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BloordaleGardens Lock & Key Co.Open 24/7 (289) 804-4797
Two brass house keys on a ring resting on a workshop counter. — Spare Car Key Duplication, Etobicoke

Car keys · Etobicoke

Spare Car Key Duplication

A lockout last month ended with a locksmith opening the door and going home, and the same single key has been carried ever since with nothing behind it. The relief of getting back in faded within a week into the same exposure.

In plain words

Driving on a single key means a lost pocket, a dropped bag or a worn blade can turn into a day without a car. A spare closes that gap while the original is still on hand to work from, which is the easiest moment to make one, since the vehicle, the lock system and a proven key are all present together. The locksmith matches the new blank to the blade profile, gives it the chip or code the immobilizer expects, and tests it apart from the original in every door and the ignition before calling the job finished.

Sound familiar?Etobicoke

The call
The blade on the everyday key has gone shiny and thin along one edge, and lately it needs a wiggle before the ignition catches. Nobody wants to be holding a failing original with nothing waiting in reserve if it finally gives out.

NextHow the visit goes

Spare Car Key Duplication · Etobicoke

How the visit goes

Technician holding a steel deadbolt to the round bore in a white door, with an open tool bag on a dark mat. — Etobicoke
  1. Scene 1

    Confirming what the spare needs to do

    Not every household wants an identical twin of the original. Some ask for a plain mechanical spare with no remote buttons at all, useful for a valet or a young driver who does not need trunk release or remote start. Others want every function the first key has, cut and coded to behave exactly the same in anyone's hand. Settling this before work begins decides which shell is ordered and how much programming the visit involves, and it is worth revisiting if the household's answer turns out to differ from what the person calling first assumed on the phone.

  2. Scene 2

    Setting up a limited valet or family spare

    A spare intended for a valet, a young driver or occasional use is sometimes built without the remote functions the primary key carries, using a plain blade-and-chip key that starts the car and opens the driver's door without the trunk release, remote start or other features the household prefers to keep on one key. This is a programming choice made deliberately rather than a lesser copy: the chip is still fully recognized by the immobilizer, and the key performs exactly the functions agreed on at the start of the visit, no more and no less.

  3. Scene 3

    Two keys, both proven

    The visit ends with two keys that have each been tested on their own: every door, the trunk or hatch, the ignition or start button, and any remote functions. Neither key is a backup that has only been assumed to work, and neither is treated as the senior copy. It is worth deciding on the spot which key rides on the daily ring and which goes into storage, and writing that decision down somewhere the household will actually check later, such as a shared note or a label on the ring itself, rather than trusting memory a year from now.

In the van

  • Code-cutting machine
  • Deburring file
  • Transponder chip
  • Diagnostic port programming interface
  • Key gauge and calipers

What shapes the quoteBloordale Gardens Lock & Key Co.

Matching two vehicles to one key
Bringing a second vehicle onto the same key, when the two lock systems are compatible, takes more identification and testing than producing a spare for a single car alone.
Copying versus diagnostic programming
Some vehicles allow the chip to be copied directly from the original in one step, while others need the locksmith to connect through the diagnostic port and have the vehicle's own module enrol a freshly coded chip, which takes longer at the car.
Condition of the working key
A clean, unworn original traces onto a blank without much fuss, while a thinned or damaged blade may need cutting to a factory code instead, which is a different process with its own materials.

FeesSame any hour

Have it ready

Before you call · 0 / 3

(289) 804-4797

Questions people ask us

Should I get the locks rekeyed when I get a spare, or is that a different service?

They are related but not identical, since a car's door and ignition locks are a separate mechanical layer from the immobilizer even though both systems usually get touched in the same visit. Making a spare and removing a genuinely unaccounted-for key's electronic access are handled together, and if that lost key's blade could still turn a matching door cylinder by hand, the locksmith rekeys that cylinder as part of the same appointment.

Can a spare be made if the vehicle has an aftermarket alarm or remote starter installed?

Generally yes, though it is worth mentioning any aftermarket system when you call, since a factory immobilizer that has been wired into a third-party alarm or remote starter sometimes behaves differently from the standard setup the locksmith expects. Knowing this in advance lets the visit account for it rather than discovering it partway through programming.

How long does making a spare car key usually take?

The time depends mainly on the key system rather than the blade. A plain mechanical key can often be duplicated within one visit, without extra electronic work. A transponder or remote-head key adds a cloning or programming step, done off the vehicle when the chip supports it and through the vehicle's own diagnostic port when it does not, with the diagnostic route usually taking longer. The locksmith can usually say which category your vehicle falls into once the make, model and year are known, before the appointment starts.

Etobicokeinformation

TorontoOntario

Town
Etobicoke, Toronto
In business
13 years
Hours
Open 24/7
Nights, weekends and holidays, same fees
Visits
On-site assessment preferred. Request a visit or call.

2021 census: what it means at the door

Every square is one home in a hundred.

  • 58 in 100 homes · older homes
  • About 58% of homes in Toronto were built in 1980 or earlier, according to the 2021 Census.In neighbourhoods of established homes, keys have often been copied many times over many owners. Rekeying every exterior door to one fresh key is the common first job, and it works on old cylinders just as well as on new ones.
  • Single-detached houses make up about 23% of homes in Toronto (2021 Census).Where most homes are apartments or condos, storage lockers, bike rooms and parking gates carry their own locks. A locksmith can supply and key padlocks and cam locks for those spaces so one household ring covers everything it uses.

Source: Statistics Canada, Census Profile

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On-site assessment

Request a visit.

A lockout last month ended with a locksmith opening the door and going home, and the same single key has been carried ever since with nothing behind it.

(289) 804-4797, open 24/7.