The franchise stores on National City Boulevard, the stretch known as the Mile of Cars, are the South Bay's usual referral for a new car key. Drivers come from Chula Vista to the south and from Lemon Grove and Spring Valley to the east.
The boulevard runs between the 5 and the 805, close to most of the South Bay, which helps only if the car can drive itself over. With no working key, the distance hardly matters: the car still needs a truck.
What a key visit there involves
Dealers make keys in the service department, so the first job is getting the car onto the boulevard. If it still starts, you drive it in for a booked slot. If not, a flatbed brings it from wherever it sits for $125 to $200, and it waits on the lot until an advisor opens a repair order and parts looks the key up by VIN.
Then stock decides your week. A key on the shelf is usually cut and programmed that day while you wait. An ordered key adds one to three days, during which a towed car stays parked there. Plan on two trips to the boulevard while the service desk is open, one to drop off and one to collect.
How the bill stacks up
A dealer key is two charges. The part comes from the parts department at retail, where smart keys run $400 to $750, remote head keys $300 to $450 and chip keys $230 to $380. Programming is a separate labor line, often $100 to $180, which puts a remote head key at $400 to $630 and a smart key at $500 to $930 before tax.
The tow is a separate bill, usually settled with the tow company before the dealer rings up anything. Take a Kia with a push-to-start fob and no key left: roughly $470 for the smart key at the parts counter, $100 to $180 for programming and $125 to $200 for the flatbed to the lot. That is $695 to $850 before tax.
What we do instead
We come to the car: a driveway in Chula Vista, an apartment lot in Lemon Grove, the curb in Spring Valley where it stopped. You call with the year and model, hear one price, and the van arrives, most often inside a 45 to 90 minute window. Your key code goes into the cutter on board, and the chip and remote are paired before we pack up.
Run that Kia through our numbers: $239 for the smart key, or $299 if every key is lost, with programming and the drive inside. Remote head keys are $165 to $259 and chip keys start at $125. You hand over card or cash only after the engine turns over, and a one-year warranty follows the key home.