Is there such thing as a master key?

[George G.]

My niece bought a 99 Altima about 6 months ago and has always used the key fob to unlock the doors and the key to start the car and open the trunk. Recently she left the lights on and locked it and it killed the car battery, causing the fob to not work. Because of this we found out that the key she has will not open either door....but like I said, it opens the trunk, glove box and starts it. Tried some key lube in case they were frozen but that was a no go. My initial thought was that the door locks were previously replaced. After contacting the selling dealer for assistance, which they so graciously took care of it, they took the VIN, called Nissan and got a new key cut. I got the key, tried it and it WORKS! It will open the doors and start it. But here's the strange part. It's totally different than the original key. I know there's cases where the lock is keyed similar to others and different keys could work but that just doesn't seem like the case. Anyway, I was just curious if the mfg's has such a thing as a master key that will open all of their own cars. TIA

[Deepak528]

Originally Posted by George G.

My niece bought a 99 Altima about 6 months ago and has always used the key fob to unlock the doors and the key to start the car and open the trunk. Recently she left the lights on and locked it and it killed the car battery, causing the fob to not work. Because of this we found out that the key she has will not open either door....but like I said, it opens the trunk, glove box and starts it. Tried some key lube in case they were frozen but that was a no go. My initial thought was that the door locks were previously replaced. After contacting the selling dealer for assistance, which they so graciously took care of it, they took the VIN, called Nissan and got a new key cut. I got the key, tried it and it WORKS! It will open the doors and start it. But here's the strange part. It's totally different than the original key. I know there's cases where the lock is keyed similar to others and different keys could work but that just doesn't seem like the case. Anyway, I was just curious if the mfg's has such a thing as a master key that will open all of their own cars. TIA

Very Interesting finding. You must've been using a Valet key, which doesn't open all the locks. I'm surprised it opened the trunk and glove compartment though. Mind boggling.

Each Nissan key is programmed for a particular vehicle, so that even if u were able to cut a blank key, without setting it to the right code you cannot use it to start the car. I once had a second key made for my car, which requires the dealer to use new sets of codes for all keys + ignition module.

Anyways, I don't think there is any reason to think that such a master key exists that can open all nissan cars.