Lost keys and replacement keys, Wellington Point

The lock holds all the information needed to make its key. We decode it directly, cut a blank to those measurements on the spot, and test it before we leave. No original, no trip to a shop, no waiting for something to be posted.

Because it is cut to the lock rather than copied from a key, the new one is frequently better than what you lost — copies of copies drift, and an original cut restores the correct profile.

If the key went missing somewhere you control — down the back of a couch, in a jacket in the wardrobe — a new cut is all you need. If it disappeared in public, and particularly if it was on a ring with anything showing your address, a fob, a parcel locker tag, a work pass, then cutting a replacement leaves a working key to your house in the hands of a stranger.

In that case we rekey instead. The cylinder is re-pinned to a new key, every old key stops working immediately, and the visible hardware does not change at all. It takes a few minutes per lock and costs far less than replacing the hardware.

Cutting the key is only half of it. The transponder inside has to be coded to the car or the engine will not start, and remote functions have to be paired separately. All of that is done at the kerb for most makes on Australian roads.

We verify ownership before any car key is programmed — photo ID and registration, insurance or purchase documents. It is the same check every time, for everyone.