CAR LOCKS REPAIR / REPLACE
Here at Anderson's Auto Locksmith - No Job is too far. Me and my son run this family business for decades and has established it's name among the top car key service providers in UK. Our prices are pocket friendly across any kind of vehicle makes and models.
STILL NEED HELP?
TOP SHELF, FAST AND HIGH QUALITY SERVICE
AVAILABLE 7 DAYS A WEEK
from 08:00 – 22:00
TRUSTWORTHY SERVICE
Well Established and Experienced
EMERGENCY CALLOUT
Call: 07860 341 282
IN-SHOP AND MOBILE CAR LOCKSMITH SERVICES FOR CAR LOCKS
We provide new and duplicate keys for just about every vehicle under the sun – you can find yours here: makes and models. But don’t worry if your vehicle isn’t there – it may just be that we haven’t updated our list recently, so give us a call and we’ll check for you.
- 7 days a week, 365 days a year;
- 1-hour response time;
- Door barrel re-coding;
- Boot barrel re-coding;
- Bonet barrel re-coding;
- Ignition switch re-coding;
- Door latch/actuator mechanism replacement;
- Broken key blade extraction;
- Vehicle unlocking;
- Repair or replace broken door barrel;
- Repair or replace broken boot barrel;
- Repair or replace broken bonet barrel.
CAR LOCKS, YESTERDAY AND TODAY
It is not as common today as it was years back to use the car key to lock and unlock the vehicle. Today, the vehicles use a key with a remote, a fob key or keyless system to gain entry or to lock the vehicle. Still, even with the new systems in place, a car has door locks, for example on the driver side and, or the boot, which can be accessed with a key or emergency key(for fob keys or keyless) in exceptional occasions like when a fob key stopped working. The main difference between yesterday’s door locks and today’s door locks is that today’s locks are not heavy-duty built, and as a result, their lifespan will be much shorter if and when a key is used for a longer period of time to lock and unlock the vehicle.
THE IMPORTANCE OF A WORKING CAR DOOR LOCK
First and foremost, a working car door lock will facilitate entry into the vehicle by using a car key or emergency key fob blade when the remote key fob stops working.
On some makes and models, once the lock button is pressed to lock the vehicle, it will automatically go into a deadlock mode, while on others it will take two presses of the lock button. Once the vehicle is in deadlock, one way to open the vehicle when the remote fob and the driver’s side door lock are not working is to use the boot lock if it is connected to the centralised locking. This option is available for some makes and models like BMW E46 1999-2005 and BMW Coupe 1999-2006 as for the rest, is an auto locksmith speciality to open the vehicle as it requires in-depth knowledge and equipment.
A second reason as to why door locks should be kept working is because some makes and models like Audi TT 1999-2007, VW Sharan 1999-2007, Ford Galaxy 1999-2007, Audi A4 1997-2001 when car key programming is required it has to be done manually. A car key manual programming requires a key blade to be inserted into the ignition switch and a second one in the door lock in order to program a remote key fob.
VAG ALSO IS KNOWN AS VOLKSWAGEN GROUP
Among other cars from the VAG Group, Skoda, VW, Audi, Seat, have a weak door barrel, which will not withstand daily usage of a car key to open the vehicle in lieu of using the key fob. These locks are meant to be used in case of emergency to gain entry to the vehicle when either the key fob battery or the car battery is flat or that the car fob key de-synchronises after battery replacement.
3 STEPS TO A FUNCTIONAL CAR DOOR LOCK MECHANISM
3 SITUATIONS YOU CAN AVOID IF REPAIRING OR REPLACING THE BATTERY FOR THE CAR KEY FOB ON-TIME
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR CAR KEY WON’T TURN IN THE DOOR LOCK WHEN THE LOCK IS: STUCK, FROZEN, JAMMED OR STICKING
WHAT TO DO IF THE CAR KEYS ARE LOST OR STOLEN
Having the car keys lost or stolen poses a security risk for the vehicle of being stolen. To avoid this unpleasant situation, call us, and we will dispatch our mobile locksmith for cars to where your vehicle is located to:
- Delete all non-present keys;
- Depending on the make and model, we will recode the lock barrel or do a complete car lock replacement including replacing the ignition switch to prevent any unauthorised car keys be used to gain entry to the vehicle and or start the vehicle;
- Cut and program new car keys that will work with both the lock barrel and ignition switch;
- Any present car keys will no longer work to either open the vehicle with the key or start the vehicle, therefore cutting a new car key blade will be required.
NOTE: Depending on the type of car key owned, some only require a key blade swap, e.g. flip key fob or on others where the blade and the remote are one key, would require a complete key blade cutting and transponder chip programming.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Losing car keys always pose a security risk for the vehicle, therefore the first thing to do is to call Anderson’s Auto Locksmith on 07860 341 282 as the lost key(s) need(s) to be disabled or deleted to prevent any future unauthorised use of the vehicle. One thing to keep in mind, any car keys that are still available need to be present at the time of programming. When programming the new car key for vehicles in VAG Group, all keys registered within the vehicle will be deleted. As an additional service and for security purposes, we can recode the ignition switch and the door barrel. If it happens that the lost key is the only key, a good practice would be to get a spare car key. The reason for it is, depending on the year, make and model the process of making and programming a car key may be complicated and time-consuming. Regardless, the cost of making a new car key when no working key is present will be higher than making a spare car key.
The price of locksmith services for car locks replacement, repair or re-coding will vary from one make and model to another. For an accurate price, please call us TODAY on 07860 341 282.
There are two scenarios for the BMW 3 series and 5 series especially for the station wagon. While the car fob key may be at fault and require a battery change, there are two other common problems found in the station wagons:
- The antenna module. The antenna module for Station Wagon BMW 3 series and 5 series, is located at the top of the trunk lid, and because of its location, in time, the circuit board gets corroded due to temperature difference which causes condensation. When the antenna module fails, it stops receiving and or sending the signal from the remote key fob to the central locking.
- The wiring loom. Due to its location, at the top of the trunk lid, between the trunk and the chassis, the insulation of the wires over time will start to harden and crack. With time and usage of the trunk lid, the wires will break which will affect the antenna module, as it will no longer receive or send any signal from the remote key to the central locking.
NOTE: From 1998 onward, the BMW diamond shape and from 2005 dash fob keys are sealed from the manufacturer, as they contain a self-charging accumulator. The charging occurs when the key is inserted in the ignition switch(diamond shape) or in-dash slot(dash key). Due to the fact that the accumulator has a limited lifespan(limited discharging cycles), it needs to be replaced and the process requires a highly skilled car locksmith as with the accumulator replacement, the casing of the key needs to be replaced as well because the keys were never designed to be repaired. Some of the models will require reprogramming of the remote.
