OEM, Aftermarket or
Refurbished Car Keys?

An OEM key is made by the same company that supplies the car manufacturer — so it's identical to the key the dealer sells, right down to the finish, the button click feel, and the transponder chip inside. It comes in the manufacturer's packaging and carries full traceability.

Best for: nearly new vehicles, cars under warranty, premium makes where buyers expect OEM parts, and anyone who wants the convenience of a key they know will work first time.

An aftermarket key is made by a third-party manufacturer — not the OEM supplier, but built to the same specification. Quality varies enormously between manufacturers, which is why most good auto locksmiths source from a handful of trusted suppliers.

Best for: cars out of warranty, older vehicles, budget-conscious drivers who need a reliable key without the dealer markup. This is what we recommend to about 80% of our Scarborough customers.

A refurbished key is a second-hand key that someone has cleaned, re-cased, or swapped the electronics into a new shell. These turn up on eBay for £20–£40 and look tempting — but there's a catch that most sellers don't mention.

Verdict: avoid. The transponder chip in a modern car key is locked to the original vehicle's VIN at the factory. Once it's been programmed to one car, in almost all cases it can never be reprogrammed to another. A £20 eBay key almost always ends up costing you the call-out fee for a locksmith who can't program it — plus the cost of the key you should have bought in the first place. We see this at least once a month in Scarborough.