Replacement car keys - why so extortionate?

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I’ve managed to loose the spare key for my car (2015 VW Passatt Estate - with electronic key).

According to the main dealer, a replacement will be £325 plus £75 for coding. A couple of independent locksmiths have quoted between £300 and £350.

Does anyone have any tips for getting the cost down to something palatable.
 

Thank you!

Andy Gamisou 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Nuts isn't it?  Makes me yearn for the days when I ran an old Vauxhall Cavalier that I used to start with a meat skewer.  Mind you, only reason I used a meat skewer was because it had been twok-ed from my driveway and the lock barrel removed - so there is that

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 1poundSOCKS 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

I got a new Transit remote key for about £140 from the AA. They came out to the house to do it and reprogrammed my other key too. Really good service. Worth telling them you're just ringing around for quotes and will ring back if you can't find it cheaper. I actually was doing that, but they immediately came back with a lower price so I took it. They said £175 initially.

Compared to about £350 from Ford. The price is ridiculous isn't it?

EDIT: It's not officially a Ford key, but apart from the lack of a Ford badge you couldn't tell the difference, so maybe it's the same but just lacks the badge. The official keys were more expensive.

Post edited at 08:58
 Garethza 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

> Does anyone have any tips for getting the cost down to something palatable.

Don't lose it in the first place?

.. Ill take my hat..  

3
 nikoid 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

On some cars you used to be able to use your remaining key to reprogramme the new one. Car dealerships just want your money these days so I wouldn't be surprised if this is no longer possible. Worth looking into perhaps.

 LastBoyScout 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

> I’ve managed to loose the spare key for my car (2015 VW Passatt Estate - with electronic key).

Can't you just tighten it up again?

1
 henwardian 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Because: Profit.

If I manufacture a product that millions of people use and I alone can make the spare parts, guess what. I'm going to rip your face off for the parts because you _need_ to buy them and unlike the original car, you can't just go get it from one of my competitors. My guess would be that if you bought each individual part of a modern car and assembled the thing on your driveway, you would end up paying around 100 times more for the finished product than if you had bought it the standard way.

Hurray for capitalism [eyeroll]

5
 David Riley 26 Oct 2021
In reply to henwardian:

> Hurray for capitalism [eyeroll]

If there was only one official car manufacturer you would end up paying around 100 times more for the whole car.

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 Jon Stewart 26 Oct 2021
In reply to 1poundSOCKS:

> I got a new Transit remote key for about £140 from the AA. They came out to the house to do it and reprogrammed my other key too. Really good service.

I was unlucky with the AA, they completely shafted me. The "free insurance with membership" was an "actually you're not covered" story, then the separate AA "we'll do it for a fee" service couldn't come out for a week! Chocolate tea pots. Hours and hours spent on the phone getting nowhere. Miserable. 

I had to get a local autolocksmith out, cost £350, and the AA were rude and dismissive when I complained. 

They can go f*ck themselves. 

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 RX-78 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

I got a local auto locksmith out whem i lost my key to our old ford focus, cost about £160. He needed my wife's key and i think reprogrammed both. As eventually i found my original key ( in one of my wife's coat pockets) which could open and start the car but not remotely. I guess more modern ones cost more to replace?

 cezza 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Timpsons have done 2 for me at a significantly cheaper price. 
 

cezza

 antdav 26 Oct 2021

I got a Vauxhall spare key including the coding for £80. Not sure if a VW has more security features which makes it more expensive but your quotes sound high.

 nniff 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

No 2 son managed to break his car key physically (metal key with a chip in the plastic end).  He put the bits back together and taped it up.  When he tried to start the car, the starter span but no ignition.  He came to find me - I asked what had happened to his key and he explained.  I asked him if there were any bits left over. He mentioned that there was a little black cylindrical thing that didn't seem important.  Being well-trained in some regards, he had put it in the bin - unfortunately a big wheelie bin.  Having explained how much it was going to cost to get his car started again if he couldn't find that little piece of plastic, he spent the afternoon on the drive sitting on a big sheet of plastic sifting though the rubbish until he found it.

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Cost are very high and partly it’s probably because cars are so sophisticated with many integrated things “controlled” by the key nowadays. I’ve long since struggled to understand how garages calculate some of the costs. You have my sympathy.

An aside..
Quite a few years ago now when remote centre locking was getting to be the norm in new cars, one manufacturer at least decided that it’s set up with a “master key” was the way to do it. The master key was never meant to be used for daily use as any reprogramming needed the master key to allow it to be done.

As they only provided two keys, however, lots if not most owners used the master key daily not knowing or understanding the significance if it was lost. Without the master key the ECU had to be changed at well over £1k, back then, as many unfortunate owners later discovered.

Post edited at 11:24
 DamonRoberts 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Seems that's the price for German cars. Need a spare for my Boxster and thats around the £350 mark from a dealer or independent. 

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

The high price also gives an illusion of security. "wow, £350 a key, must be secure/not worth trying to break into" 

3
 abh 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

without wanting to temp fate, we only have 1 set of keys for the car (we still have the other set, but it doesn't work), so am constantly hoping we don't lose the original..we've been lucky so far, for about 4 years, although we have had a few close shaves!...

But yes, the quotes are expensive!

fingers still crossed!

Post edited at 12:29
 Jenny C 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Paid about £100 last year for a replacement key to our '08 Golf after it 'failed' leaving my other half stranded at work in the middle of nowhere 2hrs from home - Central locking worked ignition didn't, and no it wasn't a flat key battery.

Can't remember who it we used for a replacement, but they came out and reprogrammed a replacement and other than no VW sticker its identical to the original. They did need the working spare key to do it.

