Automotive Locksmith in Fort Myers and Lee County

Tell us where the car is, the year make and model, and whether the keys are visibly inside or genuinely lost. Those are two different jobs.

We open vehicles without damaging the door, the frame or the glass. If the keys are locked in and you have a spare at home, sometimes the cheapest answer is someone bringing it, and we will say so.

If the keys are actually gone, that becomes a key job rather than a lockout, and the price and time change. Better to know that on the phone.

The first question is whether you still have a working key.

You have one key and want a spare. This is the cheap version and the one to do now rather than later. We duplicate from the existing key, cut and program on site, usually in well under an hour.

Every key is gone. This is an all keys lost job. The key code has to be pulled from the vehicle identification number, or decoded from the lock itself where the manufacturer no longer holds the code, which is common on vehicles more than about ten years old. Many vehicles then enforce a security wait before they will accept a new key. It takes longer and costs more, and it is still usually cheaper and faster than a tow to a dealership.

The gap between those two situations is large enough that it is worth cutting a spare while you still can.

Most vehicles built since the late 1990s have a chip in the key head. When you turn the ignition, an antenna ring energises that chip and it transmits a code. If the code does not match, the engine cranks and dies.

This is why a key cut at a hardware store turns your ignition and still will not start the car. The metal is right. The car does not recognise the chip. Nothing is broken and the key is not faulty, it simply has not been programmed to your vehicle.

We cut and program transponder keys on site.

Remote not working. Start with the battery, which is most of them. If a new battery does not fix it, the remote may need re-syncing to the vehicle, or the fob itself may have failed.

Remote working intermittently. Usually a failing battery contact or a worn fob rather than the car.

Fob lost or broken. We supply and program replacement fobs and remote head keys.

Push to start and proximity keys. These have no blade in normal use and always need a diagnostic tool to program. Nearly all of them contain a hidden emergency key and a backup start position for a dead fob battery, which is worth knowing before you assume the car is dead.

One local note. Proximity fobs are not waterproof. Pools, boats, the Gulf and an afternoon storm account for more dead fobs here than anywhere inland.

If your keys were stolen, cutting a new key does not solve the problem. The old key still starts the car. It stays valid in the vehicle's memory until it is deliberately removed.

That matters more if the registration was in the glovebox, because whoever has the key now also has your address.

The fix is erasing the old key from the vehicle. Two things to know before we do it. Bring every key you want to keep, because any key not physically present when the procedure runs is permanently destroyed as a credential, including a spare in a kitchen drawer. And it cannot be undone. If the stolen key turns up later it is a piece of plastic.

Most of them, and we would rather tell you on the phone than after charging you a trip fee.

Manufacturers have been adding security to key programming since around 2018, and on some vehicles that puts the work behind authorisations that not every shop carries. It varies by make, model year and shop, which means the badge on your car does not answer the question by itself.

So call with the year, make, model and VIN, and ask directly whether we can do it and whether we have done that year and make before. You will get a straight answer, including a no when the answer is no.

We wrote up which vehicles are genuinely dealer only and which are not, in plain terms, here: what a locksmith can and cannot do on car keys

Have these ready and the job goes faster.

• Year, make and model
• The 17 character VIN, at the base of the windshield on the driver's side, on the door jamb sticker, and on your registration and insurance card
• Proof you own the vehicle, meaning registration, title or purchase paperwork
• Photo ID matching that document
• Whether you still have a working key
• Every existing key, if we are erasing a stolen one

We ask for ownership documents because making a key from a VIN means pulling a factory key code from a controlled database. A locksmith who does not ask is not doing you a favour.

If your documents are locked inside the car, say so at the start. There is a way to handle it and it changes the job.

Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Lehigh Acres, Estero, Bonita Springs, North Fort Myers, Sanibel and the rest of Lee County. We come to the vehicle, at home, at work or on the roadside.

Call (239) 691-2426.