One potential issue of purchasing a second hand car that few people consider is the number of keys that exist for it, there may be a key that belongs to the former owner, his or her relatives, a valet, a mechanic or even a thief, so in order to make sure no one else can enter the car with the key, it's recommended to do a simple operation called rekeying which is very affordable. See our car key replacement service. You can also read our spare key guide.
There's always a possibility that there are too many copies of the key. The current owner simply wouldn't know where and by whom all those copies have been made. There's nothing suspicious in it but there's also nothing to rely on, this uncertainty is enough.
This is the process of making alterations to the pins inside the lock so that your lock now uses a completely new key while rejecting the previous keys. The hardware remains in place; just the key code is changed. At that point, all copies become irrelevant. This is done via our rekeying of car locks service.
Lock replacement involves installing a whole new lock, which obviously costs more money. Lock rekeying takes advantage of the hardware installed previously, hence reducing costs and time.
In case of modern vehicles that come with remote controls or push buttons to start the engine, remember to clear the system of all former copies as well, otherwise a formerly paired remote key might still allow someone to unlock and start the car. We provide fob and transponder programming.
People buying a private car or a second-hand vehicle that comes with a long and unclear ownership history should definitely choose rekeying. In case the former owner worked at valet parking or other places where he or she had to operate multiple cars regularly, rekeying is the solution. The same advice applies to people who lost their keys.
Now that your car's locking system is secure, you can go ahead and order a spare key from us to avoid similar issues in the future.
Affordable steps, from where you store your fob to a few habits, that make your car a harder target against relay theft.
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