I bought a used car that came with one key. What should I do?

Two things in one visit: add a spare, and erase every key the immobiliser trusts that you were not handed. You have no idea how many keys the previous owner had programmed — after the visit, the answer is exactly the ones in your possession.

Can any key be programmed to any car?

No — the key must match the vehicle's system, and some second-hand electronic keys are locked to their first vehicle. Tell us what you have before the visit and you will know whether it can be enrolled before anyone drives anywhere.

05 / 07 · Automotive service

Key Programming

Pairing a key or fob to your vehicle's immobilizer so the engine will start.

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Call (226) 333-2210 Read what it involves

Category: Automotive
Availability: 24/7
Coverage: 10 GTA cities
The visit: 4 steps

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Cutting a key is mechanical work; programming is what makes the car accept it. We connect to the diagnostic port, add the new key to the immobilizer, and erase any keys no longer accounted for. Adding a spare while you still hold your original is the same operation, done under far less pressure.

Programming is the half you cannot see
Every chipped key must be introduced to the vehicle before the engine will run: the immobiliser keeps a list of credentials it trusts, and programming is the act of adding yours to it. The work happens through the diagnostic port with the vehicle present — there is no such thing as programming a key to a car that is somewhere else. This is the missing step behind every story of a perfectly cut key that opens the doors and then cranks a dead engine.
The unglamorous superpower: spares
The best time to program a key is when you do not need one. Adding a spare while your original works is the same operation as replacing a lost key, done without the stress, the wait, or the origination work — and a household with two working keys is one that never meets the all-keys-lost job at all. The same session can prune the list: keys you no longer hold are erased from the immobiliser, so the trusted list matches the keys actually in your pocket.

Step 1: Confirm vehicle and key
Year, make, model and the key or fob in question — enough to bring the right procedure and quote the job on the phone.
Step 2: Connect to the vehicle
Through the diagnostic port, with ownership verified — the immobiliser's trusted-key list is exactly the thing that should be hard to edit.
Step 3: Add, and prune
The new key enrolled; any key you cannot account for erased in the same session, on request.
Step 4: Test the start
Every key present is tested through a full start cycle, so “programmed” is demonstrated, not promised.

Adding a spare now is faster and cheaper than originating a key the day you lose the last one
Missing keys erased from the system, not just replaced alongside them
Programmed at your vehicle rather than at a dealership service desk

The blade was copied but the chip was never programmed — the immobiliser does not trust it. Bring it to the vehicle and we enrol it; cutting was the cheap half, and it is not wasted.