juvenal Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 I'm hearing that replacing car keys on modern cars can cost several hundred pounds or more. Fact or nonsense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hovis Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 A friend's Renault key had the battery go, you then have a matter of hours to get a new battery in or it needs to be reset by the dealer. Her reset cost about two hundred quid. So it wouldn't surprise me. I now change my battery every couple of years after hearing that. Edit: 2004 model, nothing flash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
long time lurking Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 Correct to the OP but there are ways around it ,independents charge less but it`s still costly and somtimes they just delet the imobilser from the ECU ,have you got the spare valet key Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nome Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 Yep, easily looking at a couple of hundred to get a replacement second key on even basic and not so modern cars, my 2004 Renault clio would cost that much as an example. If you mean replacement keys as in entirely new keys needed then you're talking easily over a grand maybe even over 2 grand.. new key fobs, new locks, new ignition barrel and new ecu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
long time lurking Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 8 minutes ago, nome said: Yep, easily looking at a couple of hundred to get a replacement second key on even basic and not so modern cars, my 2004 Renault clio would cost that much as an example. If you mean replacement keys as in entirely new keys needed then you're talking easily over a grand maybe even over 2 grand.. new key fobs, new locks, new ignition barrel and new ecu. Any main dealer can cut a key from the vin number key code ,i have heard of dealers charging for new Ecu`s but never locks and barrels though, but yes you are right costly it is but thaer are many after market options for all but the newest cars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gardener Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 Search the house for them again. Your other half has put them somewhere stupid. I always hang them up on the hooks I put up especially for them (keys not the wife). If I go to get the keys and they are not there I merely stand there and continually say that i can't find the car keys at an increasing volume until my wife searches the umpteen coats and pairs of trousers for them. Sometimes I get to the point of shouting myself hoarse before they are found, but they always turn up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 1 hour ago, juvenal said: I'm hearing that replacing car keys on modern cars can cost several hundred pounds or more. Fact or nonsense? Apparently the air bags on a friend's car cost £1k each to replace. So a bump that set all 7 off means the car is scrapped even though it's only got a ding in the radiator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 1 hour ago, juvenal said: I'm hearing that replacing car keys on modern cars can cost several hundred pounds or more. The AA claims to be able to cut you a new one on their advert. No idea how much it costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gardener Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 Cutting a key is the easy and cheap bit. It's the transponders in the key that need keying to the car. That's what the main stealers rip you off on. With VWs the independents can't do it, only VW can. It's a con and instead of £200 per key it shouldn't cost more than £30-£40 but they've got you by the balls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bossybabe Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 2 hours ago, Frank Hovis said: A friend's Renault key had the battery go, you then have a matter of hours to get a new battery in or it needs to be reset by the dealer. Her reset cost about two hundred quid. So it wouldn't surprise me. I now change my battery every couple of years after hearing that. Edit: 2004 model, nothing flash You'd expect battery changing would be part of a routine service. I always kept spare batteries in my handbag for the Landcruiser. I only had one key for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNACR Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 All depends on the make and model but on some types you can sometimes buy another 2nd hand one off ebay and get the metal key part cut cheaply and swap it across then get it reprogrammed by a dealer which can be a lot cheaper than buying the whole new key/fob from the main dealer. Some models, generally nineties/early noughties, you can pair another random fob to the vehicle with some, often very convoluted, procedure without the need for a dealer. Normally goes along the lines turning the key a hundred times to the left, then pushing the buttons on the fob together for an hour, whilst standing on one leg, that type of thing. Then inevitably it hasn't worked and the battery's flat. Still would probably be worth calling your three nearest rival main dealers and playing them off against each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nome Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 Another tip if needing a second key... just get a basic non-transponder key cut for a few quid then keep your transponder key in the car, taped under the dashboard near the ignition barrel. the ecu and immobiliser should still be able to pick up the signal from the transponder key and allow you to start the car with the non-transponder key Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hovis Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 9 hours ago, Bossybabe said: You'd expect battery changing would be part of a routine service. I always kept spare batteries in my handbag for the Landcruiser. I only had one key for that. It is but IME they don't do it. On my fifth or sixth annual service for my previous car, an Astra, I read what was required and it said change