Where is the best place to have spare key's made?
 

Anyone have a spare key or two made for this beast? what is a fair price to pay to have a key made? what does the dealership charge? is a locksmith a better place to have them made?

You first need to get the right key with the resistor-chip in it. Once you get that, anyone that can cut double sided keys can cut the key. It is getting the proper resistance-key that one must do first.

I paid about $10 for the blank key and less than $5 to have it cut at my local locksmith.

I just had 1 made at the locksmith shop,35.00 for key with chip in it & 5.00 to cut it.

Check out a sponsor- KeyLess.com and pick your car, year. You should run it by Chevrolet to determine what number resistance key chip you have on the other keys so you can provide KeyLess with that info. Fairly inexpensive (20 bucks) and OEM parts as far as I know.

My dealer made me a copy for free.....imagine that !!

There is a way to test the key's resistance with an Ohmmeter and there is a chart somewhere on here that corresponds with which key one will need for their car. One does not need to go to the dealer for that.

The dealer tried to tell me that I had to go and pay them to cut the key or it would not work, dealers, I swear.

got mine cut at lowes did a great job for 1.58

You can pick up keys at any locksmiths but sounds like Lowes may be the place. You need one with the correct resistor pellet or the VATS will inhibit the start.

The BCM measures the resistance value of the resistance of the pellet and allows the fuel system to operate. If it is within +/-10% the car will start.

To check your key value:

Set your digital volt meter to “ohms mode” and measure the value across the pellet.

The 15 VATS key codes are:

Resistance Value (Ohms)

1 0.402 (acceptable range .386-.438)

2 0.523 (acceptable range .502-.564)

3 0.681 (acceptable range .650-.728)

4 0.887 (acceptable range .850-.942)

5 1.130 (acceptable range 1.085-1.195)

6 1.470 (acceptable range 1.411-1.549)

7 1.870 (acceptable range 1.795-1.965)

8 2.370 (acceptable range 2.275-2.485)

9 3.010 (acceptable range 2.890-3.150)

10 3.740 (acceptable range 3.590-3.910)

11 4.750 (acceptable range 4.560-4.960)

12 6.040 (acceptable range 5.798-6.302)

13 7.500 (acceptable range 7.200-7.820)

14 9.530 (acceptable range 9.149-9.931)

15 11.801 (acceptable range 11.320-12.290)

I ordered my key off ebay using their resistance chart, measured the resistance with an ohm-meter. Key was roughly 12 bucks, and $4 for a locksmith to cut it. Home depot and menards refused to cut it saying it was a security key and would not start the car. I attempted to inform them i pre-ordered the correct resistance for the chip, but they didnt seem to know what that meant and refused to cut it anyway

this is where I bought my blanks then had a local locksmith cut them for $2 each

http://myworld.ebay.com/locksmithsou...MEFSX:SELLERID

Make sure your finger isnt touching any part of the meter lead, it will severely throw off your readings!!!!

Cost me $15 at the dealer. :cheers:

Fleabay for bbout $10 after measuring resistance and less than $2 to cut it
 

Look for a VATS key after finding resistance value. Skip HD and call around to local locksmiths. Mine charged $1.50. Cut one wrong and ate it (replaced it with another blank). Skip the dealer. A VOM can be had for under $3 at Harbor Freight. My dealer did measure my key using his special gadget for free but a VOM is all you need.
BIGHANK

Good info, guess I'll have to try Lowes and see if they will cut it. I'll have to read my key.

dealer charged me $24 for the chip key, $4 for a regular key. they stuck the chip key in a electronic box, and it was "2". so we go to the computer to order, and there was only one "2" chip key in the Chicago district. I am 260miles from Chi town,but the local dealer says that the district they are in.

You should also check with Pop-A-Lock. They can make just about any kind of key, specialty or otherwise. You can read more about what they have here: http://www.popalock.com/key_cutting.php