What to do when transponder key is lost

What’s the big deal about a lost key? You just go and have another one made; right? Not so much - especially if your lost key is of the transponder variety! These keys are costly to make and to program and many a driver has had a case of nerves after suddenly finding that their transponder key is lost, stolen or broken.

So, what should you do first?

Okay, you’ve managed to lose your transponder key. What should you do first? Try calming yourself. That’s right; a panicked mind and emotional state never leads to anything good. It’s hard to do at first. You know that your key is missing and right away your mind starts thinking of the many repercussions. What if someone finds your key and uses it to steal your car? What if they gain access to your glove box and the important documents it contains? Remember; most people have car registration, insurance proof and maintenance records inside the glove compartment. What else is kept inside your car? Many have their garage door opener remote clipped to the sun visor. Others have gated home remotes inside along with community stickers pasted on the windshield to prove residence inside a nice neighborhood. Are you panicking yet? Well, don’t! A calm mind thinks and reacts better. In your rush to find a solution, you can make a rash and costly decision and no one needs that!

What’s the big deal about transponders?

Car keys weren’t always of the transponder variety. They became so in the mid-1990s and the results have been mostly beneficial for drivers and for law enforcement as car theft dropped drastically after that time. Before transponder keys it was easy and cheap to make a copy of your car key. Any convenience store clerk or mail copy employee could make one for you for under a dollar. The plethora of these easy to make car keys made auto theft easy but when transponder keys became the norm, auto theft numbers dropped by a huge margin. This is because it became so costly and difficult to copy a car key that people stopped doing that. Also, the transponder element prevented hot-wiring the car even though movies and television still show that touching two wires starts the car in seconds. All in all, the switch to transponder keys has been a dramatic benefit for the auto industry. But what if you lose your transponder key? Then what are you supposed to do?

The “standard” way of replacing your transponder key

Many car dealers are authorized to duplicate and program transponder keys. This exclusivity has driven up the price so that it is normal to pay a few hundred dollars to get a transponder key copied and programmed. This alone is daunting but when you consider that the car won’t run without the transponder key and you just lost yours, the car must be towed into the dealership! This obviously results in an additional cost (towing) and more time wasted as you must arrange towing and then wait for your car to be serviced in order to match your new transponder key’s chip to your vehicle’s onboard computer. These two must match as it’s imperative that the signal sent from your key is recognized by your car. Premium service equals high dollar cost; until now!