Car Key Replacement in Greenville, SC

Proving the car is yours

A replacement key can start the car, so expect to be asked to show ownership before one is cut or programmed: a photo ID and the title or current registration in your name. The VIN is on the registration and on a small plate you can read through the windshield on the driver's side. If the papers are in the locked car, say so; they can be checked once it is open. If the title is not yet in your name, after a private sale or an inheritance for example, sort that out with your state motor-vehicle agency first.

Where the car is sitting

Pairing a key with the car has to happen at the car, so where it is parked shapes the job.

• At the curb. Greenville allows two hours of on-street parking per day, and a car without a key can't be moved when that runs out. Say when you parked, and give the block and side of the street.
• In a driveway or rear garage. Colonel Elias Earle was an early automobile neighborhood, and cars there may sit in side driveways, rear garages or under porte cocheres. A car in a side drive or a detached garage can be worked on where it sits. Say how far back it is and whether the garage door opens.

One key left, or none

If one working key remains, copying it is a smaller job than making a key when all are gone. Once you are down to one, have a second made while the first still works. If every key is lost, the new one is typically cut from the VIN or the lock itself and then paired with the car's immobilizer, which is why the details below matter.

What to include

• make, model and year
• the key type: plain metal, chip key, key with remote buttons, or push-button smart key
• how many keys are lost and whether any still work
• the VIN and where the car is parked

If the key works but its buttons don't, key fob programming may be all you need. Curb, garage and driveway notes for Greenville are on the Greenville page.