1999 Honda Accord
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in Ventura County

1999 Honda Accord Metal Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

I got a call from a guy parked in his carport off Meiners Oaks, near the older apartment row backing up toward the creek. He'd dropped his only key on the concrete and the plastic housing cracked clean through. The key still turned, barely, but the car wouldn't start. He figured the crack had nothing to do with it. It did.

When the transponder sits wrong inside a broken housing, the immobilizer antenna around the ignition collar can't get a clean read. The car sees no valid key, even though the metal blade is fine. That's exactly what was happening to him.

He'd already called the dealer. They wanted him to tow it in and quoted him a number that made him sit down on the curb. He found me about ten minutes later.

I drove out, picked his door, and decoded the cut off his lock cylinder since we were working all-keys-lost. Cut a new key, programmed the transponder through the OBD port, and had him running in under 45 minutes total. He watched the whole thing from a lawn chair he'd dragged out of his apartment.

I showed him the cracked housing on the old key so he'd understand what actually failed. He hadn't expected the plastic to matter. It matters.

The dealer comparison was an afterthought by the end. He was already backing the car out to make sure it started twice in a row.

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