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Lost, damaged, or stolen car keys can pose big problems for motorists these days. But a new California law will make it easier to get back on the road.
After a tough drive through Friday afternoon traffic, you've arrived for a weekend of fun at a distant resort in Palm Springs. Poolside at last, you smile as you spot the server coming with your club sandwich and fries — until he trips, knocking over the small table next to you and sending the car key you'd set on it into the pool.
Another club sandwich? Coming up. But your car key? It could very well be ruined — and your weekend plans right along with it. If you own a late-model car and the key contains a tiny transponder chip as part of a sophisticated theft-deterrent system, there's a chance your vehicle could be immobilized for several days as you wait for a replacement key.
More than likely, that key will be expensive. Replacing so-called smart keys typically costs about $150. In some cases the price exceeds $300, according to a 2005 study by the Center for Auto Safety, a consumer-advocacy organization. And if you're far from home and a spare key isn't easy to fetch, you might be forced to have your car towed to the nearest dealership. While you wait for a new key, you might have to spend hundreds of dollars for a rental car or extra nights of lodging.
IT'S THE LAW
In the fall of 2006, the California State Legislature passed Senate Bill 1542, which is designed to streamline the key-replacement process for new vehicles. The bill was authored by State Senator Carole Migden (D-San Francisco), coauthored by Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas
(D-Los Angeles),
and sponsored by the
Auto Club. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the bill into law in September.
What the legislation does:
the law requires an automaker to provide, at any time, the codes necessary for a registered locksmith to make a replacement key for vehicles sold or leased in California. (Manufacturers that currently permit no one but themselves to duplicate a key, such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW, have until 2013 to comply with the law.) The law also requires the automaker to verify the locksmith's identification and registration, and it requires the locksmith to verify the vehicle owner's identification and registration.
What the legislation doesn't do
It doesn't apply to automakers that sell fewer than 2,500 vehicles in California. And it doesn't directly address how much replacement keys will cost. However, if a locksmith doesn't have to partially dismantle a car to make a replacement key, locksmith fees are likely to decline. And if independent locksmiths are able to make duplicate keys that now can be obtained only through an automaker and its dealers, the cost of replacement keys is also likely to decline.
Smart Keys, Big Hassles
Such episodes are not uncommon, says Kim Valois, owner of Pacific Locksmiths and Honolulu Locksmiths in California and Hawai'i. She's heard the stories: hapless motorists accidentally flushing their car keys down restaurant toilets, losing their keys in the sand during beach parties, or inadvertently tossing their keys into washing machines.
Indeed, last year, the Auto Club's Roadside Assistance program received about 45,000 calls from members whose keys had been lost, damaged, or stolen. The majority of those members had smart keys with embedded electronics.
Unfortunately, if you'd made one of those calls, there would have been a 50 percent chance that an Auto Club–approved locksmith would have had to partially dismantle your vehicle to get the information necessary to make you a new key. That process usually is difficult and time-consuming and thus expensive. And there would have been a 15 percent chance that Roadside Assistance couldn't have helped you at all, except to have your car towed to the nearest dealer.
Why are today's car keys so complicated? Electronic entry and ignition systems are the automakers’ response to the serious problem of car theft and its evil twin, higher insurance rates. In the mid–1990s, automakers began installing microchips in ignition keys that emitted a radio signal — a sort of PIN code — that was picked up by the car’s electronics. If the code was accepted, the engine started. If it wasn't, the car's computer immobilized the engine. The systems proved effective as a theft deterrent. Today, many automakers use electronics in their ignition systems, although the systems vary tremendously in complexity and sophistication.
Toil and Trouble
But what may be good as a theft deterrent can be a nightmare for a legitimate locksmith trying to help a stranded car owner. The locksmith has to cut a key and then reprogram the car's electronics to accept it. But it's not as simple as it sounds.
First, the locksmith needs the right key blank before he or she can cut the new key. A wide variety of blanks are used today, including a type that must be cut by laser and a type called a proximity key, which is just a fob without a metal shaft.
