Home / All Keys Lost & EEPROM
All Keys Lost Car Keys
Shrewsbury
Lost all your car keys, with nothing left to copy from? This is an all keys lost job, and it is a different piece of work to cutting a spare. William Church opens the car, reads the key code out of the vehicle itself, and codes a new key at the roadside in Shrewsbury. No tow and no dealer queue.
All Keys Lost Quote
Send Your Vehicle Details
Send the registration, the make and the year, plus where the car is parked. Say whether the car is locked and whether any key at all still exists.
Goes straight to William · mobile service · no fee to ask
William Church Does This Work Himself
An all keys lost job is the hardest thing an auto locksmith does. There is no key to copy, so the answer has to come out of the car. Get the method wrong and the module can be left in a worse state than it started. William Church has spent more than 10 years in auto electronics, and he does this work himself.
He is DBS checked and carries £1 million of public liability cover. WAC is SERMI registered, the Europe-wide scheme that lets approved independents reach manufacturer security data. On a car with no key left, that access is often the difference between a roadside job and a dealer bill.
The service is mobile. The van comes to the car, whether it is on a driveway in Shrewsbury, in a car park or at the side of a road.
What All Keys Lost Actually Means
With a working key in your hand, a spare is straightforward. The car already trusts that key, so the new one is added alongside it. That reference is what makes a spare cheap and quick.
Lose every key and the reference disappears. Nothing can be copied, so the code has to be pulled out of the car. Most vehicles give it up through the diagnostic port under the dashboard. Some will not, and then the immobiliser or key module is taken out and read on the bench.
That is the whole difference, and it is why the price and the time are not the same as a spare. If your key still turns and you are reading this in advance, the cheapest day to buy a second key is today, on the spare car keys page.
Five Routes Into A Car With No Key
Which route your car takes depends on its age and its security system. The registration tells William that before he sets off.
OBD All Keys Lost
The common route. The tool talks to the immobiliser through the diagnostic port and writes a new key in without any key present.
Bench Work
When the port will not give the data up, the module comes out. It is read on the bench and refitted once the key is made.
EEPROM Recovery
The last route. The memory chip holding the key data is read directly, which is how older cars and locked modules are recovered.
Key Generation
A blank is cut to the lock and given the code the car expects, so it opens the doors and starts the engine.
Old Keys Deleted
Every previous key is removed from the car's memory. A key that turns up later, or was stolen, no longer starts it.
Seven Programming Platforms In One Van
One tool does not cover every car. A locksmith carrying a single platform will fix some all keys lost jobs and book you in again for the rest. William carries seven, plus the cutting gear and the bench equipment, so most cars can be finished in one visit.
Reaching manufacturer security data legally is the other half. WAC is registered under the scheme that governs it, and the official detail sits at Official SERMI UK information.
Yanhua ACDP does bench module work without soldering. It has published all keys lost routines for BMW BDC2 and Volkswagen MQB48.
A transponder and key programmer. It generates keys and clones chips where the car allows a chip to be copied.
The Advanced Diagnostics platform, built in the UK and the everyday tool in most British auto locksmith vans.
The MaxiIM range handles diagnostics and immobiliser work, with all smart keys lost routines on Toyota, Subaru and MQB models.
Key cutting machines and key tools. This is the half of the job that shapes the blade to the lock.
Key programming through the diagnostic port, and it pairs with ACDP on Volkswagen MQB48 all keys lost work.
A BMW specialist. It reads EWS2, EWS3, EWS4 and CAS modules directly, which is pure EEPROM work on older BMW.
Not a brand but a method. The module is opened and its memory chip read, which is the route when the diagnostic port gives nothing.
The Wrong Method Makes It Worse
This is the job where guessing costs money. A module written with the wrong file can stop talking altogether. A cheap tool run on the wrong car can lock the immobiliser out. What was a key job then becomes a replacement module, and the bill goes up by several times.
Proof of ownership is checked before anything starts. That means the V5C logbook and photo identification that matches it, or company paperwork if the car belongs to a business. The reason is simple. A locksmith who makes a key without asking can make one for a stolen car.
If the keys were taken rather than mislaid, say so on the phone. Deleting the old keys becomes the important part of the job, and it is worth thinking about an anti-theft security upgrade at the same visit.
How An All Keys Lost Job Runs
Send the reg
The registration shows the model, the year and the security system fitted.
Get a price
William quotes on that car before he travels, not after he arrives.
Prove ownership
He checks the V5C and photo ID, or the company paperwork, at the car.
Open and read
The car is opened without damage and the key code is read from it.
Code and clear
The new key is coded and tested, and every lost key is deleted.
Five Ways People End Up Here
No Spare Ever Made
The car came with one key and it is gone. This is the most common call, and it is normal work.
Keyless Smart Key
Proximity systems need an all keys lost routine of their own. Newer models can take longer than a transponder key.
Older Immobiliser
Cars from the 1990s and 2000s often have no diagnostic route at all. The module is read directly instead.
Bought Without Keys
An auction car or an inherited car with no key. The V5C still has to match before any work starts.
Keys Were Stolen
Deleting the old key matters more than cutting the new one. The car is not secure until that is done.
What Changes The Price Of This Job
How much this costs starts with the key type. The 2026 Checkatrade cost guide puts a transponder key at £240, a keyless entry key at £280 and a remote key at £320, with £240 as the UK average across all types. A Range Rover Sport key sits nearer £595. Those are national trade averages rather than WAC quotes.
An all keys lost job sits above the spare price for the same car, because the code is read rather than copied. Bench or EEPROM work adds more again. Set against that, a dealer route usually starts with a tow of £100 to £300 before the key is even begun, and the car goes nowhere for days.
William quotes on your registration before anyone travels, so the figure is exact rather than a range. Fuller figures by key type and by car sit on the car key replacement cost page.
Related Services and Next Steps
This page is for the case where nothing is left to copy. If a key still exists, one of these pages fits your situation better and costs less.
Lost Car Keys
Use this page when a spare still exists somewhere, because that makes the job cheaper and faster.
View Service →Car Key Replacement
Use this page for a straight replacement on a car that still has a working key to copy from.
View Service →Car Key Programming
Use this page when you already have a key or a fob and it simply needs coding to the car.
View Service →Emergency Vehicle Unlocking
Use this page when the keys are shut inside the car rather than lost, so no new key is needed.
View Service →Areas William Covers From Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the base, and the van travels out across Shropshire, Powys and the West Midlands. A car with no key cannot be driven to a workshop, so the work goes to the car. Each town below has a page of its own.
All Keys Lost and EEPROM FAQs
What does all keys lost mean?
What is EEPROM key recovery?
Does every all keys lost job need EEPROM work?
Can a new key be made without an original key at all?
What proof of ownership do you need?
Which programming tools does WAC use?
Will the lost keys still work after a new one is made?
Can this be done at my house or does the car go in?
All Keys Lost Car Keys Shrewsbury
Send William Your Vehicle Details
Send the registration, the make, the year and where the car is parked. You get a price on that car before anyone travels, and the V5C is checked when he arrives.