In short
If you lose your car key, the first thing is to check whether you have another one and whether the loss could be a theft; if it is, report it to the police and let your insurer know. There are three usual routes to a new key: the make's main dealer, an automotive locksmith or an automotive electronics workshop. In every case, cutting the new key isn't enough: the transponder inside it has to be registered in the car's immobiliser. Use that step to delete the lost key, so it stops starting the car if someone finds it. Ask beforehand which documents you'll need to bring.
The first few hours: what's worth doing now
Before thinking about new keys, it's worth getting the situation in order. There are five quick checks:
Was it lost or stolen?
if you think it was stolen, especially if you also had something with your address or the registration number on it, report it to the police and let your insurer know. That changes the priorities.
Where is the car?
if it's on the street and locked, leave it that way. If it was left unlocked, lock it with the spare key if you can, or don't leave anything valuable inside.
Do you have another key?
at home, in a drawer, with a family member. It changes the solution completely, as you'll see below.
The car's details to hand
make, model, year and the VIN (chassis number), which is shown on the registration certificate (permiso de circulación) and on the vehicle's technical data sheet (ficha técnica). Anyone who's going to make you a key will ask for it.
Ask which documents you need
before you go anywhere, call and ask what you'll have to show to prove the car is yours. It saves you a wasted trip.
Why is a modern key more than just a key?
A car from the last twenty years generally won't start just by turning a piece of metal of the right shape. Inside the head of the key there's a small chip, the transponder, which communicates with the car's immobiliser when you bring it close to the ignition or press the start button. If the code doesn't match one of those the car has registered, the engine won't start, even if the key turns.
On top of that, the remote fob that unlocks the doors is another component: sometimes it's in the same key, sometimes separate. And on cars with keyless entry, the key communicates by radio and has almost no mechanical part.
That means getting a new key involves two things: the physical part (the blade, if it has one) and registering it in the car's system. The second is what requires equipment and know-how, and it's where the options differ.
What options do you have?
| Option | What it usually involves | Bear in mind |
|---|---|---|
| The make's main dealer | An original key ordered by VIN and programmed with the make's equipment | You may need to take the car in, and if it won't start, a tow truck |
| Automotive locksmith | Key cutting and programming, sometimes on site | Check that they work with your model and its immobiliser system |
| Automotive electronics workshop | Key programming and, where needed, work on the control units that store the codes | Useful in complicated cases: all keys lost, systems that don't allow registration via diagnostics |
There's no one option that's best for everyone. It depends on the car, the urgency and whether there's a key left. The sensible thing is to ask two places with your car's details and compare what each of them proposes to do, not just the price.
Do you have one key left or none at all?
This is where the paths split. A lot.
If you still have a key that works, the process is usually simpler. On many cars, the existing key can be used to authorise registering a new one. It's the moment to do things properly: a new key, and the lost one deleted.
If you have none left, the car has no "trusted" key with which to authorise the registration. Depending on the model, the immobiliser data has to be read from the control unit that stores it (on some cars it's the engine ECU, on others the comfort module or BSI, on others the instrument cluster itself) and the new key generated from there. It's a more delicate job, and it sometimes requires removing a control unit. If you want to know more about the BSI, we explain it in BSI cloning. The three typical key situations are summarised in keys.
Should the lost key be deleted?
It's the step that's most often forgotten. And the one that matters most if the key could be in someone else's hands. As long as the lost key's code is still registered in the immobiliser, that key could start the car.
On many systems, when new keys are registered, the ones that aren't present can be removed. Ask for it explicitly: "I want the lost key to stop working". To do this you need to bring all the keys you want to keep, because any that aren't there may be deleted too.
The remote locking fob may have its own registration. Ask about that as well.
What shouldn't you do?
- Force a lock or a window to get in. What you save in time you pay for in parts.
- Buy a "universal" key without asking. It may not be compatible, or may only allow one programming. If you do buy one, do it after talking to whoever is going to program it.
- Swap control units blindly. A second-hand control unit doesn't carry your codes and can make the problem worse. If one has to be replaced, the right thing is to clone it or adapt it, not just fit it.
- Ask for the immobiliser to be "removed" on a road car. It leaves the car more exposed to theft and may clash with what your insurance requires. If the real problem is that the car won't start because of an electronic fault, there are other solutions for that, which we cover in no-start solutions.
- Leave the loss unresolved "because I've got the spare". If you lose the second one, your case becomes a "no keys" one, which is the most complicated.
And once it's sorted
Always have two working keys and keep the second one somewhere other than the same keyring or the same bag. Make a note of the car's VIN somewhere safe. And if you have a car with keyless entry, consider a signal-blocking pouch for when you keep it at home; it's a cheap measure against relay theft.
If you're in the Community of Madrid and need a key, tell us about the car and whether you have one left. We'll tell you whether we can make it and how, at our workshop in Alcalá de Henares or as a mobile service. The price is on request, depending on the model and the car's system.
Tell us the car, whether you have a key left and whether it's on the street or in a garage. We'll explain the options you have in your case.
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