new or used radio unit as it may be more cost effective.
