All cars come with two keys when you buy them brand new from the dealer, but if you bought your car used chances are you will get only one key. If you lose your last key then you will end up in a situation where you won’t have any access to your car and won’t be able to drive it anywhere. You might think that car dealership is the only place where you can get a replacement key. Fortunately that is not true and you are able to get a new key made through a professional automotive locksmith. Often times these automotive locksmiths can come to your location and make a new key right on the spot. There are some significant differences between the process of getting replacement keys through the dealer versus getting new keys through an automotive locksmith.

Things to Know About Your Car Keys
All car keys are not made equal and this plays a huge role in determining how much it will cost and how long it will take to make the key. Car keys differ based on make, model, and year so two Toyota keys will be different if they are from two different models or from different manufacture years. There are also transponder keys that require programming and non-transponder metal keys that do not require programming. Transponder keys are more expensive to duplicate and make compared to the non-transponder keys due to the fact that they require additional tools and time. Push to start smart key fobs are the latest technology keys which requite a lot more knowledge and specialized programmers so these keys are the most expensive to make. You can check estimate pricing of key replacement service here.

How to Begin the Car Key Replacement Process?
First you should gather the information you are going to need to provide to the dealer or the automotive locksmith in order for them to make a key for you. As you can guess some people might try to get an automotive locksmith to make a key for a car that does not belong to them simply by pretending that they are the owner of the car and they have lost all their keys. In order to prevent scams like these and to avoid illegally making car keys all automotive locksmiths will ask for a proof that the car belongs to you. First question will always be about the make, model, and the year of your vehicle that you are trying to get keys made for. Make sure you know the exact make, model and year of your car before you call because this information is crucial in determining the price and checking the stock to make sure the they have a key blank available. You also must provide proof of ownership of the car which is usually showing the title of the car along with a picture ID. One final thing to keep in mind is that most places will not take check as payment so be ready to pay with cash or with a credit card. Once you have all this information you can call to request a free price quote for your car.

Who to Choose for Car Key Replacement Service?
As mentioned above there are two places that are able to make a new car key for your car when all your keys are lost or broken. Option one is to call the dealership which then will instruct you to get your car towed to them and they will go ahead and place an order for a new key by using your VIN number. This process can take anywhere from 3 – 10 business days and once the key arrives they can program it to your car the same day. The dealer will charge you for the new key as well as for labor which typically starts at $120 an hour. Getting a new key made at the dealer is almost always going to cost you more money and time. Option two is to call a local automotive locksmith which can make car keys for almost all car makes and models. Standard cars such as Toyota and Honda are relatively easy to make a key for compared to luxury car brands such as BMW and Mercedes Benz. All automotive locksmiths offer a mobile service which means that they come to your location and you don’t have to get your car towed anywhere. Another benefit of an automotive locksmith is that they are able to make you a new key from scratch the same day and often times within a few hours of you calling them. This way you do not have to worry about your transportation needs because you will be able to drive your car right away.
Keep in mind that even though the dealership is not the cheapest and quickest options there are situations where the only place you can obtain a new key is through the dealership so they can save the day when all hope is gone! Our general recommendation is that you call and get a price quote from both the dealer and a trustworthy local automotive locksmith in order to make sure that you are getting the best deal possible.

Overall we can say that losing your last key is stressful and you will end up spending some money to get a new replacement key, but with the right approach you can make this process easy. Of course the best option is to make sure you have two keys for your car at all times because getting a spare key made is always way cheaper than getting a key made when you have lost all your keys. Try being proactive and getting a spare key when you only have one key left. Spare keys also will save you some money on car lockouts because instead of paying to get your car unlocked you can call a friend or a family member to bring you the spare keys from home. Unfortunately not everything goes according to plan and there is always a chance that you will end up not having any working key for your car, but it’s always good to know that you have more than one option to get a new key made. At the end of the day your car key issue will be resolved and with the right plan you can get a new key made the same day to avoid further inconveniences!