How to Get a Spare Key for Your Car

How to Get a Spare Car Key Made in Knoxville

So, you’ve decided to get a spare key for your car and want to provide it yourself. We have customers bring us keys they have purchased to cut and program for them all the time.

Common Pitfalls of Purchasing Car Keys Online

There are some pitfalls to be aware of though. Currently, we see around a 50-60% failure rate on keys that customers purchased from online retailers. To help reduce this number and give you a greater chance at success, here’s some advice.

How to Match Your Car Key Part Number

You probably already know this, but just because a key online looks like your key, it doesn’t mean that it is. Manufacturers use many FCC ID numbers for their remotes and fobs, and they also use different circuit boards inside of them. They can all look identical from the outside.

Matching the FCC ID numbers is important, but it’s only one small step in the process. Think of it as a way to exclude the others. If that doesn’t match, move on.

The first step in buying your own key should be to call the dealership parts department with your full VIN number and ask them for the correct part number for your key. This step is critical to be able to order the right one. When you’re shopping online, make sure you see that part number listed as being compatible. Do not just go by the FCC ID number. It’s not enough.

Types of Car Keys: New OEM, Refurbished OEM, and Aftermarket

Now that you have the correct part number, it’s time to go shopping! There are three main types of keys available to you: New OEM, Refurbished OEM, and Aftermarket.

New and refurbished OEM keys are by far your best bet. If you can, stick with those.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for there, you can consider an aftermarket key. Locksmiths have access to quality aftermarket keys, but the consumer typically does not. The keys you find on Amazon and eBay are the lowest quality, bottom of the barrel junk and should be avoided. There is only one decent aftermarket key available to the public that I’m aware of: the Keyless to Go (K2G) brand. We’ve had great luck with them, probably in the 90% success range.

The Difference Between Used and Refurbished Car Keys

If you decide to go with a refurbished key, be aware there is a massive difference between used and refurbished. On a lot of keys and fobs, once it’s programmed into a car, the chip locks and it can’t be reused. If you bought one of these in a used condition, it’s worthless. It will never program, and you just wasted money paying a locksmith to attempt to program a key that never will.

The difference is a refurbished key has been unlocked and the chip has been virginized so that it can be reprogrammed into another car. For this reason, we recommend that you avoid eBay. Most of these keys are used, and not professionally refurbished.

Ford owners, please note: Ford proximity keys do not lock and they are fine in a used condition. The year, make, and model must match as well as the MHz. So long as the key isn’t water damaged or otherwise compromised, you’re good to go.

Why You Should Avoid Buying Car Keys from eBay

The only other thing to be aware of about refurbished OEM fobs are the ones that contain emergency keys. If you push a button on the dash of your car to start it, there will be an emergency key in the fob that opens the door when the battery is dead. This will almost never contain an OEM blade. It will almost always be aftermarket. 90-95 percent of the time, that’s fine. Every once in a while, it will be the wrong one or it’s too far out of spec to be cut. It’s rare, but it happens.