A Dodge with no key.

My mother has a 2008 Dodge truck, SLT 1500, and the keys are missing.  Can a dealer get her a key from the VIN?  Locksmith?

A dealer can with the registration and her drivers license. It’s an old school, no chip, key. 

OK, thanks.  Of course, the registration is locked inside the truck.

The just need some proof of ownership. Title, insurance card, etc. 

This is a clusterberkeley family situation.  We might be able to find some insurance paperwork.

I immediately thought of ..."a horse with no name."

C'mon, admit it, you did, too.

DWNSHFT said:

I immediately thought of ..."a horse with no name."

 

C'mon, admit it, you did, too.

I thought I was the only one!

Good automotive locksmith should be able to make a key for the lock. I had that done on an F150 I used to own. 

I called every Ford dealer within 50 miles when we "lost" the keys to the Grand Marquis.  Everyone of them said they purge the VINs at 10 years, so none of them could cut me a key by VIN, since the car was too old.  Hopefully Dodge holds onto VINs longer.

Two of the dealers, and a few of the local lock smiths all recommended the same guy to cut and reprogram new keys for us.  I don't know how he managed to know what the key shape should be, but they cut us 3 new keys and reprogrammed the car to work with them for $150.  We eventually found the original key, and it'll still open the doors/trunk, but won't start the car anymore, since the car was reprogrammed to match the new keys.

I'll call some dealers tomorrow.  If they can't, I'll try some locksmiths. 

Yesterday, I rode through the desert to a Dodge with no key.  It feels good to be out of the rain.  The 114F temps were a tad on the high side. 

The dealer said no truck, no key, tow it in.

This is a really clean 2008 truck, one scratch in the clear coat, probably <30K miles, one busted rim, bumper pushed up against that tire if you turn left.  Had a ditch incident.  Mom wants the truck gone.  Title is who knows where.  Maybe a safe deposit box, maybe missing.  Mom wants something like a RAV4, up in the air but not too high so she can get in and out and have good visibility.

I'm thinking:  Have it towed to the dealer, see if the dealer will make an offer on it as is.  If no offer, get them to fix it, then drive it to a Toyota dealer and trade it on a RAV.  I think that if it was all fixed and the title was found, it would be an 8K truck.  If they gave her 4 for it, I think she would go for it.  SoCal area.  She also has a total POS Buick that needs to be taken on the deal to get it out of her hands.  It drives, but I SWAG its value at about five bills. I think it's been totaled twice, maybe 3 times.  Or, get a locksmith out to make a key, me charge the battery, pull the bumper (real steal there) off the tire with my come-along and my Lexus, put the spare on, bring it to the Toyota dealer and take what they will give. 

What do y'all think? 

I don’t think anyone will take it in trade without a title. 

Dumb question, but have YOU (not her) looked for the key?

I would call the locksmith out and have him make a key. Meet him there with a new battery from Wally World, pull the bumper out, and then take it in for a trade. Or put it up for sale here, someone would buy it.

The truck hasn't been started for close to a year.  It is in the garage.  Dad stopped driving after whatever took out the bumper and wheel and it has sat since.  House has been gone through, keys are missing.  Actually, my brother and his friends stole the keys, if you really want to know.  I have my Genius charger, so I think I can recover the battery, or, yeah, put a new battery in it.  I am leaning to calling the locksmith out.  It is a good truck and barely used, one owner.

A locksmith is bound to be cheaper and less aggravating than the dealer.  Plus you won't need to tow it.

Can you apply for a replacement title from the state?

Yeah, I'm gonna call a locksmith shortly.  A replacement title is also on the list of crap to look up today.

Got a key made.  Locksmith came out, two bills later we had a key.  It had a chip.  He said there were both kinds on that series of truck and he had to just try it and see.  Once we got it open, I put jumper cables on it from the POS Buick so it would at least power on the systems.  Then we found it had the chip system and he made a chip key and programmed it with a gizmo plugged into the OBDII port.

I let it charge on the POS Buick until the POS Buick started overheating, then put my Genius charger on it.  It was flashing 25% last I looked.  Anyone want a (rather, really) nice Dodge Ram near San Berdoo?

Got the truck started, backed it out, hooked up the LS400 to a come-along to the bent bumper, gave it a few good tugs with the mighty 1UZFE, it pulled away from the tire, driveable.  CEL was on for a low battery.  Whatever.  Drove it to the Toyota dealer, gave them the keys and 16.5K later, Mom got a new 2020 Rolla.

Anyone want a free running Buick?  Add some boost, $2020 worth of performance stuff and you got a challenge car.

What kind of Buick?

2006 Lacrosse.  4 cyl, auto, has like ~50,60K miles on it. 

Don't trust the VIN key.  Seriously.  Maybe Dodge is better at it, but BMW, GM, and multiple others I have tried have failed miserably.  Brand new E46 owned by my friend... he had it for 6 months and lost the keys.  He ponied up and bought keys from the VIN at a dealer.  Completely wrong cut.  Dealer ordered again.  Exact same wrong cut.

Mom's GMC Acadia... same thing.

I'm just giving a heads up that you should discuss how flexible they are with their "no return policy on cut keys" before opening the wallet.

The locksmith came out and made it in the driveway.  It all worked out.  The Dodge is gone.  The Rolla is here.

In reply to Dr. Hess :

Ugh, family problems...

Nice to hear it worked out in a (almost?) best case scenario.

Yeah, I think it all worked out.  I was hoping to get five large out of the Dodge.  They gave her six and a half and for an extra fifty bucks, they dealt with the missing title.  I let them screw us on the usual "title fee" and "door guard" items and they threw in some kind of basic discount.  It's a really nice Rolla.  The whole shopping experience, while it did take about 5 hours, was not unpleasant.  I didn't expect to be driving a new car home when we got there.  Toyota of Redlands.  The next nearest Toyota dealer has some bad internet juju.  Toyota of Redlands has good internet juju.  I was surprised that it is a 2020 model.  The sales guy said they sold the last 2019 Rolla last January.