What happens if you ever lose a "chipped" key for your car?

If misplacing things is a problem, going without that car for a while until the key can be replaced would be an issue, and your travel patterns would make your retrieval problematic, getting a spare makes sense. It's insurance, right? Peace of mind.

Hi, You can buy a blank key with virgin chip. Having it cut is easy but programming is done by a dealer. I don't know locksmith have something to program it.

or just get a car that doesn't have that s*it.

Some locksmiths are equipped to program chip keys. On some vehicles you are able to program new chip keys yourself as long as you have two working chip keys to use in the process. It's a *really* good idea to get extra keys when you get the vehicle and put a couple away somewhere safe.

Many locksmiths and even the local ACE have key programmers.

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Are there any (just a question, I've not seen anything recently in what I've either looked at or bought that has the option to not)?

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But don't you need at least one active key to program it from?

Before you go to the dealership for the spare key, try the BORG. On my last trip to HD, they had a selection of chipped key replacements in the $40-$60 range.

Just a guess:

Hook the programmer up to the car's computer and download the code required to program the key.

If the original key was required, then I doubt *anyone*, including the dealer, would be able to duplicate the key.

Here's a related, and somewhat humorous, story.

I coach Girl's Softball. The team met in the high school parking lot and we all boarded the bus. A few minutes down the road our short stop's cell phone rang. Turns out Mom has one of those push-button- start cars where all you have to do is have the key nearby, like in a pocket, to start it. It also turns out that Mom had let the daughter drive the car to the school with Mom in the passenger seat. Guess who still had the keys in their pocket? The girl on the bus!

Mom was worried that the car was going to stall on the way home and wanted us to come back. Even though it was still running, she assumed that it wouldn't stay running without the key nearby. We weren't about to turn around, so she took a chance and drove home (about a mile). She made it home, moved her husband's car out of the driveway so she didn't block it in and then shut her car down, leaving it sit until late that night when we got back from our game.

I guess they'll stay running even if the key is moved away from the vehicle.

"Robert Green" wrote in news:j86as7$s4m$ snipped-for-privacy@speranza.aioe.org:

My service station guys lost the key to my 2005 caravan (they say in a car that was going to Newark for shipment to East Africa or something). I had a spare, and the chief said he would pay for a replacement. Local Chrysler dealer charged $275 ...

Depends on the vehicle I would think. If you or the locksmith have the "real" factory scan/diag unit you can normally program new keys without any current keys.

Do yourself a big favor and get spares made now. If you still have to working keys you can buy inexpensive (relatively) chipped key blanks on Ebay, and have a locksmith cut them for you, then program them yourself. This why anyone with security keys needs to always have 3 programmed keys so if they lose one they still have two to use to program a new spare. If you only have one programmed key, you will have to have a dealer, or a locksmith with the capability, make new copies for you.

Why not? You always have to design in a method just for such events. I have only seen it done once and the dealer had to contact the manufacturer for some sort of hash that they entered via their diagnostic unit.

I'm not sure about now...but when I worked with a locksmith in '99, the GM cars had 20 different chipped keys plus the 10s of 1000s of different key-cut combinations. You had a key-reader to find the proper chipped key blank, then cut the key. So, if you had a spare key (non-chipped) and then got your key chip number. You could have that in the event you lost the original!

It is a common mis-understanding that what gets "programmed" is the key. Wrong. The car's computer is programmed to accept that specific new key (or keys) individual PIN code, which any new key is provided with in it's packaging.

Same for remote controls, which is why the used ones people buy on eBay etc (and don't get a code) end up being paperweights.

When I worked at a dealer, we had many cases of people losing their last key, and car had to be towed to nearest dealership for programming a new key.

Also re these new remote keys, we did have a case where guy went to airport, got out of car, it kept running til it ran out of gas while he was gone.

I kept the number that was on the keys when I got it. Non-chipped, I just read the numbers to the dealer and they made a new key. I wonder if the numbers are all I need with a chipped key.

I lost a key to a 2006 Chevy pickup once. Had to go to the dealer and prove ownership, they made me a key in 10 mins. based on the VIN#.

About $50.

Yes, however there is truth to needing active keys to program a new one. On some Fords at least, you can program new keys yourself as long as you have two current active keys to use in the process, if you don't have active keys you have to get the vehicle to the dealer and have them use the VCM/IDS setup to program new keys.

Yes, which is why I recommend getting extras when you get the vehicle and storing them somewhere safe. If I loose my current keys I still have two stored away so I'm both not stuck, and I can still program more keys myself.

Yep, and you can also accidentally unlock the vehicle you just locked if other stuff in your pocket presses the button while you're walking away.