Howard Locksmith doesn’t just provide excellent residential and commercial locksmith service, but also fantastic vehicular locksmith service. In doing so, we regularly deal with modern key technology including keyless entry/transponder key based cars. Here’s some of the most common inquiries that we receive regarding transponder keys and keyless car entry.

What do I do if I lost my car keys?

We can easily program a key blank to match your vehicle, cutting it to match your lock doors and programming the transponder to operate all car systems including alarms, locks, and the trunk.

Can I program a brand new keyless entry remote by myself?

Some vehicles have instructions in the vehicle guide on doing so but we highly recommend leaving it up to us, the automobile locksmith experts.

How do I know if my car has a transponder chip?

Copy a blank key to your car’s locks and try using it in the ignition. If the key opens the doors and trunk but not the ignition, you are working with a car that requires the signal of a correctly programmed transponder chip. A good way to verify if your car’s keys atre transponder based is by examining it and looking if it has a plastic casing around the key’s bow – if so, it’s almost 100% a transponder key.

Why can’t I program a new key by myself if I still have one working one?

Your car’s programming rules might stipulate that you need two working keys to program a new one since the car’s programming mode can only be accessed with two seperate key – not allowing you to use a single programmed key twice.

Why do automotive key cutters require my license and registration?

This is to verify that you are the true owner of the vehicle. Likely necessary documents include the names and shipping addresses for an invoice in order for a key blank to be shipped to you directly – but our team of expert locksmith carries a wide roster of automotive key blanks on hand for your convenience.

If I replaced my car remote’s battery and it still doesn’t work do I need to replace my whole remote?

If it still doesn’t work, it means the battery wasn’t the issue – and that the remote transponder chip inside has probably been damaged or gone bad – so yes, you will need to replace the remote.