Automotive key programming

Definition

Cutting and coding a modern vehicle key, which needs equipment and a paid data subscription.

Why It Matters

It is the highest-margin work most locksmiths do and it sits behind a programming tool, a paid data subscription and manufacturer access that a buyer inherits or does not. A shop doing it has a service the hardware store cannot copy; a shop not doing it is competing on lock changes at hardware-store prices. Ask what equipment and subscriptions exist, who holds the accounts, and whether they transfer with the business.