All Keys Lost Locksmith Vancouver

All keys lost is the trade term for having nothing left to copy. There is no spare in a drawer and no key to hand to a locksmith, so the new key has to be originated from the lock or the vehicle itself.

That is routine work, not a dealership-only job. We cut and program a new car key on site with no spare needed, and for a home or an office we can either originate a key to the existing cylinder or rekey it so the lost set is dead.

Across Vancouver the technician is normally with you in 20-30 minutes. If the lost keys are somewhere they could be found and used, say so on the phone: that changes the advice from "make a key" to "make a key and change the locks".

A replacement car key with nothing to copy starts at from $180. What it lands at depends on the key type: a transponder key is $180-$280 cut and programmed, a proximity smart key is $280-$420, and European luxury such as Mercedes, BMW or Land Rover runs $400-$900.

We read the key code from the vehicle, cut the blade, and program the transponder or the smart key to the immobiliser. On most vehicles the old keys are then wiped from the car, so a lost key found later will not start it.

Have the vehicle registration or insurance and photo ID ready. The car has to be where we can reach it. Full detail and the vehicles we cover is on car key replacement and the automotive locksmith hub. Once you are driving again, a duplicate key or a second fob costs a fraction of another all-keys-lost call.

For a building rather than a car, the fix is almost always a rekey rather than a new lock. Rekeying re-pins the cylinder you already own to a brand new key, which costs $25-$45 per cylinder on standard hardware and $60-$120 per cylinder on high-security cylinders such as Mul-T-Lock, Medeco or Schlage Primus.

The old key stops working the moment the cylinder is re-pinned. That is the whole point: a lost house key is a security problem, not just an access problem, and a new copy of the same key does nothing about it. See lock rekey for how it works door by door.

If the hardware is old, seized or was already failing, a lock change at $80-$160 installed is the better spend. If you simply cannot get in right now, that is an emergency lockout first and a rekey second.

Every figure below comes off the one price sheet.

• Car keys, all keys lost: from $180.
• Transponder key: $180-$280 cut and programmed.
• Proximity smart key: $280-$420.
• Rekey, standard cylinder: $25-$45 per cylinder.
• Rekey, high-security cylinder: $60-$120 per cylinder.
• Service call, standard hours: $75.

A car key is usually finished in one visit. A whole-house rekey depends on the door count, and we quote it per cylinder so you can decide which doors matter.

Proof of entitlement, every time. For a vehicle that is photo ID plus the registration or the insurance slip in your name. For a home it is ID matching the address, a lease, or a strata or landlord contact who can confirm it.

We ask because originating a key to a lock somebody else owns is exactly what a thief would want us to do. A shop that skips the check is not doing you a favour.

It also helps to know the make, model and year of the vehicle, or the brand stamped on the lock face for a door. That is usually enough for us to quote the exact figure rather than a band.

Once you can get in again, deal with what the lost key still opens. If it was on a ring with the house key, the mailbox key and a garage remote, the new car key has not solved the problem on its own.

The usual follow-up is a rekey of the doors the lost set covered, and a second key cut so the next lost key is an inconvenience rather than an emergency. Spare keys are $5-$15 ($8-$30 specialty and commercial blanks) at the counter: see key cutting.

The shop is at 4105 Macdonald Street in Vancouver. Call 604-734-7233 or contact us to arrange it.