Your Oahu locksmith for home, business & auto.

Usually yes. For most makes and models we generate and program a new key from scratch with no original to copy, right where the car is parked. A few very new or high-security vehicles still have to go to the dealer, and we tell you that on the phone rather than after we arrive. Call with your year, make, and model. More on our automotive locksmith page.

Stay with the car if you are somewhere safe, and do not pry at the door or the window. A coat hanger through the weather seal usually costs more in body damage than the lockout does. Have a photo ID ready, since we check that you belong with the vehicle. If a child or a pet is shut inside on a warm day, call 911 first, then us.

Usually, and the bigger saving is the tow. The dealer needs the car on their lot, so a lost key means paying to move a vehicle nobody can drive. We cut and program at the car, wherever it sits. For a handful of newer luxury models the manufacturer is the only option, and we say so up front instead of quoting you for something we cannot finish.

It depends on the job more than the hour. Most residential jobs, a lockout, a rekey, a lock swap, run $99 to $250. Car keys and fobs vary by vehicle, and commercial work like master keying or exit hardware is quoted per building and runs higher. What moves the price is the hardware, how many locks, and whether a key has to be cut and programmed on the spot. Anyone advertising a flat $29 is quoting a call-out fee, not the work.

The blank is the cheap part. What you pay for is the programming equipment and the licensed software that talks to your car's immobilizer, priced for shops rather than for glove boxes. Dealers charge for it too, plus the trip in. We carry the gear in the van, so the programming happens at your car and you skip the tow.

Yes, and it is one of the more common calls we get here. Most cluster and wall boxes take a small cam lock that salt air chews through, so the key starts turning rough and then snaps. We carry replacements and cut you new keys on the spot. For a shared USPS-controlled bank of boxes, the postal service holds the key to the master door, so start with them.

Rekeying, almost always. It keeps the hardware you already own and changes which key turns it, so every old key stops working. Replace when the lock is worn, corroded past saving, or you want something different, like a deadbolt where there is only a knob. If your hardware is in good shape, rekeying is the answer. See residential locksmith.

Ask three things. Whether they are insured, whether the work is warrantied, and whether you get a price before the work starts. Worth knowing: Hawaii does not license locksmiths, so anyone claiming a state locksmith license is describing something that does not exist. Insurance and a warranty are what you can actually check.