Open 6:00 AM to 8:30 PM · No VAT added to any job
Car keys are cut at the vehicle rather than over a counter, from the key in your hand, from the key code held against the registration, or by decoding the lock when no key is left at all.
The cutting machine, the blanks and the programmers all travel in the van, so a blade and the electronics behind it are finished in the same visit.
Ask about key cutting
Four places will cut a car key, and the difference between them is not the price of the blade. It is whether they can finish the job once the blade is cut.
| Where it is cut | What it can do | What it cannot do |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile auto locksmith at your vehicle | Cut from your key, from the key code or by decoding the lock, then programme the key to the vehicle on the spot | Nothing on a car key, although a vehicle that will not accept any key needs the fault fixed before a key is written in |
| High street key cutting counter | Copy a plain blade and in some cases a basic chip key while you shop | Create a key with none left to copy, decode a lock, or programme a keyless or protected make |
| Main dealer | Supply and code a key to the vehicle to the original specification | Come to the vehicle, which usually means a recovery truck when no key is left, and VAT is added to the bill |
| Online blank plus a local cutter | Supply a blade cheaply | Guarantee the part number, the chip or the frequency, and the blade still arrives uncut and unprogrammed |
| Breakdown cover | Get you moving when the fault is mechanical | Cut or programme a car key, which is why most policies send the vehicle to a dealer or a locksmith anyway |
A key cut and programmed by Locked Out starts from £80 while a working key still exists, and from £135 once the only key has gone, because that job begins with opening the vehicle and reading it. The full price list sits on the {L} page.
The blade is produced in one of three ways, and which one applies depends entirely on what is left to work from.
The original is clamped against a blank and traced, which is the fastest route and the one used for a spare. The copy is cut from the key, so a worn original is measured against the vehicle first rather than copied blindly.
Every vehicle leaves the factory with a code that describes the cuts in its key. With proof of ownership, that code is obtained against the registration and the blade is cut to the original factory depths rather than to a worn copy.
Where no key and no code are available, the door lock or the ignition is read with a decoding tool, the pattern inside is worked out and the blade is cut to match the lock as it actually sits.
Five blade families cover nearly every vehicle around Wigan, and each one needs a different machine setting and a different blank.
Older vehicles
Cuts along the edge of the blade. Found on most vehicles into the early 2000s and still used on some basic models and trailers.
Most modern cars
A milled track down the face of the blade instead of edge cuts. Stronger, harder to pick and the type most vehicles from the mid 2000s onward use.
Ford and Jaguar
A round blade with angled discs rather than cuts, used across Ford and older Jaguar models and needing a dedicated machine and blank.
Any age
The blade folds into the fob or pulls out of it. The blade is replaceable on its own, so a snapped blade does not always mean a new remote.
Work vehicles
Heavier blades with deeper tracks, often with a separate pattern for the load area, cut to the code rather than copied.
A photograph of the key, or just the registration, is enough to identify the blade family before the visit, so the right blank comes out of the van the first time.
Cutting finishes the job on its own less often than drivers expect, because the blade and the electronics are two separate pieces of work.
Everything else needs the chip written to the vehicle as well, which is set out on the car key programming page below.
A key loses metal every time it is used. Copying a key that has already worn produces a copy of the wear, not a copy of the key, and the problem compounds.
Where the original is visibly worn, the better route is to cut to the key code instead, so the new blade matches the factory depths and the old key becomes the spare rather than the master.
Cutting is one half of a key. These pages cover the other half and the jobs around it.
Blades are cut anywhere inside 25 miles of Wigan, with no call out fee added to the job.
Every other town inside the radius is listed on the areas we cover page.
Two guides cover the detail behind a cut blade.
A key cut and programmed by Locked Out starts from £80 where a working key still exists, and from £135 where the only key has been lost, with no VAT added. A blade on its own, for a vehicle with no immobiliser or a separate load area lock, is quoted on the key type.
Yes. The key code held against the registration is used where proof of ownership is in order, and where no code is available the lock itself is decoded and the blade is cut to match it.
Only on a vehicle with no immobiliser, which in practice means older models. On everything else the chip inside the key has to be programmed to the vehicle before the engine will fire.
A counter can copy a plain blade and in some cases a basic chip key. It cannot create a key when none is left to copy, decode a lock or programme a keyless or protected make, which is when a mobile auto locksmith is needed.
A standard key has cuts along its edge. A laser cut key has a track milled into the face of the blade, which is stronger and harder to pick, and it needs a different machine and a different blank.
On a flip or remote key, often yes. The fob keeps its programming and a new blade is fitted and cut, which costs less than a whole new key. Where the blade is fixed into the head, the key is replaced as one piece.
Copying from a working key takes minutes. Cutting to a code or decoding a lock takes longer because the pattern has to be established first, and the whole visit including programming is usually finished inside the hour.
Yes. The logbook or another document tying you to the vehicle is checked before any key is cut, and at the home address of the registered owner nothing further is needed. That check is what stops a key being cut for a vehicle the caller does not own.
Need a Car Key Cut Today?
Send the registration or a photograph of the key and the blade is identified before Paul leaves the van.