Why does having one working car key matter?
Short answerIf one key still starts the car, you are usually adding another key to a system that already works. If nothing starts the car, the locksmith is originating a key from the vehicle. Those are different jobs, and the price and process can differ for that reason — not because the city name changed.
Spare-key situation
You can still drive. You want a second key, a backup for a spouse, or a copy before the last one fails. The car already accepts at least one transponder or fob. Adding another is often the lighter workflow: we are not starting from a silent immobilizer with no working credential.
All-keys-lost situation
Nothing in hand starts the car. There is no key to present, clone, or use as a teaching aid in the usual spare-key sense. The vehicle has to be identified precisely, and you should expect to show you have a right to it. Push-to-start with zero fobs sits in this bucket even if people still say “I just need a key.”
Why the workflow can differ
When you request a price, we ask whether a working key remains because the answer changes the path. Spare work assumes the car still runs with what you have. All-keys-lost work assumes it does not. Mixing those up wastes a trip — or produces a quote for the wrong job.
Why pricing may differ
Origination can need different equipment, more time, and a part that is not a simple copy of a blade. A spare is not automatically “cheap” on every car, and all-keys-lost is not automatically a scare-price. The honest version: they are not priced as the same SKU, because they are not the same work. We do not publish fake menu prices here.
Making a spare while you still can
If this is the only key and it still works, adding a spare now is usually the less painful version of next month’s all-keys-lost call. That is not a sales slogan. It is the same distinction: one working credential vs none.
Still have a working key — or none?
Say which it is. Year, make and model still matter either way.