How to Get a Spare Car Key in Orlando, Before You Need One

Get the spare while one key still works

A spare car key made from a key that works is a duplicate, the everyday job of our key duplication service in Orlando. The technician copies the cuts from your blade and, on a chip key, either copies the chip or adds the new key to the car's memory beside the old one.

Wait until that last key is lost and the job changes completely. With nothing to copy, the cuts are read from a lock or looked up by code, the car has to accept a key it has never seen, and the lost key should be erased; our page on car key replacement in Orlando walks through that longer job.

So the easiest and least expensive day for a spare is any day the first key still starts the car. We cut it from the van at your address, or at the 39th Street base by appointment.

Car key copy by key type: what each one needs

The key in your hand decides where a copy can be made and how much work it takes. Not sure which kind you carry? Our guide to car key types shows how to tell them apart.

Kiosks and locksmiths both start by reading the blade, so copy from the cleanest, least worn key you have. Here is what each type asks for:

• Plain metal key with no chip: cutting only, on a machine with the right blank.
• Transponder (chip) key: after the blade is cut, the chip is copied or registered to the car, or the engine will not run.
• Remote-head or flip key: blade, chip and lock buttons all have to work, so the remote is paired as well.
• Laser-cut key: the groove on the face is milled on a machine made for that blade, then the chip is programmed, as on many Honda keys.
• Smart key for a push-to-start car: a fob matched to the year and model, registered to the car, with its emergency blade cut to the door. Fobs have their own page: key fob replacement.

Where to get a spare car key: dealer, mobile locksmith or a store

There are three places to get a spare made, and each suits different keys. The choice mostly comes down to who can program your type, and whether you or the key has to travel.

For a few makes the dealer is the only option, because the carmaker keeps the key data to itself. Certain Mercedes-Benz and BMW models are examples, and the dispatcher tells you so on the first call.

• The dealer sells and programs keys for its own make. Ford, for one, asks owners to come in person with government photo ID and a document showing the VIN and their name.
• A mobile locksmith comes to the car, at home, at work or in a parking lot, and cuts and programs the spare there for most makes.
• A store kiosk copies some car keys from your original, and the company that runs it decides which types. The next section covers the big stores.

Does Home Depot, Lowe's or Walmart make car keys?

Big stores mostly copy car keys through self-service kiosks run by other companies, and what a kiosk handles depends on your car. Every kiosk starts from a key you still have, so none can help once the last key is gone, and a badly worn key may not copy accurately.

Here is what to ask the store before you drive over with your only working key:

• Lowe's and Home Depot: many stores have a key kiosk. Ask whether it takes your car's key type, whether the key is cut on the spot or shipped to you, and who programs a chip key or smart key.
• Walmart: many stores host self-service key kiosks too, and the same questions apply. A chip key or fob from any kiosk still has to be registered to the car before it starts the engine.
• If a kiosk cannot take your key, a locksmith or the dealer can make the spare at the car.
• Auto parts stores such as AutoZone: call the store first and ask whether that location cuts or programs keys at all.

Why a programmed spare usually needs the car present

A chip key is more than metal. The car's immobilizer keeps a list of the keys it accepts, and a new key either gets a copy of your old key's chip or is added to that list at the car, with a programming tool plugged into the diagnostic port.

Adding keys can also affect the ones you already have. Nissan's owner's manual says registering new Intelligent Keys erases all memory in the key system, so it tells owners to bring every Intelligent Key they have, and it allows up to four per car. Our page on Nissan Intelligent Keys covers that make.

That is why a store copy of a chip key may come with programming instructions or need a second step at the car. Wherever that step happens, the car must be present for it.

Some cars let you add a spare key yourself

A few makes let the owner program an extra key by following steps in the owner's manual, as long as enough working keys are on hand. Ford says you can make a spare yourself if you have two previously programmed Intelligent Access keys or Integrated Keyhead Transmitters, using the procedure for your key type.

With only one programmed Ford key, the new one has to be programmed by a dealer or a locksmith with programming equipment. Once the car knows two keys, a third can be added in the driveway, though the blade still has to be cut to your locks first; our page on Ford keys in Orlando has the details.

Other makers publish their own rules, and many have no owner procedure at all. Read the keys section of your owner's manual before buying a blank online, because a key the car refuses is money spent twice.

What to bring when your spare key is made

A key that starts a car is as good as the car itself, so expect to prove the car is yours. If your car shipped with a key number plate or tag, find it: Nissan's manual suggests recording that number and keeping it somewhere safe, such as your wallet, not in the vehicle.

Nissan also notes the number only matters once every key is lost, since a key you still have can be copied without it. For the visit itself, have these ready:

• The car itself, and a key that opens it.
• Every key and fob that belongs to the car, including any that stopped working.
• Photo ID, plus the registration, the title or an insurance card showing your name.
• Which car it is, down to the model year and trim, and whether it starts with a button.

Orlando drivers who need a spare car key most

Some households feel the missing spare sooner than others. Two drivers sharing a car with one key is the classic case: the key leaves for the day in one pocket, maybe on a carpool to an office in Winter Park, and the car sits in the driveway until it comes back.

A teenager with a new license is another. Hand over your only key on a Friday night and nobody else can move the car until it comes back.

Then there are the long Orlando days. An I-4 commuter who loses a key in a downtown garage, or a family whose only key rides through a full day at the theme parks in one backpack, has no fallback unless a second key is waiting at home.

Where to keep the spare so it actually helps

A spare only helps if someone can reach it. Keep it at home where everyone who drives the car knows to look, or give it to the second driver to carry.

Leave it out of the car. A glove-box spare is useless when the keys are locked inside and a gift to anyone who breaks in, and one in a magnetic box under the bumper is there for anyone who looks.

On a park day, split the keys: one adult carries the main key and another keeps the spare in a different bag. If one bag goes missing on a ride, the car still gets everyone home.

Rental cars and cars you do not own

A spare is made only for the owner of the car or someone with the owner's say-so. Rentals are off the table: the rental company owns the car, decides about its keys, and is the one to call if its key goes missing.

Leased and financed cars are yours to drive, so the usual ID and paperwork check applies. A company car needs approval from the business that owns it, and a borrowed car needs its owner on the phone or there in person.

Visiting with a rental and nervous about its single key? Our guide to being locked out of a rental car in Orlando covers what to do if it ends up inside the car.

How a spare car key is made in your driveway

Call and describe the key, plus the make, model and model year of the car. The dispatcher says whether one visit will do it and quotes a free estimate while you are still on the line.

A technician pulls up in a marked van, checks your ID and the car's paperwork, and goes over the price before cutting anything. The blade is cut on the machine in the van, the chip or fob is copied or programmed, and the new key has to unlock the doors, run the engine and work every button before the van leaves.

That can happen in a driveway in Lake Nona or Winter Garden, a workplace lot in Altamonte Springs, or at the 39th Street base by appointment. The key type, the make and whether the car needs programming set the price, and if two drivers each want a spare, ask for both on the same call.