First of all this is a difficult thing to answer, but we’re going to try. Cheap car keys save you money, but do they give good value for money? Do you get a better car key if you spend double the price? If so, is it twice as good? So how do we compare different products, or brands?
If we wanted to compare batteries, a simple test would be to put them inside the Duracell bunny and see which lasted longer. Easy.

Or let’s look at a genuine Apple phone charging lead or a one from the pound shop. If we put them through the same use, does the pound shop leader crack and split? (Lets face it, they do pretty quickly) Or does the Apple lead last longer because the material is higher quality?

Now if the lead from the market stall costs £5 and lasts six months, how much longer would you expect the one from the Apple shop to last? If it costs £20, then at least four times this, so two years you’d hope! Do phone chargeing leads ever last that long?
How long is a car key warranty?
The problem with cars keys is the warranty. How long does the warranty last on a £300 car key from Ford? Well if you bought a £300 camera from Currys, you’d expect at least one year, maybe more. But car keys are different. They come without a warranty. (This isn’t true if you buy it from us, but we’ll come on to that later). As soon as the key has been cut and coded at the dealership, it no longer has a warranty. So how do we measure whether a dealer key is better than cheap car keys without comparing warranties?

We all want to save money where we can, especially since everything has shot up in price. It’s clear to us that the price of car keys from the dealer has increased markedly in the last six months. Some Ford and VAG group car keys, such as Volkswagon have nearly doubled in price.
In a perfect world, we’d all have the genuine keys, straight from the dealer and coded in, nice and simple. However, there’s a reason we don’t all take our vehicles to the dealer for a service isn’t there? It’s price, plain and simple.
The good news is that a new range of cheap car keys are now available. The question is, are they as good as the genuine keys?
Cheap car keys, what's the difference?
For a start, it’s fair to say that many of the keys in the world are made in China. Whether you buy it from the dealer, or buy it direct from Aliexpress, there’s a good chance it’s had a long journey half way around the world! China specialise in making car keys that look the same as the dealer key, you can even get a pretend badge on it if you want one. We’ll call these ‘lookalike keys‘ in this article.

They have also developed a range of versatile cheap car keys that can be formatted to your make and model. They look different to the original. We’re going to call these ‘multi function keys’ during this article.

Car Key Quality - The Family Test
If we can’t use warranties to measure how good a key is, then we believe it’s up to us as locksmiths to decide. We sell a whole range of keys all day long and have been trading for eighteen years. Over this time, we’ve developed a feel for the good and bad keys.
We never want to sell cheap car keys if they cause you problems. You’ll be disappointed and we’ll need to replace it with another key, which means we’ll lose money. It’s all a balance.
So we believe the best way is the ‘family test’. Would I want my wife, son or daughter to drive around with a key we sell? Is it good enough for them or will it let them down? If we’re in any doubt, we don’t sell that item. So let’s have a look at the money that can be saved on car keys that have passed the family test.
What's the price difference?
Let’s take a few examples, then look at how much they cost. Then we’ll look at what other keys are available. So let’s start with VW Polo keys that have risen in price so much over the last few months.
We’re writing this in May 2023 and prices have shot up recently. The photo shows a genuine VW Polo key, the original key, plus a lookalike key we supplied. On this occasion, the lookalike keys are good cheap car keys. The quality is comparable to the genuine key and they feel the same to use.

If we’d orderd the key in from the dealer, it would have cost £195 plus Vat (£234 inc Vat). Then we would have needed to code it with a dealer tool, we charge £60 for this. Part of the problem with using the dealer tool is that we need to pay a subscription every time we use it. This makes the programming more expensive. Therefore the total cost for the dealer key is £265 plus Vat (£312 inc Vat)
Now if we take the lookalike key, we can buy these in at a fair price. Also, we can programme them with our own equipment, instead of the dealer equipment. This means programming is cheaper too. We charge £160 inc Vat for the whole job, so if you compare this with the dealer key it’s quite a saving. More importantly, the keys are good quality, so we believe they are good value.
At present, there isn’t a cheaper, multi function key available for this car.
Cheap Car Keys - More Lookalike keys
Other keys can also give big savings compared to the dealer. This time we’ll lok at Peugeot and Citroen keys.

