★★★★★
"I was very impressed. He was on time and set up both key fobs and cut both keys for my car and it only took about an hour. He really knows his stuff and I really appreciated it."
— Glenn Buckboro · Google review
Checking hours…
Typical booking: same week, your pick of time
Spare car key in Winnipeg — before you need it.
I'm Leo. I cut and program spare car keys in Winnipeg, on-site at your driveway or wherever the car is. Most domestic and Asian makes. Job takes 30–60 minutes. The number I text you is the number you pay — no surprise charges when I arrive.
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- ✓ I come to you
- ✓ Written quote first
- ✓ NASTF VSP authorized
Today
Spare key cut at your car
$90+ transponder
$180+ smart key
One planned visit. Both keys in your hand. 30–60 minutes.
VS
Wait until all keys lost
Dealer key + tow + parts-order wait
$1,050+
Worst-case dealer route. AKL with me is $280+ — still painful, still avoidable.
The math
$90 today vs. $1,050+ the day you lose every key.
If you're reading this, you have all your keys. That window closes the moment one of them goes missing — and the cost of fixing it goes up by a multiplier, not a small bump. Here's the comparison, with real Winnipeg numbers.
Make a spare now
$90+ transponder
$180+ smart key
What you actually do
- ✓Text me on your schedule — book a slot this week
- ✓I come to your driveway with the right blank already cut to your VIN
- ✓30–60 minutes start to finish — you keep both keys
- ✓One bill. No tow. No taxi to and from the dealer.
Wait until all keys are lost
$1,050+
What actually happens
- !You find out at 6:47am on a Tuesday in a Costco lot
- !Dealer key from parts: $600–$800
- !Tow to the dealer: $100–$250
- !Wait time for parts and a service-bay slot: 3–10 business days without your car
The honest middle: if you've lost all keys and you find me first, my all-keys-lost service is $280+ at your car — no tow, no parts wait. That's still $100 more than getting a spare today, plus the bad day.
Be honest
Why most people put off making a spare
Same four conversations, over and over. None of them are crazy. They're just not what I see when I actually get the AKL call.
"I'll get to it later."
Most of my lost-keys customers said this last month. The window stays open until the day it doesn't, and there's no warning. "Later" is the moment the original key isn't where you left it.
"I'm careful with my keys."
So is almost everyone calling me from a Polo Park parking lot at noon. The AKL call doesn't come from careless people — it comes from people who got unlucky once. Pockets fail, kids hide things, laundry happens.
"It's expensive."
It starts at $90+ (transponder) or $180+ (smart key). That's roughly two tanks of gas. As insurance against a $1,050 outcome, it's the cheapest premium you'll ever buy on a vehicle.
"I'll just call the dealer when I need to."
The dealer can do it — and they will charge dealer prices, schedule you for next week, and need the car towed in because they don't make house calls. The math doesn't work in your favour.
How a spare-key visit actually works
Different from emergency lost-keys work — calmer, faster, planned around your schedule, not mine.
-
01
Text me your details + a photo of the existing key
Year, make, model. A clear photo of the key you already have — the button side is plenty. Add the VIN if you're comfortable (why I ask). That photo tells me which blank to bring and saves you 10 minutes on arrival.
-
02
I send the quote and book a slot
Real number in writing. You pick the time — most spare-key jobs are booked the same week. No emergency surcharges, no after-hours pressure.
-
03
I cut and program at your car
Driveway, work parking lot, wherever. I cut, program if it needs programming, test both keys — yours and the new one. Then we settle up.
What kinds of spare keys I cut
Not sure which one your car uses? Send me a photo of the existing key and I'll tell you in the quote.
1
Mechanical blade
Plain metal key, no chip, no electronics. Common on domestic and Asian vehicles before roughly 2000. Cut and done in 10–15 minutes — no programming step.
2
Transponder (chip-in-head)
Metal blade with a chip in the plastic head and no remote buttons — just a key. Standard on most vehicles 2000–2010. Cut and programmed to your immobilizer with dealer-level access. 30–45 minutes typical.
3
Remote head & flip key
A transponder key with the remote built in. On a remote head key the lock/unlock buttons sit in the plastic head; on a flip key the blade folds out of the body at the press of a button. Either way I cut the blade — edge-cut or laser-cut — program the chip to your immobilizer, and sync the remote buttons.
