What is a VAT key?

Vats or better explained as: Vehicle Anti-theft System or PASS (Personal Automotive Security System) is the unique keylock coding system that makes each car key unique to a particular vehicle for protection. This means that without the relevant programming equipment, no one can duplicate your key therefore leading to better car safety. First put into use by General Motors (GM) due to the high theft rate of its brand of vehicles, the Vats Key has kept more vehicles safe over the last 20 years.

Every Vats key contain a resistor pallet embedded within its key blades with each resistor bearing between 1 and 15 values. These values are the numbers that communicates with the car ignition and tells it to start your car when inserted in the ignition slot. In the case of misplaced or malfunctioning car keys, you can get another one duplicated if you know how to read the Vats key’s resistance. Decoding and reading the resistance of the Vats Key could prove to be a daunting task. However, it’s not as difficult as it sounds for an experience locksmith technician.

There are two types of Vats Keys; single-sided keys which have six cuts each on either side of the key and double-sided Vats keys with 10 cuts each on either side.

To decode your Vats Key, all you need do is get a correctly functioning Ohmmeter. All keys have resistors embedded in their blades and which protrude slightly from both sides of the key. The leads of the Ohmmeter are placed on the metal prongs on both sides of the key. The key memory can be read with the lead in the proper position.

As there is a standardized chart for knowing the resistance values of your Vats Key, you match these values to the nearest value on the chart. While you shouldn’t expect that the numbers will match exactly, the nearest value will do. This is the identification number of your Vats Key. In the case of broken or misplaced keys, knowing your Vats code will help you in getting a veritable replacement.

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