Car Key Replacement in Rochester, MN

Proof the car is yours

When every key to a car is lost, a new one is cut to fit the locks and, on most modern cars, programmed to the car's immobilizer so the engine will start. A car with no key may already be sitting under a Rochester street-parking limit (see below), so gather these before you write:

1. Photo ID in your name.
2. The title or current registration from your state motor-vehicle agency. If the registration is in the glove box of a locked car, say so in the request.
3. The VIN. It appears on the title and the registration, and on a small plate at the base of the windshield on the driver's side, which in winter may be under frost.
4. For a leased, financed or company car, papers showing you can authorize work on it.

Where the car is sitting

A car without a key cannot be driven off, and Rochester's street rules keep running. City Code Section 11-6-28 does not allow a car to stay parked on a street more than 24 consecutive hours, and a violation can bring a ticket and possible towing. In winter the alternate-side rule, Section 11-6-49, adds a side-switch by date that a keyless car cannot make. Check the City's current rules before you decide where to leave the car. This is general information, not legal advice.

Downtown, the car may be in a parking ramp or an apartment building's garage. Give the ramp, level and stall, and say who controls the gate: a code, a pass or building staff.

What to have ready

• Year, make and model, and whether the lost key was a plain metal key, a flip key or a push-to-start fob.
• How many keys are missing and whether any spare still exists; a working spare can make the job simpler.
• Where it sits: the street, its direction suffix (for example SW) and the side, or the ramp, level and stall.
• Photos of your ID and ownership papers, ready to share when asked.

If the car is only locked, with the key inside, see car lockout. If only the remote part of a key has stopped working, see key fob programming.