The truth about auto VIN numbers, they do not tell you how to make a key to a car, they never have. What the VIN number does tell you is the make, model, year, where it was made, what engine it it is supposed to have under the hood and lastly, the number sequence of that vehicle.
Now on some vehicles it is sometimes possible to retrieve a key code from the manufacturer using the VIN. Here is why this is possible in some cases. Not all manufacturers did this, and only a few are still doing this today, and it is being done even less as we go into the future.
Let's use Chevrolet for this example. For years as the car rolled off the assembly line an employee would make a file using the VIN number, inside this file he would add things such as what color the car was or what special added features the car had etc.... at the same time he would also record the key code for that car. So you see the VIN number is only a file number which the dealer can use to look up the key code.
Not all manufacturers did this. The few that did are beginning to do away with this practice.
Here's why,-- over the years as we moved into computers instead of files in file cabinets,when the info was transferred, some of the info was incorrectly recorded. I learned this over time as more and more of the key codes I retrieved from the manufacturer would not work. Because it was either incorrect or the car was so old that it had new locks because the old ones stopped working or the car had been in a wreck and a different door or steering wheel had been installed.
Still on occasion, and only if the car is not over 8 years old it may be possible to get a key code from the dealer. They will only give it to the legal current owner, in person. They won't give it to a relative or a friend, or over the phone. PERIOD! So take the cars tag receipt or title and ID with you when you go, or you will have wasted your time.
We can make a key to the car, we don't use the VIN number, because
1. most car companies never recorded the key code.
2. more often than not the code they give us is wrong.
3. the few that did record the key code only keep records going back 8 years.
With all that being said there is ONE exception. All Chrysler products that have transponder keys require a code that is specific to each vehicle in order to program new keys. That number can only be retrieved from the manufacturer using the VIN number.
