Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[terry paget]

Recent Astra purchase came with only one key. I have the Car Pass. Is there another way of getting a spare key?

[Shackeng]

https://www.lockserv.co.uk/auto-locksmith-swindon.html

Probably somewhere like this?

[Nick W]

A good locksmith will supply a new key, remote and immobiliser chip while you wait for less than half what a dealer will charge. Nor will they won't insist on the car pass, although it's cheaper with one.

[terry paget]

First enquiry to a local locksmith came back with £150, so clearly not a good locksmith. Will persevere.

[Nick W]

First enquiry to a local locksmith came back with £150, so clearly not a good locksmith. Will persevere.

make sure you're sitting down when you ask a dealer! They don't do it while you wait either.


Is that £150  for all three parts? It doesn't seem unreasonable to me

[STEMO]

First enquiry to a local locksmith came back with £150, so clearly not a good locksmith. Will persevere.

make sure you're sitting down when you ask a dealer! They don't do it while you wait either.


Is that £150  for all three parts? It doesn't seem unreasonable to me

If that £150 is all in, i.e. programming as well, then it is very reasonable. I paid Timpsons £114 about four years ago (for my orlando) and I remember that being well cheaper than the dealer.

[terry paget]

I bought one from a dealer last December. N/stock key £64.63, car pass £17.91, w/shop diagnostic £33.33, plus VAT, £116.17 the lot. That's dear enough, but  less than £150!

[Doctor Gollum]

And you have the car pass, so it's already cheaper...

[TheBoy]

I need to raise my prices

[terry paget]

I need to raise my prices

What would you need to create a spare key? I can buy a blank key on e-bay, presumably Timpsons would cut the blade to match exisiting, I have a spare Astra key in my donor car, and of course I have the car. Is that all you need?

[Doctor Gollum]

I need to raise my prices

What would you need to create a spare key? I can buy a blank key on e-bay, presumably Timpsons would cut the blade to match exisiting, I have a spare Astra key in my donor car, and of course I have the car. Is that all you need?

Plus the car pass and formal ID. Oh, and cash. It's all detailed in the link on TBs profile

[Nick W]

I need to raise my prices

What would you need to create a spare key? I can buy a blank key on e-bay, presumably Timpsons would cut the blade to match exisiting, I have a spare Astra key in my donor car, and of course I have the car. Is that all you need?

you do have a talent for making simple jobs complicated.

[terry paget]

I need to raise my prices

What would you need to create a spare key? I can buy a blank key on e-bay, presumably Timpsons would cut the blade to match exisiting, I have a spare Astra key in my donor car, and of course I have the car. Is that all you need?

you do have a talent for making simple jobs complicated.

I suppose I do. When I was young, car keys had numbers on them and I could buy a spare in any accessory shop for £1 or so. To make it more secure I could remove the rotor arm, but never did. Since then cars have got more electronic, and security has got more expensive, but cars seem no more secure.

Senator keys were simple and were cheap. Omega keys are complicated and expensive. You have found a local 'good locksmith'. I still seek one.

[Nick W]

I need to raise my prices

What would you need to create a spare key? I can buy a blank key on e-bay, presumably Timpsons would cut the blade to match exisiting, I have a spare Astra key in my donor car, and of course I have the car. Is that all you need?

you do have a talent for making simple jobs complicated.

I suppose I do. When I was young, car keys had numbers on them and I could buy a spare in any accessory shop for £1 or so. To make it more secure I could remove the rotor arm, but never did. Since then cars have got more electronic, and security has got more expensive, but cars seem no more secure.

Senator keys were simple and were cheap. Omega keys are complicated and expensive. You have found a local 'good locksmith'. I still seek one.

For instance: why would you buy a blank from Ebay, then get Timpsons(or whoever) to cut it instead of just walking in and getting them to supply and cut a key? Who do you blame if it doesn't work? We often had customers complain they couldn't get a working copy of a door key; the problem was always solved by having the new key cut on a blank from the lock manufacturer. Modern car keys are best cut to the code, rather than copying an existing one, so that's another reason to use a specialist locksmith. Dealers don't cut keys, but order them to the code which means waiting. This is the minimum that anyone who only has one key for their car should do, as it means you can open the doors and release the steering lock. Next step is sorting the immobiliser out, which is a bit more expensive but shouldn't be any more difficult than making a couple of phonecalls from the Yellow pages. Supplying and programming an alarm remote is a bit more niche, but you're looking for a Vauxhall part not a McClaren!

[Andy B]

....  ..... This is the minimum that anyone who only has one key for their car should do, as it means you can open the doors and release the steering lock.  ....

This is what I kept telling my daughter as her Siecento only had a single working key. Another key would have meant getting one from Fiat at a cost of around £200 & it wasn't worth spending that kind of money on a Fiat Shed. However when she locked her keys in the boot .....