the battery in the key fob and the spare so brought both in. They looked at me blankly. As the sensible practical individuals that we all are on here there is no need to pay someone else to do it. Buy a 79p battery and find a YouTube video that tells you how to prize your key fob apart without breaking it. Most people have never had one die on them so they think their key battery has magical powers. My Dad's is about nine years' without changing and his logic is because he's never had one go flat then this won't either. Most people apply similar logic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPin Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 I just usually rip of the steering column shroud. and push a couple of loose wires together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bossybabe Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 I had a Ford Escort in the nineties whose key fob battery died. I had to follow the most arcane set of instructions (turn the key left 12 times, right 16...etc, etc. When I finally got into it and took it to the dealer, they told me I was the first person ever who had managed to get into their car that way. My rejoinder was that their other customers weren't stubborn enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankief Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 Yes i've done my time at the roadside with the engine immobiliser. Now i've got an old banger and use a revolutionary process to access and start the machine. Key in hole then turn. It's not so bad, but people probably look down on me because I haven't got a sci-fi style zapper. Progress!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longtomsilver Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 Seven years ago I lost the keys to MrsLTSs VW Golf whilst flying a short (20km xc), obviously I wasn't going to be able to find them in my lifetime. At the time MrsLTS was hot desking between an office in Atlanta and the UK one. You can guess where she left the spare set. Anyway I seem to recall it cost £800 for a new key and a few hundred more to reprogramme the other one when it arrived and we had to pay the £500 excess which the wife chances her arm by putting on expenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPin Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 36 minutes ago, longtomsilver said: Seven years ago I lost the keys to MrsLTSs VW Golf whilst flying a short (20km xc), obviously I wasn't going to be able to find them in my lifetime. At the time MrsLTS was hot desking between an office in Atlanta and the UK one. You can guess where she left the spare set. Anyway I seem to recall it cost £800 for a new key and a few hundred more to reprogramme the other one when it arrived and we had to pay the £500 excess which the wife chances her arm by putting on expenses. You are loaded. I wouldn't pay that for a whole car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SillyBilly Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 I managed to lose my parent's spare key for their Nissan Micra a few years back when I borrowed it when in town, that cost me £250 to replace. I lost the key on a Peugeot a couple of years ago which cost £275 to replace. I think £250-400 is about the going rate when I looked around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longtomsilver Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 2 hours ago, MrPin said: You are loaded. I wouldn't pay that for a whole car. Company car! Loaded in the metaphorical sense... we don't pay a fortune for our cars either. It's a means to an end or an a to b. I've invested in one of those Chubb coded wall safes where all the keys go whilst at home. A small price to pay for not losing them and extra security now the most common method of motor vehicle theft is via burglary. It's now a regular occurrence in our sleepy village. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assetrichcashpoor Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 I always drive Fords. With the older style keys, the ones that don't flip the key bit out of the way when you want to put them in your pocket, it was possible to recode a key yourself if you had two working keys. You could get a copy cut at Timpsons that would work in the doors and turn the barrel, there was then a process that allowed you to reprogramme the third key to the immobiliser from the car. It was a combination of a number of turns and swapping keys over etc. It did seem to be a little irrelevant though as you'd only want to do it once you'd lost one of your keys by which time you couldn't do it as you didn't have the second key you needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honkydonkey Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 My advice is take a high quality photo of your key as I've had a key cut from a photo from an eBay seller that works fine. This way you won't ever need locks changing and just a transponder configuration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juvenal Posted December 18, 2016 Author Share Posted December 18, 2016 36 minutes ago, honkydonkey said: My advice is take a high quality photo of your key as I've had a key cut from a photo from an eBay seller that works fine. This way you won't ever need locks changing and just a transponder configuration. Now he's got that photo he'll cut another key and be round to nick your car... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honkydonkey Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 22 hours ago, juvenal said: Now he's got that photo he'll cut another key and be round to nick your car... It was from Cyprus, and believe me it wouldn't be worth the effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
long time lurking Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 On 12/18/2016 at 11:34 PM, juvenal said: Now he's got that photo he'll cut another key and be round to nick your car... That`s so 1980`s it`s all plug and play these days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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