If we look at the price of a Peugeot Partner key now, it give a good guide for typical Peugeot and Citroen prices.
So a 2011 Peugeot Partner is a typical work van. It uses a three button key and the dealer key is expensive. At last count, the key is £212 plus Vat. Next, you’ll need to wait up to two weeks for it and then it will need coding in. Fortunately it doesn’t need dealer equipment to programme it. So the total charge for a dealer key, coded at our workshop is £212 plus Vat (£254 inc Vat). Then you need to add the cutting and coding charge which is £50 plus Vat (£60)
The total cost for this key is £314 inc Vat. So what about the lookalike option?
This key works the same as the dealer key. To be honest, they are not quite as good as the dealer keys as far as quality. The main issue is that the flip mechanism does not last as long as the dealer key, although it will last 2-3 years with normal use. However, they cost less than half the dealer key. At £130 inc Vat, this will get you a lookalike remote key.
But there’s another option in the multi function key.
Muti Function Key

This is our first look at the multi function key. It comes in a range of designs and can have either two or three buttons. We can also add the key blade to suit your car. This type of key is a good budget option. But is it as good as the dealer key?
Although we see a few issues with these keys, it’s normally the blade wobbling slightly within the holder. We’ve also had a couple over the last year where the buttons have stopped working completely. Why do we tell you about the problems with cheap car keys?
Well we believe in honesty and that you should have all the information before you spend your hard earned money.
When we came across the problem with the loose blade, we easily fixed this. However, when we were shown the buttons not working, we replaced the key at no charge. We do believe that the multi function key is the way ahead for many of us. They are at the early stages of life and so they will only improve over time. Is it as good as the dealer key? No, not quite, if you want top quality you need to buy a dealer key. However, at £110 inc Vat, cutting and coding, you save over £204.
We hope many of you will agree that this saving is worth these small issues. We can supply any of the three options for you at our car key man workshop in Lincoln.
Ford Fiesta Cheap Car keys
The Ford Fiesta is the UK’s most popular car so we should look at the keys and find a way to save money. In this section we’re going to look at the type of key that has a key blade, so NOT the push button start.
Of all the aftermarket keys, this is the one we have most problem with. But let’s start with the genuine Ford key.

The genuine key is excellent quality. The only issue they have is that the key blades wear, but this is as much a problem with the lock. The buttons rarely give any trouble and we’re a big fan of this genuine key.
We know this is an expensive key at the Ford dealer, so here’s the price as a starting point.
Ford keys are a bit unusual because we can get these keys cheaper, but they don’t come with a badge. When we buy these wholesale, instead of from Ford, they do not come with the logo, if you want to read more about why, click here.
But this does make everything cheaper, plus you get a genuine Ford key. We sell a genuine Ford Flip key, as the one above for £160. It is without doubt the best Ford Flip key they made and we believe worth spending the money on. The lookalike version of this key is definately NOT as good and we do not sell it.
Cheap Car Keys - Ford Flip Key Problems
The lookalike key has a problem that is two-fold. Firstly the flip part of the key is poor quality. The two halves of the key come apart easily, it is not secure.

This then leads to a serious problem if it’s your only car key. Inside the key is a chip. In the genuine Ford version it is glued in tight, however, in the cheaper version it falls out.

Once the chip falls out and get lost, even if the key is put back together, the car will not start. It will not crank at all and simply display the message below.

So please don’t be tempted by the cheap lookalike key, they also have unreliable remote buttons. We really don’t like these. However, there is a multi function key that we sell that is a good quality key, so lets take a look.
Ford Fiesta Budget Key
This is a good example of when the multi function key is better quality than the lookalike. The goood news is also that the budget version is good quality. Is it as good as the dealer key? Probably not. But with the money you’ll save compared to the dealer key, it’s a very good second.

So are cheap car keys as good as the dealer keys?
As we said at the start, it’s a difficult one to answer. Comparing like for like, normally the dealer key wins. However, sometimes the price difference is over double, and yet the quality is not twice as good.
After doing the family test on everything we sell, we believe that you can get a good quality budget key, at a reasonable price, compared to the dealer key. We’re proud to offer these keys and keep many of them in stock.
Where are you?
We have a car key man workshop in the centre of Lincoln, just off Tritton Rd. It’s very easy to find, just click here to see us on google maps and if your local to us, just pop in and we can help. However, if you are travelling any distance, please call us before on 01522 514141, as we sometimes go out on call.