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Some friends have just bought a new Fiesta Titanium. They were advised by the dealer to make sure they didn't lose a key (the car came with two), because the cost of a replacement was £170.
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Will be same for your new Volvo.
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>> Will be same for your new Volvo.
>>
When I order a new car I always order a spare key at the same time.
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>> When I order a new car I always order a spare key at the same
>> time.
>>
Adding £170 for a spare key to the cost of the car at the time of ordering isn't noticed, but it is when you have to buy a spare key at a later date. In any case, I save £500 by not having metallic paint. I'd sooner have a spare key than metallic paint.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Mon 10 Sep 12 at 09:34
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>> >> Will be same for your new Volvo.
>> >>
>>
>> When I order a new car I always order a spare key at the same
>> time.
>>
Its Volvo so think nearer to £400 based on some experiences on forums
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>> It's Volvo so think nearer to £400 based on some experiences on forums
>>
It's only money. I won't worry about there being £400 less for the executors of my will to share out when I die.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Tue 11 Sep 12 at 06:48
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>> When I order a new car I always order a spare key at the same time.
Do you mean a 3rd key, as well as the 2 that it should come with?
My 2nd key is still in the drawer where I put it 5 years ago when I bought my car. I might get it out occasionally and test it still works, but that's the only time it sees daylight.
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>> Do you mean a 3rd key, as well as the 2 that it should come
>> with?
Yes. I'm very cautious about being out with my car and losing a key and being stranded, so I always take two keys with me on different key rings. I've never lost a key yet but there is always the first time for everything.
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>> I always take two keys with me on different key rings. I've
>> never lost a key yet but there is always the first time for everything.
Do you carry a spare shell in case you lose the one off your back as well ;o)
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>> Do you carry a spare shell in case you lose the one off your back
>> as well ;o)
>>
I don't need to, because I can drive without my shell. I've already got a pack of spare shells at home just in case I lose my current one. www.onlineshells.co.uk/landsnail-brown-79cm-p-392.html
Last edited by: L'escargot on Tue 11 Sep 12 at 15:10
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>> Some friends have just bought a new Fiesta Titanium. They were advised by the dealer to make sure they didn't lose a key (the car came with two), because the
>> cost of a replacement was £170.
>>
Very good advice. On motoring forums and in the press I have seen so many rewquests re " I only have one key" and sometimes the cost is much much higher to sort out the problem.
Some ( most?) Mondeod, Focus, Jaguar X Type have a comminality re keys ( Tibbe) and provided you have two keys, further keys can be easily obtained and easilly programmed.
I have reprogrammed my existing X Type keys. I have now got an additional two basic keys to programme.
The newer Fords may have a different key but I suspect the sotware is the same.
Last edited by: henry k on Mon 10 Sep 12 at 09:18
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I thought the cost of getting one key if you have two is quite reasonable - I doubt it's £170. But if you have only one then the costs increase. The car probably needs reprogramming to accept two keys etc.
I'd say a good idea to get a third key when you get a new car.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Mon 10 Sep 12 at 09:37
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I have looked into the X Type and earlier Mondeo key situation and there are pitfalls.
To programme extra keys on mine it appears that you have to have two keys that are fully recognised by the car. Keys cloned by some locksmiths are not OK for this task.
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These kind of costs are not uncommon, or recent. To purchase a new replacement key for our 2002 mk4 Golf through a main dealer, including having the car's systems coded to accept it is £190.
The days of going down to your local Timpson's and getting change out of a tenner are long gone, but then something had to be done about joyriding, I suppose.
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>> www.carkeyhelp.co.uk/ >>
They quote £6.50 for my large German estate car, but £12.50 when I go to checkout.
Still dirt cheap. How is it programmed/coded, or whatever to my car?
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£138.00 for a BMW one. Did try outside the franchises - seems that they cannot be undercut. Seems a fair price for a box of electronics that does far more than start and unlock your car etc.
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ISTR the procedure for making a third key from a blank was described in the handbook of the last Focus I had. You had to have two others.
Useful if you're the type to lose keys.
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I was told a new key for my Panda would be £200. The reason is that it is coded two ways. Each key has its own unique number and ECU has to regconise it. The earlier systems the key just had a code, that could be cloned onto any key, thus keys could be copied without having to do any 'programming' of the ECU.
Still a rip off though.
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>> Still a rip off though.
>>
I think "rip off" must be high on your list of favourite expressions!
;-)
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Keys aren't just keys any more though.
The BMWs key is, well a key, plus an immobiliser transponder, a repository for real-time service information which can be read by a dealer to determine exactly what the car needs at any given time, plus a profile holder for various comfort and convenience settings in the car
The immobiliser is the important bit to me. I'd rather have to pay £200 on the 1 time every 10 years that I might need a replacement key than go back to the old days where some scrote can drive the car away with a screwdriver in 15 seconds. I don't know anyone who didn't have a car stolen at some point during the 1990s (including me). Something had to be done about it.
Last edited by: DP on Mon 10 Sep 12 at 15:30
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>> I don't know anyone who didn't have a car stolen at
>> some point during the 1990s (including me).
