Vehicle Key Help Requested

[GrzyWhop33]

Hello, I was wondering if anybody could help me in private with this. I have a 2000 Ford F-150 farm truck. We lost the old key and got a replacement lock cylinder. The problem is I don't have the money to tow the truck to a dealer 40 miles away to reprogram it. Can anybody please help me with a more DIY approach. Thank you.

[Squelchtone]

Please post questions in the correct areas. Ask Beginner Hobby Lockpicking Questions has nothing to do with making car keys.

Moving the post to Locksmith Lounge.

Please save your moderators and admins some work, thank you.

Squelchtone

[GWiens2001]

Unless you can find a Ford technician with their own IDS in your area, you will need to either take it to the dealer or get a mobile locksmith to program your key.

If you had at least one working key, then you might be able to get a key that could be cloned to match your existing already programmed key. Never a good idea to have only one key for a vehicle.

Gordon

[ltdbjd]

I second Gordons response, but have to add more bad news. Provided yours takes a transponder key, you’ll need two keys available to program. A relative few don’t take transponder keys, but I’m guessing yours does since you have a new ignition lock and the car doesn’t start.

So you’ll need to purchase two keys and have them both programmed, effectively doubling your cost depending on who you use and how they charge. As Gordon said, if you still had a key, you could have it cloned. Without any keys, it will cost you some $$.

Check with you insurance company and/or auto club if you have them. They may cover the cost of the tow.

[cledry]

There isn't a DIY approach for this. Mobile locksmith would have made a key to your existing one for @$150-$200

[billdeserthills]

Actually there is a DYI solution for this problem, you need to buy a system for programming your own key
likely from E-bay or china

[gademsky]

This car key thing has become a license to steal for car dealers. Several of my friends have purchased used vehicles from dealers and were given just one key...then a few months later they go back needing a second key and have to pay big money.

Interesting, I just bought a couple year old Lexus LS460 from the local BMW dealer. At closing, I told them I needed 2 keys and was told that the person who traded in the car only gave them one key and that's all they had. I told them I had second thoughts about car unless they had key. The salesmen left and came back with the second key in about 5 minutes.

I am not a locksmith, just a hobbyist picker who enjoys the challenge. There is no question in my mind that to be a master locksmith is a life long learning profession and that locksmiths are highly trained and skilled individuals who deserve great, way above average pay.....but the cost of car keys is way expensive.

[billdeserthills]

This car key thing has become a license to steal for car dealers. Several of my friends have purchased used vehicles from dealers and were given just one key...then a few months later they go back needing a second key and have to pay big money.

Interesting, I just bought a couple year old Lexus LS460 from the local BMW dealer. At closing, I told them I needed 2 keys and was told that the person who traded in the car only gave them one key and that's all they had. I told them I had second thoughts about car unless they had key. The salesmen left and came back with the second key in about 5 minutes.

I am not a locksmith, just a hobbyist picker who enjoys the challenge. There is no question in my mind that to be a master locksmith is a life long learning profession and that locksmiths are highly trained and skilled individuals who deserve great, way above average pay.....but the cost of car keys is way expensive.

That's just the beginning-I recently read that after 2018 all new cars will need to have knee airbags, in addition to side curtain airbags and the regular air bags cars have had for the past 20 years or so. Back in 1984 a Mazda pickup truck cost $5,000, but today that vehicle likely costs 4 times that amount. Does anyone think today's vehicle is 4 or 5 times better than yesteryears?

[demux]

That's just the beginning-I recently read that after 2018 all new cars will need to have knee airbags, in addition to side curtain airbags and the regular air bags cars have had for the past 20 years or so. Back in 1984 a Mazda pickup truck cost $5,000, but today that vehicle likely costs 4 times that amount. Does anyone think today's vehicle is 4 or 5 times better than yesteryears?

And the new ones all come with everything interconnected to everything else, so any random person can connect to the nav system through the cell uplink, hop over to the engine computer, and start driving for you. And everything's a soft button so to change the radio station you need to click through 8 different screens with no tactile feedback. Ugh. My current truck is almost old enough to get a license itself, and I'm not looking forward to having to replace it. The CAN Bus concept is junk, drive by wire is junk, infotainment systems are junk. That '84 Mazda isn't looking half bad...

Hmm, sorry for the unrelated tangent/rant, but Bill got me started.