Car key replacement in Melbourne — cut and programmed at your car

It swings a lot by vehicle. A basic non-transponder key for an older car is at the cheap end; a proximity or push-to-start smart key for a late-model European car is at the expensive end, because the blank itself costs real money. Ring with your make, model and year and you’ll get a figure for your car rather than a brochure range.

Yes. That’s an all-keys-lost job. We originate a new key from the vehicle rather than copying an existing one, then program it to the immobiliser. It takes longer than cutting a spare, so it costs more, but it doesn’t need a tow.

Yes — transponder keys, remote fobs and proximity smart keys, on most makes and models. Some very recent vehicles lock key data behind the manufacturer and have to go to a dealer; you’ll be told that on the phone, not after a wasted call-out.

That’s the whole point. The key machine and programming gear live in the van. Driveway, street, shopping centre car park, work car park — wherever it’s safe to work.

A spare key is usually well under an hour. All-keys-lost takes longer because the key has to be originated and the immobiliser reprogrammed. You’ll get a time estimate before we start.

Often, yes. If the immobiliser can’t read the transponder chip the engine won’t fire even though the key physically turns. A worn chip, a damaged key or a fob that has lost its coding all do it. It is usually fixable without a new lock barrel.

Yes, and it’s the cheapest thing on this page. A spare cut while you still have a working key costs a fraction of an all-keys-lost job. Most people only think of it the day after it would have saved them.