4
Proximity / push-to-start fob
Keyless cars where the fob unlocks and starts the car without leaving your pocket. The spare is another fob, programmed to your car. Inside each one is a hidden mechanical insert key for manual door unlock — I cut that blade to match your locks so the spare still gets you in if the battery dies.
What it costs
Open-ended starting price below. Exact number comes by text before I dispatch — and the number I send is the number you pay. No surprise charges on arrival.
Spare / extra key
Transponder
$90+
Remote head / flip
$160+
Smart key
$180+
Cut and programmed at your vehicle. Most domestic and Asian makes.
Final price depends on year/make/model and key type (mechanical, transponder, remote head / flip, laser-cut, or proximity fob). The full breakdown is on the pricing page.
Making two spares at once?
The second key is cheaper than the first — labour is the bulk of the cost, and I'm already on-site. If two drivers share the car, it's worth doing both at once. Mention it in your message and I'll send the bundled quote.
Real work, real cars
No stock photos. Leo will swap these in with shots from actual spare-key jobs.
📷 PHOTO 1 — Customer's existing key and the fresh-cut spare side by side on a clean shop towel.
📷 PHOTO 2 — Laser-cut machine in the trunk, cutting a sidewinder blank for a Honda.
📷 PHOTO 3 — Both keys handed back to the customer in their driveway, blurred Winnipeg residential street.
What customers say
Nine verified Google reviews so far — early but real. Here are three.
★★★★★
"Great service! He quickly made a copy of my car key, and it works perfectly. Friendly, professional, and fair price. Highly recommend!"
— Oleh Vashchenko · Google review
★★★★★
"Precise, polite and punctual."
— Dominic Ibeme · Google review
9 verified reviews · 5.0 average · all on the Google Business Profile. No padding, no buying.
Spare car key questions, answered
If yours isn't here, just text me. More on the full FAQ page.
Do I need to have the existing key?
Yes, ideally a working one. With at least one working key, the job is quick: I program a fresh key directly to your vehicle so the car accepts it as an additional working key — that's what most spare jobs are, not a cloned copy of your old one. If you've lost the only key, that's a different job — see Lost All Keys — and it's priced separately ($280+).
How long does cutting and programming take on-site?
30 to 60 minutes for most jobs. Mechanical-only keys on older cars are 10 to 15 minutes. Smart keys and proximity fobs that program through the car's computer take longer because the security routine itself takes time — that's the car running its checks, not me running them.
Can you do high-security laser-cut keys?
Yes. I carry laser-cut (sidewinder) blanks and the machine to cut them. Most domestic and Asian vehicles from about 2010 onward use laser-cut keys. The cut is more precise than an edge-cut key — and it's also why a sketchy mall kiosk can't actually copy one.
Will the spare have all the same buttons as my original?
Yes. The spare I cut and program matches your original's buttons — lock, unlock, panic, trunk, and remote start where your vehicle has it. I match the fob to your exact year, make, model, and trim before I program it, so it works just like the one you already use.
What if my car is push-to-start — do I get a fob or a metal key?
Push-to-start cars use a proximity fob, and the spare is another fob. There's almost always a hidden mechanical insert key inside the fob for manual door unlock — I cut that blade to match your locks, so your spare has it too. If all you want is a plain metal-blade key cut (no fob, no programming — for valet use, a glove-box backup, or trunk-only access), that's just the blank plus cutting labour, not the full fob price. Text me with your year/make/model and I'll send the actual cost.
Should I make 1 spare or 2?
Most customers do 1. If two drivers share the car, 2 makes sense. The second key is cheaper than the first because I'm already on-site — labour is the bulk of the cost, and that's already paid for. Tell me up front so I bring two blanks.
What if I lost the spare already and only have one key left?
That's still a spare job, not all-keys-lost. With your working key as reference, I use dedicated programming tools to add a fresh spare directly to your vehicle's immobilizer — same price as a regular spare (from $90+, depending on key type). Cloning (copying one key's data into another) is rare in my work and only applies to older makes whose chips don't use a rolling code. The job to avoid is losing the last working key — that's when costs jump to AKL pricing. Making the spare now is the cheap insurance.
Send me the details
Faster than calling. I'll text you back with a written quote and the next slot I have open.
Make the spare while you can still find the original.
Text is fastest. Call is fine. The quote arrives in writing before I head out — and the number I send is the number you pay.