Car keys
Car Keys
Being locked out of a car is different from a house: the vehicle is often somewhere public and you may have places to be. We open vehicles without damage where the design allows, after confirming ownership, and explain each step as we go.
Which one do I need?
- The rental van came with one key.Car Lockout Service
- Minus twenty outside, the fob button does nothing, and the door keyhole has a crust of road salt over it because you have not used a metal key in that car since the day you bought it.Car Key Replacement
- Two coworkers share one delivery van and one key between them, trading it at the start and end of every shift in a parking lot.Spare Car Key Duplication
- A cracked case or a spin through the wash left the fob unresponsive, and opening it up reveals a slightly corroded board where the buttons used to sit.Key Fob Programming
- The remote fob has gone silent, the doors won't unlock with a button press, and the little emergency blade tucked inside it has not been used since the day the car was bought.Transponder Key Programming
- The new key from the hardware counter fits the door but stops halfway into the ignition slot, no matter how it is angled or how gently it is pushed.Ignition Lock Repair
Car Keys
Car, van and motorcycle keys: replacements, spares, fob and transponder programming, ignition and door-lock repair.
Car Lockout Service
Cold, ice and salt
In winter the assessment starts with the weather. Frost around a door cylinder, a key that stops partway in, or a door that will not swing even unlocked all point to ice rather than a fault with the lock. Salt crust in a keyway, common on a car parked near a busy road, stiffens the wafers.
A fob that worked yesterday and fails on a minus-twenty morning can have a tired coin battery, though radio interference, a flat car battery or fob damage produce the same symptom and are checked too. The locksmith checks these so the opening is de-icer, warmth and a fresh battery rather than force, and the car is treated after to shrug off the next freeze.