Think you’re saving money buying an aftermarket key online
then paying to get it cut & programmed? Think again. 

While we do cut & program customer-provided keys, we’d like to give you a little
insight on this matter to help you make an informed and cost effective decision.
With today's vehicles, your key is just another hardware device that works with your
vehicle’s computerized system – it’s kind of like installing a printer to a computer.
Adding cheap hardware to your vehicle is not always worth the money saved – in fact,
you end up spending more and are trapped with an inferior product without a
warranty. Every day we have customers who bring aftermarket keys in that they
bought online in the hopes of saving money – only to discover that the key will not
work with their vehicle, even though the online vendor promised them that the key
was compatible. Seeing so many customers get cheated is what prompted this blog
post.
Here’s what you need to know: Most online vendors are not auto locksmiths and have
no idea whether the key will actually work, they simply trust the claims made on the
website where they purchased the keys that they turn around and sell to you. Most
times, the source is a company in China that is aware most of their keys won’t work,
and because they won’t accept returned keys that have been cut, the person that
loses out is YOU – you’ve spent money on the aftermarket key, you had to pay an
auto locksmith for their time cutting the key and unsuccessfully trying to program it,
and you end up needing to buy a new key that has to be cut and programmed. This
can be a frustrating process for you and it’s frustrating for us to see customers being
taken advantage of when they buy aftermarket keys online.
Another huge problem that we often encounter is customers bringing in used, locked
up keys. Most vendors who sell used keys on sites like Ebay and Amazon do not
know or do not tell you that a used key is not reusable as is. With most keys, once it’s
programmed to a vehicle, it becomes locked to that vehicle and cannot be
reused/reprogrammed to another vehicle – and this is a good thing. Think about how
easy it would be to steal a car if this were not the case! Over the years, we’ve seen
hundreds of customers get tricked by buying aftermarket keys online that will not
program to the vehicles they were purchased for.
At Car Keys LLC, we sell new OEM keys and offer OEM refurbished keys. The
refurbished keys are re-flashed to their virgin state and cleared so that they can be
programmed to your vehicle. Not only are they OEM keys just like the original keys
that came with your vehicle, but they also come with a lifetime warranty for as long as

you own your vehicle. Most of our OEM keys range from $89 to $189 – and that
includes cutting and programming.
While many of our simple transponder keys (keys without buttons) are not OEM in
order to keep your cost down, they are made with quality-tested transponder chips
that emit strong signals guaranteed not to leave you stranded. The transponder keys
aslo come with our lifetime warranty and sell for only $39.95 including cutting and
programming! Our OEM keyless remotes are not much more than our transponder
keys, which means that we can sell you the original key and remote set for less than
what the Dealer will charge you for the key only. Why would you want to buy your key
online or anywhere else?
We hope this information helps you in making the right choice. Give us a call with any
questions, we are happy to help you.