My son was feeding hay they morning. When he got back to the truck he reached in his pocket to discover the key was gone.

The key is the type that contains a chip. We've got a key that'll open the door, but the chip failed, so it won't start the truck.

He called the dealership to get another key made. He learned that to make a key the vehicle MUST be at the dealership!

So, $75 for a tow, and $100 per key for 2 new keys.

Hard lesson learned, and it reinforced an equipped to survive saying: Two is one; one is none.

Thankfully this happened just outside of town, rather than way out in the boonies, where the tow bill would be astronomical.

Depending on the car, if you have two keys with working chips you can "teach" the car to use another chipped key. This can save you a lot of money if you buy a spare key online (rather than at the dealership) in advance of needing it. Check your owners manual for details. In the absence of a working chip key you do need to bring the car to the dealership.

My truck is the same. The FOB is required to start and drive the truck. The FOB's from the dealer run around $200.00 with programming. Some dealers will not program FOB's purchased online. Also there is a maximum of 4 FOB's that can be made and when that maximum hits the limit and you require another FOB, the cost of reprogramming the system for new FOB's will take a big bite out of the wallet.

Needless to say that when we purchased the truck last year, part of sale was they included 2 more FOB's along with the 2 originals. When venturing into the back country, minimum of 3 FOB''s are taken with us.

I have mixed feelings about keys with a chip.

On the plus side, the advent of the chip reduced car theft to almost negligible levels.

On the minus side, replacing a key used to be a $2-3 purchase and I was in the habit of carrying two keys. Nowadays, the key is so bulky, it is hard to hide a spare in the wallet. The cost is also prohibitive.

Hide a chipped key up under the dash, and keep an unchipped key--to get the door open--in your wallet.

Here in Iowa, Ace Hardware has the ability to create replacement chipped keys if you have a fully working key.

I had them create one for my son's 2006 Ford Focus, and he's had no problem with it. It was still pricey ($60), but still way below what the dealership wanted to make one.

If your car is REAL new (For example, I have a 2010 Ford Escape) that has programmable "My Keys", I don't think they can do those yet so your stuck.

I got an extra spare key for my Escape when I bought it as they couldn't seem to come up with the second key. When they found it, they called me and told me to come get it as they couldn't use it for anything else. Those keys are $400 each!

My daughter bought a used Chevy Cruze that came with just one key fob (fob has push-button-flip-out key).

My daughter asked me to help her get a second key/fob while she was away at college (left the car at home), so I called the local locksmith. He said he couldn't do it himself and gave me the name of a local mobile automotive key company that could help. I called them and within the hour we had the extra key fob programmed to my daughter's car. Cool!