A car with no working key is a towing bill unless the replacement can be cut where the car already sits. Our vans carry blanks, a key-cutting machine and the programming gear, so the new key is made at the vehicle, whether that is a driveway off Lonsdale, the Capilano Park & Ride, or a ferry lane at Horseshoe Bay.
Give us the year, make and model on the phone and the right blank travels with the technician. Most North Shore jobs finish at the kerb, with no flatbed and no dealership appointment in the diary.
The first question on a car key call is not where you are standing. It is what the vehicle needs before it will start again, because that decides which blank, which cutter and which programming interface leave with the technician. Get that wrong on the phone and the van arrives without the part, which on this side of the water is an expensive round trip for everyone. Dispatch runs from the North Van side of the bridge, so at least a Lions Gate or Second Narrows crossing is not sitting between you and the key while the clock runs.
| Key type | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Basic cut-only (no chip) | $25–$60 |
| Transponder key (chip only, no remote) | $90–$180 |
| Remote head key (chip + remote in one key) | $140–$260 |
| Flip / switchblade key with remote | $120–$240 |
| Smart key / proximity fob (push-to-start) | $180–$380 |
| All-keys-lost service (erase + re-enrol) | $220–$450 |
Ranges cover the part, the labour and the programming time. Luxury and European marques with proprietary systems sit at the higher end, and a few of them need a dealer-level programmer, which you will hear about before anyone drives out rather than after.
Give the dispatcher the vehicle's year, make and model on 778-262-1107, plus a location precise enough to drive to. On the upper Caulfeild streets that means the street address rather than the neighbourhood. GPS routes correctly up there, but the final approach is a local call, so we confirm the address on the phone instead of discovering it on arrival.
Arrival depends on which corner of the coverage area you are in, and each area page carries its own window: Deep Cove 25–35 minutes, Horseshoe Bay 25–40, British Properties 20–30, the Mount Seymour ski-area lots 30–40. Snow on Mount Seymour Parkway lengthens that last one and you hear about it while the van is climbing, not afterwards.
The blade is cut to the vehicle's code, the chip is enrolled, and every function is tried at the car: start, lock, unlock, remote. Payment comes after that test, at the range quoted on the phone rather than a figure produced once the work is done.
Deep Cove concentrates the weekend calls. The Quarry Rock trailhead parking off Panorama Drive is a common spot for keys locked in a car on a busy Saturday, Dollarton Highway funnels in everything arriving behind it, and the streets around the Cove are tighter than the map makes them look. That is why the address and the route get confirmed before the truck leaves, rather than after it has committed to the wrong turn.
Horseshoe Bay is the one place on this network where the clock belongs to somebody else. A car that will not start in a lane at the BC Ferries terminal is a sailing about to be missed, so give us the boarding time on the call. You will get a straight answer about whether a key can be cut and programmed before the ramp goes up, rather than a hopeful one and an apology afterwards. On a loading day the run out there takes longer than the network average, which is exactly why the boarding time tells us more than the distance does.
The rest of the pattern is structures and transit lots. The Lonsdale Quay parkade is a regular call. So is the Capilano Park & Ride off Capilano Road, where people are switching between a vehicle and transit constantly, so keys get left behind and fobs go flat at the worst possible moment. We also cut and pair keys in the Capilano Suspension Bridge lot, and on the West Vancouver side in the Eagle Harbour Marina parking area, where most late-model vehicles are finished on the spot without a tow. Bring the registration or the insurance and a piece of ID that matches, because we confirm the car is yours before a key is cut for it.
Residential work runs the other way. A key replacement on a Chartwell Drive driveway in the British Properties is often a luxury or European marque, and naming the badge on the phone is what decides whether the right programmer is already on the truck. Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Ford and Hyundai we cut and program as routine.
The gap is mostly logistics, and it shows up first as a tow. Nothing can be programmed at a dealership until the car is physically on their lot, which for a vehicle that will not start means a flatbed before the work even begins, and then a wait while the blank comes in. We arrive with the blank already on board and program where the car sits, so that first step disappears entirely. On price the honest version is that we usually land the same or lower, not always, and you will hear which on the call. The exception is real and worth saying out loud: there are vehicles we cannot finish in the field. You will hear that on the phone, not after a failed attempt you have already been billed for.
Seventeen areas across North Vancouver and West Vancouver. Each page carries its own arrival window and the calls we actually get there.
Make-specific key and fob pages, plus the automotive jobs we finish at the vehicle.
Car keys are one line on the truck inventory. The rest of it comes out of the same van, on the same call-out.
Pick-, drill- and bump-resistant cylinders with keys that can’t be copied at the hardware store. Cut, pinned and registered in-shop.
1/2" steel door, digital keypad, fitted and bolted on site.
Car keys are priced by vehicle. Pick what you need and we’ll collect your make, model & year to text you an exact quote.