Kind of any emergency at this point. Any help appreciated. She can get in the car using the door keypad but she has no spare keys. How screwed are we?
Call a locksmith, or your local Ford dealership?
Dealerships can usually look up a key code with your VIN number.
Sometimes locksmiths have access to the database too. Not sure with Ford.
Dealer would be free, but the parts department might be closed until Monday.
(I have gone through this a number of times…stupid keys)
+1. These are pretty much your only options, unless you like the idea of changing the ignition cylinder.
Youtube video of guy removing ignition cylinder from Crown Vic. You can also buy a manual from a place like AutoWorks or Napa that will tell you how to do it.
If you can get an ignition cylinder from a junkyard, you can change it, and then you’ll have the new key, but it won’t fit the door. You are probably better off getting a locksmith to make you a key from the door locks, and then have several copies of it made, and they’ll fit the ignition as well.
It’ll be cheaper if you can wait until Monday.
I picked the lock of a friends Ranger and he just drove it like that for years without a key. It was the type of lock that had a push button lockout that prevented the column from locking accidentally if the key was turned to the left while driving.
Once the lock is picked it can be removed. If you can’t pick it then drill it out. All this is contingent on your mechanical skills.
A locksmith would be a good start. Ask for a quote on the phone.
Actually, if you remove the cylinder, it might be possible to then jump it with a wire or a screwdriver, or something. I don’t know enough about that particular car to know for sure.
I was told that there are only a couple of hundred combos for those crown vics. Try your local police station and see if they have one that fits lying around.
I’d be very surprised if “hey, I, um, lost the keys to my Crown Vic, could I have some of yours to see if they work in my car?” got you anywhere at the police station.
But, yes, typically car keys will fit in other cars. My mom’s Ford Aerostar ignition key (back when you had two car keys), unlocked the door for one of our old Ford E-250’s.
Toyotas are notorious for this. When I worked at a shop for a little while, I once pulled a ticket for a Toyota, and went and got the car and pulled it into a bay. I had it up on the lift before I realized it was the wrong car-- it didn’t have the flat it was supposed to have. But the key had totally worked.
In college, a friend of mine lost the key to his car. I called AAA, and they sent a locksmith out who cut a new key for us on the spot. Didn’t even ask for proof that we had a right to the car.
I’ve also had luck with the similar key thing - my Mom and I could use each other’s keys for our Saturns.
It’s even more common with soda machines. When I’d have to call Coke out to work on my machine I’d ask them if they want the key and they’d usually say “nah, one of these’ll work”. I know people who’ve had their entire machine’s stolen. From what I understand, people will go around with their own keys, try them and if they find one it works in, they’ll just dump the entire machine into a pickup and take off.
That’s why you really need to put a padlock over the tubular lock (and this was way before the bic pen thing) if you keep it outside.
Sorry, Ford only keeps key codes for cars that are less than 10 years old. They can’t look up cars older than that because the database gets purged every year. The only thing a dealer could do for you is replace all your locks and give you all new keys, which would cost about $1,000.
IIRC, the 2000 Ford Crown Vic used a PATS transponder key, ilco part number H72PT. Getting the lock to turn isn’t enough; you need to program the car to accept the new transponder or else the engine won’t start.
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Call a locksmith.** Expect to pay between $200 and $400 on a weekend, maybe only $100 to $300 if you wait for Monday. I’m a Certified Master Locksmith. The last time I did one of these, I charged the customer $200 on a weekday.
The job consists of two parts. The whole thing takes a couple hours. #1 figure out what cuts need to be on the key. Without a key code, this will involve reading the tumblers in the door lock and then narrowing down the possibilities of what tumblers might be in the ignition lock. Unfortunately, this job is harder in the case of the Crown Vic because the door handle assembly is riveting in place making removal problematic. #2 After cutting the key, hook up a special diagnostic tool to the OBD II port and persuade the car’s ECU to accept the ID number of the new transponder. If the old keys are being erased from the ECU’s memory at that time, the procedure requires TWO new keys.
This happened to a friend who took his family to the beach in New Jersey. He had a maroon Chevy Impala (in the mid 70’s). When they finished, he went back to the road where they parked and they jumped into a maroon Chevy Impala using his regular key.
the next morning when he came to work, he noticed a briefcase in the trunk. He opened it and discovered the identity of a fellow who was from a town not far away. Still not suspecting anything, he called the guy who thought someone had stolen his briefcase from his trunk…Walt agreed to meet the guy at a local diner to give him back his briefcase.
One of them, not sure which, noticed the miles traveled on the car they were driving didn’t match their recollection. When they saw each other’s car it dawned on them, finally, that each had driven off with the other guy’s car without knowing it.
but for the briefcase, both guys would probably have continued driving the other’s car without a problem, until…some point where they saw the license didn’t match their paperwork, and would think someone had swapped licenses…until they finally checked the VIN.
Both cars were ‘company cars’ the men were allowed to use for moderate personal use. They both kept the cars cleaned out for those times when someone else had to use the car during the day.
Yeah, the PD might not want you to know that your car key will operate one of their patrol cars (if they’re still using Crown Vics,) but - try random Ford keys. I’ve helped several people unlock their own cars because one of the three or four keys on my ring happened to work. And my mom once managed to nearly drive off in someone else’s F-250 before realizing she was in the wrong truck. (Again, back in the days of separate door and ignition keys. Ma had a double-sided key - one direction unlocked, the other direction cranked. She thought she was just being absent-minded when the key was “backward” from the way it should have operated, until she realized that she didn’t have a gun rack in her rear window!)
Otherwise - locksmith or dealership. Good luck!
ALOA is the largest organization of locksmiths in the world. Members of ALOA are required by the code of ethics to inquire what the customer’s basis for authorization is and ask to see “reasonable and appropriate” evidence to support that basis. That usually means driver’s license and vehicle registration.
I can think of 5 possible reasons why the locksmith you saw didn’t ask for proof:
- He assumed that AAA had already verified your ownership of the car.
- He simply made a mistake and/or forgot.
- He belongs to ALOA but don’t follow the code of ethics.
- He doesn’t belong to ALOA, or any organization of locksmiths at all, and just makes up his own code of ethics as he goes along.
- He isn’t really a locksmith at all, just a tow truck driver who knows how to make keys.
It’s very sad to say it, but items 4 and 5 apply to roughly half of all “locksmiths” in the US. In the case of AAA service providers, it’s probably more like 75%. YMMV.
If you live in a state which licenses locksmiths, it’s possible that the technician was breaking the law by failing to ask for ID and/or proof of ownership.
This was Florida.
I’ll freely admit that I used the word locksmith, but really meant “guy AAA sent who cut the key.”
Thanks for the info, though. I’ve always hoped that this was a bit of an exception, and it isn’t really that easy to get a random car key made.
To be fair, they did have a record of who called, so I guess there would be a trail if we did turn out to be thieves.
*It was lucky for us that he didn’t ask for proof. We were actually driving another friend’s car at the time, and he wasn’t with us. We would have had to call him and have him find a ride over.
How did it work out?
Have her pay the $200 or whatever it is and consider it a tax on stupidity.
It’s insanely stupid to have only one key for a car.
Dealer can make a new key from a codebook. You will need proof of ownership.
it might be possible to then jump it with a wire or a screwdriver, or something. I don’t know enough about that particular car to know for sure.
What are you, Clyde Barrow or something