Coping car keys

[Ricohun]

Hi Everybody!

I would like to start copying car keys , copying lost keys.
What tools do I need to get?
I understand the physical copy machine and software tools.

I read ,that the OBD Star X300 DP should be let go because it is problematic.
What are reliable devices?
Thanks for your help!

[Spiritech]

Is this for a business you're attempting to establish? Or an extra market opportunity for a currently trading business? Have you looked into required licencing for your jurisdiction? Do you have appropriate insurance should something go wrong? Do you have a particular range of make model year that you are attempting to work on?

It's useless thinking about tools before you have some idea about what it is you're trying to achieve. Furthermore before you go spending a single dollar on tools I would be finding training on how this works. Key cutting and programming is often not for the faint of heart as if you make one mistake you could have done thousands of dollars of damage(at dealer prices) and you have no idea how to fix it. After some training you will probably have an idea of what tools you might like to use, and what cars you might like to work on.

Also if you're making a business of car keys be ready and willing to invest and re-invest over and over again in development, training, and tooling. This isn't a cheap and easy industry to break into, and if you make a mistake you can't repair you will end up thousands behind in seconds.

[rapidlocksmiths]

what is your background , do you have any vehicle repair or electronic skills and background , skills that will help you with this ?

No such thing as the perfect tool ,Every tool has the capacity to kill a vehicle , some are safer than others , some are better at one make than another but worse on another make , no 1 tool does it all , users kill cars more than tools do.

The biggest cause of killing a car is user error and users lack of knowledge , many press buttons hoping for the best with no knowledge of what the tool is doing in the background and no knowledge of the system they are working on .

training and research is needed long before you buy a tool , if starting a business im sure you will have researched the area you hope to work in and formed a business plan to gauge the viability of your venture , if not this should be your first step.

you should research your area , what are the most common cars in the area , make models and years , this info is golden as you then know what tools to buy , what lock picks you require , what programmers you require and what training you may need, who are your competitors in the area , how well do they do , can the area sustain another service ?
for the cars you hope to work on , what stock will you need to carry , what tools etc , without this info how can you work out what investment you must make ?

this research and the answers it yields gives you the ability to target what you need accurately saving alot of wasted investment.

then get on google and research the systems you hope to work on , understand them , read on what cars you should never attempt and which carry high risk so should be avoided especially at the outset .

then get very good insurance that covers you to work on vehicles , you will be grateful of it when you brick a car , build relationships with local professionals who can fix things when they go wrong .

it takes many years to even become competent , its not a matter of buy a tool and away you go . proper research and forming a plan along with targetted training and knowledge saves tears for many later down the line .

just to add , obdstar is actually a very good tool on a number of vehicles , poor on some and likely to fail on some , in the right knowledgable hands it can do far more safely than the same tool in novice hands.
Even the very best tools can brick a vehicle in unskilled hands .

so in short , research your business plan , ensure its viable , identify the training and investment needs and do research on the vehicle systems you hope to work on , you will need a number of tools and this investment is ongoing , it never stops , and every day is a school day , the need to learn also never stops.

you say you want to copy lost keys , you cant copy lost keys as you dont have a key to copy from , so you need to learn how to pick and decode the locks or how to open remove and strip the locks in order to cut a key , the full set of picks and decoders is around 200 tools , which ones you need to buy and learn on depends what make model and year of vehicle you want to work on , then you will need a good electrinic cut to code machine , then various key programmers to buy and learn to use dependent on the makes models and years of vehicle you hope to work on.

[Ricohun]

Thank you for your answers!
I have a technical interest!
I also fix cars as a hobby.
GSM for 20 years I was an unlocker.
There are a lot of tools available, I don't know what is the right one to start with.
Abundance disorder?
I know it takes several years.
Tools needed for an ECU reader (kess, or foxflash) key copier: xhorse dolphin, Autel km100, raw keys, transponders? a good website. I think these are the first?


what year and make? As it is, obviously high-end luxury cars are dangerous for me.

[Spiritech]

Thank you for your answers!
I have a technical interest!
I also fix cars as a hobby.
GSM for 20 years I was an unlocker.
There are a lot of tools available, I don't know what is the right one to start with.
Abundance disorder?
I know it takes several years.
Tools needed for an ECU reader (kess, or foxflash) key copier: xhorse dolphin, Autel km100, raw keys, transponders? a good website. I think these are the first?


what year and make? As it is, obviously high-end luxury cars are dangerous for me.

It is not just high-end luxury cars that can cause you issues. Something as simple as as Toyota 2nd or 3rd gen immo with hardware issues that you haven't looked at before you press 'Reset immo' can end up with a non-running vehicle til you've stripped it down to the dash reinforcer to EEPROM keys back into the immobox.

There are so many things to check, so many edge cases, so many issues that we couldn't detail them all if we had the hours to write it down as some of us it only comes back when we see the issues.

It's good you have some history of working with cars but key and immo programming is a whole new beast unless you've done it before. I really suggest you either find some commercial training or find someone local to you who can teach you a little here and there.

Just today I repaired two BMWs with dead FEM/BDC due to unqualified/inexperienced people causing issues, I repaired a Toyota last week with a 0 keys immobox thanks to someone attempting an immo reset with the car not in a proper condition, 2 weeks ago I repaired a Mercedes Benz that had been rooted by a 'locksmith' doing some really poor soldering work in an EZS. I repaired a Honda a month or so back that someone had attempted key programming on and managed to kick the link between immobox & ECU.

These are just a few of the recent repairs I've done with problems caused by people with all the tools but no knowledge.

Now all this doesn't address the legislative requirements of your market, are you in the EU or US? You may require SERMI or NASTF certification to purchase some things you may need like pincodes or even genuine software for programming some vehicles.

I'm not trying to discourage you by any means, I'm just trying to make you aware that keys and security programming is a lot deeper rabbit hole than it seems from the outside.

[Ricohun]

Very kind and thank you for writing.
yes is that hard, who will teach me a little? Who would create competition for themselves in Budapest.
It's a pleasure to read how many mistakes you were able to solve that were caused by someone else.
At Toyota, what does immo reset mean in an improper condition?
Br