I've never had a car stolen, broken into, or vandalised. I had a few pints of petrol sucked out on one occasion in about 1970.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Mon 10 Sep 12 at 15:36
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>> Keys aren't just keys any more though.
>>
>> The BMWs key is, well a key, plus an immobiliser transponder, a repository for real-time
>> service information which can be read by a dealer to determine exactly what the car
>> needs at any given time, plus a profile holder for various comfort and convenience settings
>> in the car
>>
That's all held in a chip which probably costs 10c.
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>
>> The immobiliser is the important bit to me. I'd rather have to pay £200 on
>> the 1 time every 10 years that I might need a replacement key than go
>> back to the old days where some scrote can drive the car away with a
>> screwdriver in 15 seconds. I don't know anyone who didn't have a car stolen at
>> some point during the 1990s (including me). Something had to be done about it.
>>
+1.
Anyone who's been through the nightmare of standing in disbelief at the empty space where they left their car will agree with that.
The hassle is unbelievable, and probably even worse when they find it minus the battery, tools and whatever else you left in it.
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I think "rip off" must be high on your list of favourite expressions!
Could be worse, l'Es: could be 'tree hugger'.
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>> I think "rip off" must be high on your list of favourite expressions!
>>
>> Could be worse, l'Es: could be 'tree hugger'.
>>
:-D
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The lack of a spare key lost the dealer concerned a sale, when we were looking for a used Panda last year.
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It's an awful feeling. You actually question yourself. Did I park it somewhere else? Did I lend it to someone? Even though you know the truth, you just don't want to believe it.
In the case of our mk2 Astra, when they'd finished with it, they kicked every panel in and smashed every piece of glass apart from the
rear view mirror.
Weeks of hassle and hiked premiums for several years. It was a nightmare.
Last edited by: DP on Mon 10 Sep 12 at 20:41
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My Wolseley 15/60 wasn't there when I came out one morning in about 1967. It was a shock, mixed with self-doubt and disbelief.
You could open a BMC car with a couple of bent spoons and a hotwire was easy....no steering lock. I got it back undamaged the following day.
That's the only one I've had nicked although a couple broken into over the years.
Ted
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I returned once to my locked MK3 Cortina to see the keys hanging from the ignition.
Fortunately my colleague had an Escort...............................
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Yup, no need for a spare Ford key in the 70s, any Ford key opened any Ford.
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Didn't have to be a Ford key.......I went to a lockout Fiesta and just for a laugh tried the first key to hand, my Land Rover one.
Straight in !
Ted
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>> Yup, no need for a spare Ford key in the 70s, any Ford key opened
>> any Ford.
>>
Continued for years after that.
1) In the eighties some eejit locked the keys in a Ford Cargo truck where I used to work. I got out my bunch of keys and went through them. The one that opened (and started) it was an "FS" key which was the ignition key to an Austin 1100. Now the Cargo key was a double-sided affair of nearly two inches in length, while the FS key was a single sided job of under an inch. I doubt it even reached the tumblers. No wiggling required, fitted like it was the right key!
2) In the mid nineties a woman locked her keys in a Fiesta at a fuel station while I was filliing up. The fuel filler cap key off my Skoda 130 Rapid opened that, much to the astonishment of those standing around and shaking their heads as I went through my key collection.
You didn't need a Ford key. The sight of any key-shaped object in close range would cause 'em to open......
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A comment made by a friend in the 70s - "you can get in a cortina with a wet fag paper"
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>> I returned once to my locked MK3 Cortina to see the keys hanging from the
>> ignition.
>>
>> Fortunately my colleague had an Escort...............................
>>
For the hour, or for the night,? With, or without, full GFE?
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More like 230 quid here in NZ, just had to buy one for the X3 :-(
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>> www.carkeyhelp.co.uk/
>>
They don't do replacement keys for the latest Volvo V40.
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My first company car was a Mk 1 Cavalier. It didn't need a key at all to open the door. If locked, you only had to lift the driver's door handle up and let it spring back and the lock would release. That was followed by a Mk 4 Cortina. Slightly more secure in so far as it did need some form of key as mentioned above but it wasn't fussy which one. That car had a moment when the ignition key broke off in the ignition lock barrel. Until I could get a replacement I just had to turn the stump of the key with some pliers and use an old Triumph key for the doors.
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Back in 2002 a mate had just passed his test and was given a Transit SWB by his boss. My dad just bought a 1995 Escort 1.6 LX (new shape) to replace the Punto he wrote off.
My told me he could open the door, he used his transit key and it opened the door and the boot! It did have an immobiliser so he couldn't start it.
I have owned several bangers from 2007 to 2010 and all them did have an immobiliser although my Corsa did get smashed in once, a week before the head gasket was diagnosed!
