Automotive Locksmith in Sarasota

Fast and same day in almost all instances! Pop-A-Lock of Sarasota is a local company and we are a 30 minute drive to almost any location in our service area. Exact ETA depends on our current schedule and our current location at the time of your call.

Yes, Pop-A-Lock is only a mobile locksmith service and we do NOT have a physical retail storefront.

Pop-A-Lock of Sarasota charges a flat rate of $85 in our core service area for most vehicles. Certain luxury vehicles, large trucks, or semi-trucks are more difficult to open and are more expensive. Also, if we travel a lot farther to Myakka City or Siesta Key, for example, the price could be higher depending on how far we travel. We ALWAYS quote a flat rate and there are NEVER any hidden fees.

Since we opened in 2013, we have had zero damage complaints from unlocking a car. However Pop-A-Lock, nor any locksmith, cannot guarantee with 100% certainty that damage could occur. The only way to provide a 100% guarantee of no damage is to create a physical key to manually unlock the car door, which we can do for most cars and trucks.

Yes, Pop-A-Lock of Sarasota can create a new key from scratch for virtually all North American, Japanese, and Korean-made vehicles. For European made cars such as BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Audi, and Jaguar, it depends on the exact year, make, and model so please call to find out programming compatibility for your vehicle.

This is a tricky question because there really isn’t an exact yes or no answer. In some cases, yes, in other cases no because it depends on the exact year, make, and model of your vehicle so please call to discuss your problem. For some GM vehicles with a dead battery, the key will be stuck in the ignition because of the low or dead battery. For GM cars, the key usually comes out when you hook up a battery charger or jump pack. Make sure you have a good car battery. Finally, a lot of people think that the key is the problem when in fact the lock cylinder is the problem. If a key is really worn out, it won’t turn. We can cut a key to code which is the factory specification and many times that solves the problem. In the case of some Honda vehicles, there are common issues with the tumblers inside and we are able to fix the Honda lock cylinder versus installing a new lock cylinder assembly which is expensive!

Yes, most vehicles produced since the 1990s have a built-in, original anti-theft system that requires a transponder chip key to be programmed to the car for it to work. If your car is not programmed, you will see a red security light on the dashboard that stays on or flashes when the ignition is in the ON position (right before crank). Please visit our Smart Key Duplication technical white paper here as well as Understanding Transponder Key systems here.

Yes, Pop-A-Lock of Sarasota specializes in programming key fobs and smart keys for vast majority of vehicles!

Almost ALL cars have a manual keyhole in the driver side door handle. Look underneath the handle and you will see a plastic cover to the right of the handle itself. Simply pop off that cover and you will see the keyhole. Insert your key and turn it to unlock your door.

For BMW’s with “slot-type” ignition, we can program key fobs for those BMW vehicles generally produced between 2003-2013. For Mercedes vehicles that use the Fobik style ignition where you insert your fob into the slot and twist it, yes, we can program those. We can do some Land Rovers but not newer Land Rovers since about 2015. For non-European vehicles, yes, we can program push-to-start key fobs to virtually every other vehicle. Regarding Tesla, you can buy your own key card and program it yourself or you can use the Tesla app on your phone.

In Sarasota County, a specific locksmith license is not offered by any local government. However, we have a business license through the State of Florida. Specifically, we filed Articles of Incorporation in 2013 (our legal name is Gulf Locksmith Corp DBA (doing business as) Pop-A-Lock, a nationwide franchise. In addition, a legitimate company like Pop-A-Lock is registered with the Florida Department of Revenue to pay sales tax and receive our tax exemption certificate (relative to buying inventory and reselling it). Regarding insurance, we carry Bond (theft), Automotive, and General Liability Policies. We provide Certificates of Insurance all the time to our key accounts, which is pretty much mandatory to do business these days.

Yes, we accept cards, tap-to-pay, and cash and we do not add any fees either. We generally do not give a cash discount either. We have one price regardless of payment method. Personally, I hate it when businesses charge me a 3% credit card fee or convenience fee. We do NOT do that.

You do NOT have to tow the car to the dealer. Pop-A-Lock comes to YOUR location to make keys on the spot.

Yes, we have a pretty good track record of extracting broken keys and then making a new key on the spot.

For almost all cars, it is cheaper for Pop-A-Lock to make a factory original key or smart key fob versus the dealer. When you call the dealer, or anyone, to get a price, it is VERY important that you get the FULL price for everything needed, not just the key fob! You will need to get a price for everything including the key fob itself, programming, and cutting the emergency door key (that’s 3 separate items). In addition, most dealers will charge for “shop supplies” or other “miscellaneous fees.” Lastly, you will pay a 7% sales tax to the State of Florida. All reputable, legitimate companies must pay the sales tax.

Yes, we offer a 30-day warranty on factory original key fobs that we supply to the customer. The warranty applies to any product deemed defective by the original equipment manufacturer. We do not provide a warranty if the key fob got wet or was dropped or lost. We do not offer a warranty on aftermarket fobs nor keys and fobs that a customer supplies which is understandable for most people.

Maybe. The trick here is to pull the wheel left and right while simultaneously turning the ignition. You may have to “wiggle jiggle” the key while turning the ignition. Sometimes a key will not turn because the shifter cable is loose or disconnected.

Yes, we can get into the trunk of almost any vehicle. We could also make a key to unlock the trunk if your trunk has a keyhole.

We can copy some keys for motorcycles but we no longer “generate” or “create” a new motorcycle key from scratch. For RVs, we can create a new key if there is a key code stamped on the face of the lock. Yes, we can create keys from scratch for most semi-trucks too.

No, we are open Monday through Friday from 8 PM to 5 PM. We are closed for all major holidays as well.