Fortunately, people are often able to find their car keys when they go missing. But there are times when their keys go missing for good. It’s why it’s important for people to know how to get a new car key should the need ever arise.
Every year, the average person spends more than two whole days looking for things that they’ve lost. From remote controls and glasses to cell phones and shoes, people are losing things all the time.
Car keys are among the most commonly misplaced items in the country. People are always forgetting where they put their keys and scrambling to find them.
If you can’t find your car keys right now, you should retrace your steps and see if you’re able to locate them anywhere. You should also think about what you’ll need to do to get car key replacement if you can’t find your old one.
Here is a helpful guide on how to get a key made.
Make Sure You Definitely Need a New Car Key
Are you 100% sure that you’ve looked everywhere for your old car key? If you think there’s even a small chance that you might be able to find it somewhere, go back and take one more look for it.
Interestingly, experts say that most people find items that they think they’ve lost within 18 inches of where they thought the item was supposed to be. More often than not, the item has simply fallen behind or underneath something that is making it tough to track the key down.
Before you start going through the process of trying to replace a lost car key, make sure you’ve checked every possible place you can think of in your home, your office, and your car. You might get lucky and stumble upon it when you’re looking for your car key one last time.
Figure Out What Kind of Car Key You Need
If you’ve looked everywhere for your car key and struggled to have any success with your search, it’ll be time to give up the good fight and accept the fact that you need to get a new key. You should try to come to this conclusion sooner rather than later so that you’re able to get back behind the wheel of your car again.
The first thing you should do when you commit to obtaining a new car key is figure out what kind of key you’ll need to have made. If you have an older vehicle, you probably have a traditional car key. But if your car was made within the last 10 or 15 years, you’re likely going to need a transponder key.
Knowing how to get a new car key starts with knowing which of these two types of keys you need. It’ll help you figure out who to call to make you a new key.
Put Together Important Information About Your Car
In addition to figuring out what kind of car key you need, you’re also going to need to put together important information about your car prior to calling on someone to make you a new key. They’re going to ask you for this info, so it’s good to have it handy right from the start.
You will be asked to provide:
- The make of your car
- The model of your car
- The vehicle identification number, or VIN, for your car
The VIN, in particular, is going to be very important. You can find your VIN on your dashboard, on your driver’s side door jamb, and on several other parts in your car. You can also often find it on your auto insurance ID card.
Decide Whether to Call a Dealership or a Locksmith for a New Key
When you find yourself asking the question, “How do I get a new key for my car?”, know that there are two places that you can call. You can touch base with a local car dealership and have them make a new key for you—or you can contact an automotive locksmith and have them lend a hand.
Many people are quick to call a car dealership before doing anything else. But you should know that you’ll often be charged a pretty penny by a dealership to have a new key made.
You can save yourself some money by going with an automotive locksmith instead. Locksmiths are capable of producing the same exact car keys as dealerships, but they usually charge just a fraction of what a dealership would.
As an added bonus, most locksmiths also offer emergency services and can help you obtain a new car key at any time of the day or night. Additionally, the majority of locksmiths extend mobile services to their customers these days and can come out to their location to make a car key for them.
If you decide a locksmith is the better choice for you, look around at the different locksmiths in your area and select the one with the most experience and the best services. It’ll ensure that you enjoy your entire experience when working with them.
Schedule a Good Time to Do Car Key Replacement
As we just mentioned, there are going to be times when you can’t wait to have a new car key made. You’ll need a locksmith to come out to your preferred location right away to get to work.
But if you’re not in a huge hurry, you should talk to a locksmith about scheduling a good time for them to make a visit out to your car. Emergency services can sometimes cost a little extra, so you might be able to keep the costs associated with car key replacement down by making an appointment to have your car key replaced.
Consider Having a Spare Car Key (or Two!) Made
If you only want a locksmith to create one new car key for you, they’ll be more than happy to do it. But why take that approach when you could have a spare car key or maybe even multiple spare car keys made?
It never hurts to have a spare key for your car lying around. If you happen to lose your car key in the future, you can always grab your spare and use it until you find the one that’s lost.
You can also give your spare key to your spouse or someone else who lives in your home. It’ll prevent them from always having to take your whole keyring when they drive your car.
Since you’re going to be working with a locksmith anyway, it makes a lot of sense to have spare car keys created. You’ll be glad you did if you ever find yourself in the situation you’re in now again.
Take Steps to Avoid Losing Your Car Key
Once you learn how to get new car keys and have a car key in your hand, make it your mission to protect it at all costs. You don’t want to lose your new key anytime soon and have to repeat this process.
Begin by sticking your new car key on a keyring with other keys. It’s easy to misplace a single key. But it’s difficult to lose track of a bunch of keys that are always jingling around on a keyring.
Find a good place to put your car key when you’re at home and at work, too. Many people place their keys by the front door of their house or on their desk at work to keep track of them.
And if you’re really worried about losing your car key, you might even want to run out and invest in a key finder. You can hook a key finder up to your car key so that you can keep track of the key on your smartphone. It’s one of the easiest ways to keep tabs on your keys and avoid losing them again.
Knowing How to Get a New Car Key Can Prevent a Huge Headache
For years, losing a car key was a huge hassle for people. It meant they had to stop whatever they were doing, find a ride down to a car dealership, and pay a lot of money to have a new car key made.
These days, it’s never been easier to obtain a car key. As you’ve seen in this guide on how to get a new car key, you can do it within just a couple of hours in most cases without ever having to leave your home or your office.
If you ever need to have a new car key made, we would love to help you out. We can send an automotive locksmith out to you right away to make you a new key and get you back out on the road.
We offer a slew of convenient locksmith services and the best prices in town. We’ll work hard to make sure car key replacement doesn’t slow you down and interrupt your busy life.
Contact us today to schedule our automotive locksmith services.