Fix broken car keys – some TLC needed

In an ideal world, when a key starts to break and become unreliable, the best thing would be a brand new key, supplied and programmed. Unfortunately, sometimes it’s not cost-effective, simply because the parts are so expensive and the cars are worth so little. We’re going to talk about the growing trend to fix broken car keys.

Repairing keys is becoming more necessary now, and is our most popular service. With keys becoming more complicated, with expensive electronics and moving parts, they get worn out and can cause a real headache. A typical key that we are asked to fix looks something like this.

Missing rubbers

In this case, the rubber buttons, have been worn through and the expensive electronics are left exposed. It’s important that when this happens to the key, it is fixed as soon as possible, otherwise moisture and dust can get into the key and it will stop working for good.

‘Floppy’ key blades.

Another problem we see is with the ‘flip’ style keys that are now very popular. The worst offenders here are Citroen, Peugeot and Vauxhall remote keys. Poor design and thin plastic mean that if there is undue pressure put onto the blade ( such as dropping the key on the floor) the blade becomes loose in the housing and it stops springing out. In some cases the case starts to split open, as shown in this photo.

This is a real pain and drives our customers mad. This problem can fixed easily with a new case.

Worn Key Blades

If a key starts playing up in a lock, it’s easy to blame the dodgy lock. However, we see alot of blades that are simply worn out. They lose the original shape and cause the lock not to work properly.

This is an extremely worn key..no wonder our customer was having trouble! In this case a new blade fixed the problem instead of having to pay out for expensive locks.

So wherever you are in the UK, before ordering a new key from the dealer, contact your local expert and see how they can fix your problem, without spending a fortune.