Your vehicle
What to have ready
Replacement keys for lost, broken, or worn vehicle keys, including cutting and programming where the vehicle allows.
- The VIN, found on the dashboard near the windshield or in the driver's door frame
- Registration or title and a photo ID
- Any existing keys, including broken ones
ID and proof you may access the vehicle are checked before any work.
Car Key Replacement in ArizonaPhoenix notes
Updated 3 sources
A lost key leaves the car where it is
Losing a car key usually means the car stays wherever it was parked, and in Phoenix that can be a metered street. The city enforces its meters from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, weekends and holidays included. Time limits at metered spots range from 15 minutes to 8 hours, and most areas cap parking at one to two hours. On-street meters need no payment overnight, between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. A car that cannot be driven away as the limit runs out is the situation this page is about.
Notices, boots and tows
A city parking officer leaves a Notice of Violation on the windshield. It lists the vehicle, the location, the offense and the fine. Payment within 21 days of the violation takes $20 off. If nothing has been paid after 50 calendar days, the Phoenix Municipal Court issues a summons, and a driver with three or more unpaid parking complaints can face a boot. Those dates run from the ticket, not from the day a new key is cut.
For a car towed as abandoned, the city's towing page says the tow company may file for an abandoned title if the vehicle is not claimed within ten days of the available release date. An owner who keeps the vehicle is responsible for the tow and storage charges.
Sort out which problem you have
Keys can be lost, locked inside, snapped or simply not answering, and only one of those is a replacement job.
- If the keys are in view inside the locked car, that is a car lockout.
- If the key works in the door but the buttons do nothing, the trouble may be the fob; see key fob programming.
- If the key is gone, and there is no spare, a new one has to be made for the car.
What to send
- the make, model and year, and the VIN from the registration or insurance card
- how many keys or fobs still work, and whether the lost one was a plain key or a fob
- where the car sits: the block and side of the street, the garage level or the private lot
- whether it has a parking notice or has been towed, and the date on the notice
- whether the registration or title is with you
More on the city is on the Phoenix page.
Sources
Public records and references this page draws on. They are outside USA Locksmith Pros and open in a new tab.
- City of Phoenix Street Transportation, Parking Servicesphoenix.gov (external site, opens in a new tab)
- City of Phoenix Municipal Court, Parking Ticketsphoenix.gov (external site, opens in a new tab)
- City of Phoenix Police Department, Vehicle Towing Informationphoenix.gov (external site, opens in a new tab)