Local Locksmith Blog
24/7 Lock and Keys Discusses the best practices for dealing with all sorts of lock and key issues.
tips for replacing your car keys
Losing, misplacing, or even having your car keys stolen is a sucky experience better yet its downright scary, especially if you don’t have any other keys. Wait, there’s good news! There are plenty of car key replacement services in your local area that you can take advantage of when the time comes. Most of the companies offer immediate on-site replacement services so that you can get your vehicle back on the road. Let’s quickly discuss a few important topics that will help you when replacing your car keys.
have a spare all the time!
The simplest way to prevent a horribly inconvenient circumstance, like losing your car keys, is to buy a spare with your original purchase. Many used cars don’t come with spare keys like they would if the car was sold new. Request a spare with your purchase or you could end up paying the dealership an extra $200 plus if you purchased a post 2001 vehicle. Having a spare will save you so much time and frustration in the future. If you can’t stomach it right now think of it as a long-term investment for the just in case. Which I’ve learned anything bad that can happen will happen at some point.
Here’s an important tip: Do Not Store Your Spare Key in your car! It doesn’t help if you get locked out and it absolutely makes your friendly car thief’s job a heck of lot easier. Think about storing your spare key in a safe location in your house. If you are dead set on the car being the location you could try out a magnetic key box which you can securely attach to the bottom of your car, those bad boys don’t come out when you drive. If you research a solid product and you put it in the right spot, its pretty much impossible to spot.
Replacement key without original
What usually happens when you don’t grab a spare early in the game, you lose your original car key and now you need to get a replacement key. This can get a little costly as it depends 100% on the year, make, and model of your car. Newer cars, as in post 2012, use wireless key fobs. These are really cool because they let you unlock your car from a distance, open your trunk, start the car before you enter it, and activating your alarm in case of an emergency. Now if your car is pre 2012 then it probably doesn’t have any of those sweet features and because of that the cost for the car key replacement will be significantly less.
In today’s market most auto key replacement services are 100% mobile, meaning you don’t have to worry about getting your locked-out car to their shop. Which honestly makes things easier, considering you were about to have to figure out a solid method to get an undriveable car to them. Once you get a technician out to you they will be able to create a new key for you including programming it for some of the more advanced types of keys.
conclusion
Today losing your car key isn’t a reason to panic. There are 24/7 car key replacement services that come to custom fit and program new keys for your car relatively inexpensive. Most don’t take any longer than an hour and you will be back on the streets as normal. Although the absolute best solution is to the one where you prepared in advance, saving yourself time and money. So whether you still have your original key or you’re using a spare it’s a great idea to add one more.
