Obtaining Duplicate Car Keys

[Harlan Chinn]

Interesting thing happened to me with this new policy at the dealership and making a couple of duplicate car keys.

My urban assault vehicle is a Honda Civic sedan for which I lost the keys a couple of weeks ago. On my way home from Canada I stop off at a dealership and tried to purchase a replacement key. This dealership did not have a key cutter but had the key blanks, as cheap as they were I bought 2 of the nice nylon handled blanks.

I figured, that I can take the key blanks to the local downtown dealer to have them cut. So, today I took the key blanks and drove my Civic to the dealer with the key code. I approached the guy at the parts counter and asked for them to cut the keys.
He pointed to a sign that says that they are required to see the

-Vehicles current registration
-Drivers license
-Vehicle's Title

He refused to cut my keys even though I had a working key with me, driver's license and proof of insurance! For security reasons I do not keep my registration in the car. Law enforcement can look it up just as quickly.

So he had another parts adviser as well as the dealership manager at the counter as I pleaded to them, and I may have gotten just a bit irrate but I wasn't going to have to come back. The manager finally backed down, since I had a working key and gave the guys the Ok to cut my key blanks. They recorded all my documentation and I was off.

I guess there was a case in New Jersey where car thieves were phoning in keycodes for cars. So next time you need a key cut bring all the paperwork to save this hassle.

[vash]

good for them, basically they are watching out for you. just like the cashier or teller that asks for your i.d.

i wonder if any stolen cars were ever discovered this way?

[Schrup]

They probable thought you were from Sixty Minutes. They did an expose on this very subject a couple weeks back. They went to several dealers & got keys, after getting the VIN numbers off the dashes of random cars. I'm sure it got everybodies attention.

[vash]

that is my personal nightmare, knock on door: open door to find sixty minutes standing there. ahhhh!

[adrian jaye]

if there are security in place its there for your protection.

just imagine, if somone stole some documents, and made a scene in order to get keys cut, then your car was stolen ?

Personally, I'd never have backed down and cut your keys.
If they make an exception for you, they make could make an exception for somoneup to no good.

[RickM]

Here in NJ this is common practice. However, you only have to show one document with your name and VIN # on it and your license.

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

In CA, you just have to worry about the stoner behind the counter cutting your keys incorrectly. I had to show a kid one time how to work the machine correctly