Car keys · London
Spare Car Key Duplication
A teenager just passed a driving test and reasonably wants a key of their own rather than negotiating over the family's single copy every time the car is needed.
In plain words
Households with more than one driver and one car key end up trading it back and forth, which works until two people need the vehicle at once. Making a second key from the original lets each driver carry their own, cut from the same blade profile and carrying the same chip or code the immobilizer recognizes, so neither key behaves differently from the other. The locksmith tests both apart from each other in the doors and the ignition before handing them back, and a family running two vehicles on the same lock family can sometimes be brought onto one key altogether.
How the visit goesA teenager just passed a driving test and reasonably wants a key of their own rather than negotiating over the family's single copy every time the car is needed. Two drivers and one key keep colliding on the same schedule.
Spare Car Key Duplication
How the visit goes
Looking at the working key itself
The existing key is examined for exactly what it is: a plain blade, a blade carrying a transponder chip, a remote head with buttons built into the plastic, or a proximity fob meant to stay in a pocket. Wear matters too; a blade that has thinned unevenly or a button that sticks tells the locksmith what to expect when it is time to trace or copy from it, and whether the original itself might be due for retirement once the spare exists. A key that has already been altered, filed or repaired is noted before it becomes the reference for a new copy.
Cutting the blade
A mechanical duplicate is produced either by tracing the original on a key-cutting machine, which follows every notch of the existing blade into a fresh blank, or by cutting to a factory code pulled from the VIN and the lock manufacturer's records. Code-cutting is used when the original is too worn to trace reliably, since copying a worn blade would simply pass its rounded edges on to the spare. Either way the new blade is deburred and test-fitted into the door or ignition lock before any electronic work begins, so a mechanical problem is caught early rather than blamed on the chip later.
Fewer surprises through the seasons
A tested spare carries a household through the situations that tend to arrive without warning: a fob battery finally dying in the cold, a blade thinning out after years on the same ring, or a key simply not being where it was left that morning. None of those moments needs to become a locksmith call anymore, because the second key was already proven capable of everything the first one does, sitting wherever it was agreed to live, ready for the day it is actually needed.
Spare Car Key Duplication
In the van
Key duplicating machine
Diagnostic port programming interface
Remote-head key shell
Deburring file
VIN and key-system reference
Spare Car Key Duplication
What affects the quote
Manufacturer-specific security systems
Certain manufacturers build key systems that call for specialized equipment or additional authorization steps, which can mean more time at the vehicle than a more widely supported system.
Choosing a limited-function spare
A simplified key built for a valet or a specific driver, without every remote feature the primary key carries, generally involves less programming than matching every function exactly.
Which key system the vehicle uses
A plain mechanical blade, a transponder key, a remote-head key and a proximity fob each call for different tools and different amounts of time, so identifying the system early shapes the whole quote before any cutting or programming starts.
What to have ready
- How many spare keys would you like made?
- Do you want the spare to match every function, or just start the car?
- Has a key ever gone missing that was never accounted for?
Spare Car Key Duplication: questions
QuestionsWhat if I have lost track of how many keys already exist for the car?
That is worth mentioning when you call, since it changes the plan. If the count is genuinely unknown, or a key was lost at some point and never accounted for, reprogramming the vehicle to accept only the keys currently in hand is often the sounder route, rather than adding a new spare on top of an uncertain set that might include a key nobody can locate anymore.
Is there a reason to make a spare now rather than waiting until the original is lost?
The whole process depends on having a working key to read or trace from, so making the spare while that key still exists is simpler than the alternative of proving ownership without any key present and building access from scratch. A spare made now also means a future lost key is solved by reaching for the second one already tested and waiting, rather than starting the whole process from nothing.
Why does the VIN matter for making a spare key?
The VIN identifies the exact immobilizer generation and lock system your particular vehicle left the factory with, which decides whether the chip can be copied directly or needs to be freshly coded through the diagnostic port, and which blank and blade profile are correct. Two cars that look identical from the outside can use different systems a model year apart, so the VIN removes the guesswork.
Related services
- Car Key ReplacementThe key snapped at the head while you were turning it in a stiff, frosty door lock.
- Key Fob ProgrammingA fob went missing weeks ago somewhere between a coat pocket and a parking lot, and a spare has covered the gap since.
- Transponder Key ProgrammingSince the remote starter was installed last month, the original key has started acting strangely, the car catches on the first turn some mornings and refuses outright on others.