Chevrolet Locksmith in Atlanta, GA: Chevy Keys Made Where You Park

Since the late 1990s General Motors has changed the way a Chevrolet key identifies itself several times, and its models switched on their own schedules. The parts catalogs of STRATTEC, GM's lock and key supplier, plus the trade press, give the sequence. It matters because each generation is added, replaced and relearned differently.

PASSLock, no chip in the key. Here the security sits in the column, not the key: a magnet rides in the ignition lock cylinder and a Hall-effect sensor in the housing tells the computer when a correctly cut key rotates it, as Locksmith Ledger describes the system. Its Chevrolet list runs from the 1997-2004 Silverado, 1998-2005 Tahoe, 1997-2002 Suburban, 2002-2005 Express, 1998-2004 Impala and 1996-2003 Malibu. A spare for one of these is pure cutting. The work that needs planning is on the lock side: once a cylinder or sensor is replaced, PASSLock I relearns in about ten minutes with the switch in ON, and PASSLock II takes three ten-minute cycles. STRATTEC's 2020 catalog also lists a GM blank with no chip for the 2004-2006 Silverado, the 2005-2006 Equinox and several other mid-2000s Chevys, so those keys are cut, not programmed.

Circle Plus, stamped PK3 or "+". The next key put a transponder chip in the head, which the immobilizer has to recognize before the engine may run. STRATTEC lists the Circle Plus blank for the 2007-2013 Silverado, the 2006-2014 Tahoe and Suburban, the 2006-2013 Impala, the 2005-2012 Malibu, the 2007-2009 Equinox, the 2008-2014 Express and the 2009-2017 Traverse, with the remote on a separate fob. GM's add-a-key procedure for it (STRATTEC OBP-1) works with a single learned key: start on the known key, switch off, turn the new key to ON within ten seconds, and the security light goes out when the chip is accepted. Cars with no security light, such as the 2004-2007 Impala, wait 10 minutes 45 seconds instead, and the catalog notes the procedure is not offered on Canadian-VIN vehicles. Ford's owner procedure, by contrast, asks for two coded keys, as the Ford locksmith page explains.

The HU100 side-mill flip key. On cars of the early 2010s GM moved to a high-security side-mill blade that folds into a remote head. STRATTEC lists it with a four-button flip key for the 2010-2016 Camaro, 2011-2016 Cruze, 2010-2016 Equinox and 2014-2016 Malibu; the redesigned 2014-2016 Impala is listed with four- or five-button flip keys of its own, and the second-generation Cruze from 2016 with a three-button one. GM's procedure for this family (OBP-10) needs a key the car already knows, adds keys without erasing any, stops at ten in all, and requires the new blade to copy the cuts of the working key.

Molded truck keys and push-button fobs. For the 2014-2020 Silverado and the 2015-2020 Tahoe and Suburban, STRATTEC lists a molded key with an encrypted chip in the V0001-V6000 key code series, carried beside a separate remote or replaced by a push-button fob. How a key joins those trucks, and the timed relearn that erases the old ones, is laid out on the GMC locksmith page, because the Sierra shares it. The cars followed with push-button start: STRATTEC lists a back-up key for push-button fobs on the 2017-2020 Camaro and Malibu, the 2018-2020 Traverse and the 2019-2020 Equinox. GM's fob procedure (OBP-11) adds a transmitter while one recognized fob is present, up to five; with none, three ten-minute waits learn the new fob and cancel every earlier one. What that does to a fob left in a drawer is explained on the Cadillac locksmith page.

Reading the key on your ring. A plain metal blade with no stamp and no remote points to the PASSLock or no-chip years. A blade stamped PK3 or "+" with a separate remote fob is Circle Plus. A blade that swings out of a remote head is the side-mill flip key. A thick molded head beside a separate remote marks the 2014-on trucks, and a fob you never insert, with a small blade of its own, marks a push-button car; STRATTEC lists the truck version of that blade as an emergency key with no chip, so it opens the door but does not start the engine. If the stamp is hard to read, the technician phoning ahead of the visit may want a picture of the blade.

For the newest Silverado, Tahoe, Suburban and Equinox, the dispatcher confirms the programming route for your exact year before the call ends. Where a year calls for dealer-level software, the technician reaches it at the vehicle under 4Keys' NASTF VSP authorization, and what dealer software a locksmith can use is answered separately. The software in that case is GM's own, Techline Connect with SPS2, which 4Keys holds through a subscription, and the key it is used on is an original (OEM) Chevrolet key.

A technician who came for a Chevy key carries lock hardware as well. At home that means opening a locked house, rekeying cylinders so old keys stop working, replacing a worn lockset, fitting a deadbolt or installing a keypad smart lock; the detail is on residential locksmith service and, for Georgia addresses, home lock work in Georgia.

For a business it means rekeying after a staff change, master key systems, badge readers, panic bars that stick and storefront cylinders. Those jobs are described on commercial locksmith service and business lock work in Georgia. Mention them on the same call as the car and the dispatcher plans one trip.