Can't believe it. Just bought a mk 1 mondeo cheaply, only snag was previous owner only had 1 key. Fair enough I think, can't be more than fifteen quid to get a couple more cut. To my dismay, it turns out according to local Ford dealer that I don't have the red "master" key; meaning that reprogramming the immobiliser codes and cuting 2 extra keys is going to cost a whopping £98!!!!
Can anyone please tell me if there is an alternative, i.e. cheaper way of going about this without incurring extortionate costs, i think its a bit risky running a car with only 1 key.
Cheers
basit
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£98? Come to New Milton in Hampshire and it will cost you £107.25
We, too, have bought a Mondeo with only one key. Surely this extortion would apply only if you bought the electronic zapper key? Could you not get away with just having a couple of duplicates cut and not worry too much about having a remote locker/unlocker?
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This will only work if the key doesn't have a transponder in it to communicate with the car. My wife's Skoda does.
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AS previously mentioned by one of the regulars (DVD) try:-
www.alarmremotes.co.uk
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This is of no help whatever to you but I can't believe such a thing. Where I live we have little guys down the backstreet who'll reprogramme these things for a couple of bucks.
R-O-B again, sounds like.
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Thanx for the help gents, the quote £98 is for the bog standard ford key, i.e. no radio/key fob buttons at all, just the key that manually opens the door, this makes it even more galling.
Does anyone know of these backstreet operators in the North West London area?
Cheers
Basit
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If it's just the bog-standard key with no electronic bits, any self-respecting Mr. Minit will cut you one for a tenner. It gets nasty when you have to have programmable transponders and the like.
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Tried to use the spare keyfob for my passat for the first time yesterday and it didn't work. As it had never been used and as it is just 7 months old I took it to the dealer i had it from. They said it wasn't covered under warranty, which really annoyed me, as it was obvious from it's cleanliness that it hadn't been used.
Luckily I have a maintainance contract with VW and that does cover new battery plus re-coding. It's ridiculous tho that the battery is just a couple of quid but the cost is £30 due to labour. Labour? To re-code a key? R-O-B
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Both remotes recently failed to work on my Rover despite new batteries. Called out the AA and the patrolman showed me how to re-program the device.
Simple really, you just remove the batteries and hold down both buttons simultaneously for the count of ten. Finally replace the batteries and operate the remote. It does not work first time but after a few goes it picks up the relevant code and works.
It seems that if the batteries go flat or you remove them and fail to replace them within a set period of time then the remotes lose their codes and have to be re-programmed.
Obviously the technology and procedure may vary from car to car but it seems an easy way of making £30 + for the dealers.
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I could live with £30 at a pinch but £107???
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Sounds about right. We have [well, my dad has] the same problem. He bought a Mondy with only 1 key and some strange immobiliser fob.
When he asked about another, they said he could have a key to open doors for £10 [and charged us £5...!], or the bells n whistles one for about £100. The immobiliser fob would cost a further £150...
My dad still has only 1 set of keys...
Kev
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In 1988 I purchased a reconditioned full engine for a Chevette (1256cc) from Blue Diamond Engines in Derby. It cost £133. Now it costs me more than that for a new key for a modern car.... What a crazy business.
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Are you really saying you've never read about this?
I've read dozens of times that the buyer of a vehicle also buys the data that goes with it, as registered under the data protection act.
If you write a formal request to the dealer principal at your local dealer, AND YOU MUST USE THE PHRASE "under the terms of the data protection act" they are obliged to give you the key codes ( 4 or 7 digit) so you can code the chips in a key cut by your local shoe heel man who does key cutting.
I've done 3 so far, with absolute success.
See Practical car mag. It's in "letters" every other month.
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Just read a similar article in this month's "Car Mechanics".
Remind dealer that when you bought the vehicle you also bought it's codes etc.
Also says England is the only country in Europe where all such data is not automatically handed over on sale
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