My late uncle had a Rover SD1 in the early 90's, I don't know what model it was but it had leather seats, and electric windows at the back so it was a high spec one. The ignition barrel broke, so he just hot wired it every where he went! It was never nicked either.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Tue 11 Sep 12 at 10:11
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I had a B-reg Ford Orion nicked from outside my house in Nottingham. I was out working in a pub at the time (late evening shift), and when I got home on foot PC Plod and WPC Plodette were at my house, waiting for me. I hadn't even noticed the car was gone, as I parked it down a street at the side of the house.
They were there because the car had been used in an armed robbery at another pub in the city and they wanted to eliminate me from their enquiries.
The car was spotted and chased by Traffic Plod the next day, and the villains apprehended when they abandoned the car in a field and ran. When I went to collect it from Nottingham nick, a kindly officer handed me a screwdriver with which to start the car, as the ignition barrel had simply been smashed off, and a screwdriver could be inserted in to the hole to get it going. Sadly, the moment I did this the battery gave up and I had to get the AA down to sort me out. I carried on using the screwdriver for a couple of weeks before I got the barrel fixed. The car was otherwise as crappy as it had always been.
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I started the wreckage of our Astra with a screwdriver and drove it onto the recovery truck.
These were so simple to steal. After smashing off the brittle plastic column shroud, they'd just prised the ignition switch out of the back of the lock barrel, and then applied some serious leverage to the ignition lock, snapping the complete barrel assembly off the column (the remains of the barrel and holder were kicking around in the drivers footwell). Screwdriver into the slot in the ignition switch, turn it in the exact way you would the key, and job done. The Hollywood style of pulling wires out and twisting them together couldn't be further from the truth.
Depending on how much of a fight the steering lock put up, I reckon it took them no more than 20-30 seconds to drive it away after getting in. The latter was done by ramming a screwdriver or similar into the keyhole in the driver's door lock, and twisting the complete lock barrel in the doorskin in such a way that it pulled the mechanism and unlocked the door.
Like I said, I don't mind higher key costs if it stops this sort of nonsense. Which it seems to quite effectively. Most car theft is now professional with serious equipment and knowledge behind it. It's beyond the intellect and equipment means of a typical chav to nick a modern car.
Last edited by: DP on Tue 11 Sep 12 at 11:59
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>> It's beyond the intellect and equipment means of a typical chav to nick a modern car.
Now they just wander in through your back door and steal the keys from the kitchen unit where you threw them on, or stick a fishing rod through the letter box and hook them off the hallway table.
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My thread title plus tyro's title following mine gave me a laugh ...............
Cost of replacement key ............. & what to replace it with!
Well, it did untll the titles stopped being consecutive!
Last edited by: L'escargot on Tue 11 Sep 12 at 15:37
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Is there any justification for the price other than that's what they can charge because they have you over a barrel?
It would not appear to be the price of the key itself. And from adverts it wouldn't seem that the dealer is trying to recover any significant investment in the equipment. Neither would it appear to be time consuming.
Or am I missing something?
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I can only comment on MK 1/2/3 Mondeo Focus 1 and Jaguar X -Type.which all use Tibbe keys and similar software.
IMO It is foolish to buy one of the above cars and only get one key.
It appears that keys are easily obtained and cut to fit the locks.
I have two extra new basic keys from Ebay that have been cut to fit. I have yet to programme them re the chip/immobiliser. these have no logo on them so if found it is not obvious they fit a Jaguar rather than the familiar Fords.:-)
I have re programmed my remote locking keys with free instructions found on the web. These keys need coding to remote lock /unlock but also need the chip to match the ECU. You can pay for these instructions on Ebay :-((
I know some locksmiths can clone keys but I understand that although they work, further keys cannot be programmed in the standard way ( Only keys that have been programmed IN car can do that)
There are diffent frequencies used in the USA etc so the corect remote is required.
Re the X Type keys, new parts are available but prices vary a lot.
IMO Dealer prices for keys and programmimg are very very high and treat it as a distress purchase by a worried punter.
Now a real problem is my X Type boot cannot be opened by a key ( except by remote ). I know how to circumvent the problem so that really is a more urgent task. As someone on another forum said " When you have a flat battery where are you jump leads stored?"
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Hey Henry - feel free to republish the instructions here so the next person who needs to do it doesn't have to pay a crook on eBay for the privilege.
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On the subject of theft, what grounds do you have in rejecting a car which has been stolen with keys but has been found with no visible damage? Any car that has been stolen espically powerful cars will have been thrashed to hell and back and been bounced off speed bumps and kerbs etc. This happened to my cousin a few years back. His tasty Auris diesel was stolen with keys while they were out and was found a day later with no bodywork damage but did need a good clean. He kept the car and it didnt seem to bother him what mechanical damage had been done to it. He sold it a year later but i would insist that it was paid out on or swapped like for like if young enough. I wouldnt want any car back which had been stolen damaged or not.
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>> what grounds do you have in rejecting a car which has been stolen with keys but has been found with no visible damage?
None I would imagine unless you could show damage.
When can you ever be sure a car hasn't been given a savage thrashing?
Last edited by: Lygonos on Tue 11 Sep 12 at 22:00
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Ford Fiesta - Cost of replacement key - CGNorwich