Next, the locksmith needs to determine the proper key code of the vehicle because the code dictates the key's outline or shape. If the key code isn’t readily available (most manufacturers don't release this information), an experienced locksmith can often find the number by dismantling the door or steering column and looking at the guts of the lock. This process takes time, and it's not a job to be undertaken lightly because modern car doors might contain expensive audio system components that could be broken or air bags that could deploy.
Finally, the locksmith has to electronically program the new key and reprogram the car to accept it. Some cars are easy
to reprogram, Valois says. She has computers that plug into their onboard electronics and can override or reset PIN codes. But on other cars — often expensive European and Japanese cars — her equipment is useless, and these cars must be towed
to a dealer.
Some automakers control the key-replacement process so tightly that they don't even allow dealers to make keys. For instance, BMW and Mercedes-Benz obtain replacement keys from out-of-state or overseas warehouses and then ship them to dealers — a process that typically takes a minimum of two days. Dealer service departments are usually closed on weekends, so a replacement for a key lost on Friday evening might not
be in the car owner's hands until Tuesday.
Dealing with the Problem
Carmakers and dealers generally dismiss concerns about the cost and hassle of replacing lost keys as the price consumers pay to live in a technologically advanced — and sometimes dangerous — society. Their concern, they say, is for car owners' security.
As the fourth-largest automobile insurer in California, the Auto Club is also concerned about preventing car thefts, says Alice Bisno, the Auto Club's vice president for government and community affairs. "But as a roadside-assistance provider, we also need to help our members get into their cars and back on the road. And the Auto Club believes that owners have a right to get the information necessary to operate their vehicles and, in this instance, shouldn't be forced to depend on dealers for replacement keys."
So last year, the Auto Club sponsored legislation that requires automakers to provide registered locksmiths with the codes necessary to unlock and start most new cars when requested to do so by a verified vehicle owner. It passed, and the law goes into effect for most cars on January 1, 2008. To keep key codes from falling into the hands of car thieves, the legislation specifies that only locksmiths who are registered with the state may have access to the codes. As of 2006, California was one of 12 states to license locksmiths. They must undergo extensive background checks, including criminal records and fingerprinting.
The bill was backed by dozens of cities and chambers of commerce; numerous police and fire chiefs and local elected officials; and a wide range of business, insurer, and consumer groups. In addition, more than 30,000 Auto Club members signed letters in support of the bill.
In the future, if you find yourself stranded without a functioning car key, the law should make it easier and less expensive for you to obtain a replacement. Still, the Auto Club recommends that you always keep a second key in a safe place at home — and keep your key away from errant servers and swimming pools.
WATCH THOSE KEYS!
If your late-model car key is lost, damaged, or stolen, how easy is it to get a replacement?
Westways consulted several locksmiths and developed the following chart. This is only a general guide because vehicle security is constantly evolving, and locksmiths vary in their skills and the sophistication of their equipment. Even within a particular carmaker's lineup, it's easier to make replacement keys for some models than for others.
| Locksmiths cannot provide replacement keys for the following vehicles-only the dealer can: | Locksmiths can provide replacement keys for the following vehicles with some degree of difficulty: | Locksmiths can provide replacement keys for the following vehicles with little or no difficulty: |
| Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Porsche, Saab, Volkswagen, Volvo | Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, GMC, Jeep, Lexus, Oldsmobile, Plymouth, Pontiac, Scion, Toyota | Acura, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Isuzu, Kia, Lincoln, Mercury, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Saturn, Subaru, Suzuki |
* Locksmiths Chris Anaya, Richard Burns, Bruce Schwarz, and Kim Valois contributed to this chart.
You are reading the January/February 2007 issue of Westways. Some information contained in this publication is time-sensitive, and the terms of some offers (cruise or vacation packages, for example) or services (provisions for roadside assistance, for example) might have been superseded by subsequent information and might no longer apply.