On 2/10/2011 11:02 AM, Jim Yanik wrote:
z wrote in
:

On Wed, 09 Feb 2011 07:07:56 -0500,
wrote:

On Tue, 08 Feb 2011 19:45:10 -0600, "
wrote:

On Tue, 08 Feb 2011 20:29:16 -0500,
wrote:

On 2/8/2011 12:40 PM, Neill Massello wrote:
wrote:

Fancy. Just un-screw the ball.

Which gradually occurs by itself over time until, one day, the
keys fly all over the place when you pull the ring out of your
pocket. Not fun in a dark parking lot.

I'll repeat the advice that others have given the OP: get another
copy of your car key; put it on a small, plain ring by itself with
a tag listing the make, model, and color of your car; and use that
whenever you need to hand over your car for service, cleaning, or
parking.


Good solution for an older car, but anything recent, those damn
smart keys are expensive.

At least Ford smart keys aren't all that expensive as long as you buy
the spare while you still have at least two others. I think the last
one I bought was $12. With only one it they can get $75, or so.

Weird. Is this in person? Can you borrow a neighbor's second key so
it looks like you have two?

No. If you have two, you can reprogram the third yourself using the
car's computer (it's somewhat of a pain, but the instructions are in
the owner's manual). They just cut the keys (blanks aren't
expensive). If you only have one, they have to do it and they'll
likely ding you for an hour labor.


I don't believe that is true for all makes of autos.
Some locksmiths can now program chipped key blanks,again for certain makes
only.


This is true. From what they told me, a lot of small-town dealers that
don't need to create that many keys, and don't want to buy the machine
and keep the software updated (or a trained operator on the payroll),
now job out the work to a local locksmith. When I bought my 1-key van,
dealer gave me the magic number, and pointed me at the locksmith they
use. And it was still north of 120 bucks for 2 normal-sized but chipped,
no-button keys. So I now have 3. I keep meaning to buy a couple uncut
blanks off ebay, and get them cut cheap at hardware store, and program
them myself. I'm well overdue for losing a keyring, and it is best to be
prepared. I wish I could find a programmable separate-from-key button
fob that would work with an 05 Caravan, because there are times the
buttons would be nice, since 3 of the 5 doors have no lock cylinder. I
just can't live with that bizarre serving-spoon-sized combined key and
fob- my pockets aren't that big. What idiot thought that was a good idea?

--
aem sends...