(That was in 'interesting' experience getting Green Flag out in the height of the pandemic. Would have been quicker for me to drive down with the spare, but we weren't certain it was a faulty key.)

 hokkyokusei 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

£31 for a replacement Tesla Model 3 'key', and you get two!

Post edited at 13:24
 gethin_allen 26 Oct 2021
In reply to nikoid:

> On some cars you used to be able to use your remaining key to reprogramme the new one. Car dealerships just want your money these days so I wouldn't be surprised if this is no longer possible. Worth looking into perhaps.

I was told I could do this with an old fiat I had as long as you didn't lose the red master key. I managed to get hold of a blank blue key and had it cut only to find that you actually needed 2 blue keys and the master to set new keys as there was a sequence to follow. 

 FreshSlate 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

> I’ve managed to loose the spare key for my car (2015 VW Passatt Estate - with electronic key).

> According to the main dealer, a replacement will be £325 plus £75 for coding. A couple of independent locksmiths have quoted between £300 and £350.

> Does anyone have any tips for getting the cost down to something palatable.

>  

> Thank you!

I bought a blank key for a Ford from Ebay. Looking back it cost 6-7 quid. Coded it myself pretty easily.

I've not had the blank section cut yet (so there's an extra cost) as found the spare (non electronic key) so they just live on one keyring together. 

 nikoid 26 Oct 2021
In reply to gethin_allen:

> I was told I could do this with an old fiat I had as long as you didn't lose the red master key. I managed to get hold of a blank blue key and had it cut only to find that you actually needed 2 blue keys and the master to set new keys as there was a sequence to follow. 

Sounds infuriating and this sort of nonsense is getting worse. Modern cars have just turned into a money making scam for the main dealers when they go wrong. 

In reply to David Riley:

> If there was only one official car manufacturer you would end up paying around 100 times more for the whole car.

No, you wouldn't.  We know what would happen in that case.

You'd end up paying virtually nothing but you'd need to wait 25 years unless you had friends in the Government and the car would be shit.

Having said that the replacement car key thing is a total f*cking scam.  

 Hooo 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

A few years ago I bought a banger with only one key. After enquiring into the price of a second key (nearly as much as the car was worth) I took out an insurance option against losing the key. I think it was £15 a year. I never used it, but it seemed legit.

If one were a little less than scrupulous, one could take out this insurance now, and in a few weeks time claim for the lost key...

 Brown 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

In my old jeep I had only one key with the immobiliser code within it.

New keys blank keys cut to match cost a few quid.

New keys coded to the immobiliser cost an absolute fortune.

I got round the problem by getting several basic uncoded keys and then gaffer taped the actual key inside the steering column next to the ignition. My basic keys now worked to unlock and start the car.

I relied on "herd immunity" from thieves provided by everyone one else with their functional immobilisers.

 1poundSOCKS 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Jon Stewart:

> the separate AA "we'll do it for a fee" service couldn't come out for a week!

I did have to wait a few days but I had a spare key anyway. In hindsight I shouldn't have had a few beers before swimming in the river.

 Dan Arkle 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

My contribution to the thread.

But yourself a 'Tile' Bluetooth key locator.

If you lose your keys, you can make it ring using your phone if it's in Bluetooth range.  If it's out of range, it can give you the GPS details of when it was last in range.  It's by no means perfect but has saved me hours of searching so far. Also works to find your phone.

Finally, with many modern cars you can set it up to be unlocked via your mobile phone. Which is worth considering before it's actually needed. With ford it's called fordpass.

In reply to Hooo:

> If one were a little less than scrupulous, one could take out this insurance now, and in a few weeks time claim for the lost key...

And hope the claims guy isn't on UKC

 Alkis 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Dan Arkle:

I bought myself Airtags last month after I decided that I have wasted enough time in my life looking for keys. It was triggered by me spending three hours looking for my keys over two occasions in two weeks. I have been extremely bad at misplacing them my whole life and the threshold was crossed where I decided that 25 quid per set of keys is a price worth paying...

 Ridge 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Climbing Pieman:

> As they only provided two keys, however, lots if not most owners used the master key daily not knowing or understanding the significance if it was lost. Without the master key the ECU had to be changed at well over £1k, back then, as many unfortunate owners later discovered.

I think that was Ford. The master key was orange or some other garish colour to identify it, but people liked the colour so used it daily.

 mike123 26 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide: if you are anywhere near the lakes I’m faily sure“ mr keys “ who parks outside b and q  in Workington will do it for way less than £350 while you wait . Also Cumbria car keys are a mobile service , probably be £350 to make you one from scratch but less than  that if it’s “just  “ a copy . Both have made VW keys for me for £150 ish 

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Thanks for all the replies.

I can buy an own brand version of the key from EBay for about £20.

It doesn’t come with the circuit board. Does anyone know an auto lock smith who will supply the circuit board and code it to my car?

thanks,

Tom

 sbc23 27 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

I found a great guy in Morecambe/Heysham who supplied, cut and programmed 2 genuine Ford keys for my transit custom for about £200. 

His business name is : “A Locksmith” and it’s located just next to the ferry terminal.

 Dan Arkle 27 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Your £20 is a just a physical key that will open the lock (and then probably set the alarm off).

Don't bother. Although I do use one for surfing.

Any locksmith that can code the key will provide one with a chip in it.

 DaveHK 27 Oct 2021
In reply to cezza:

> Timpsons have done 2 for me at a significantly cheaper price. 

I'm sure it varies a lot by model but we were quoted something like £250 by VW and got one from Timpsons for about £40.

 Jenny C 27 Oct 2021
In reply to DaveHK:

We have asked several times in timpsons and they can't programme the keys for our vehicles (05 and 08 plates). We can get a blank key that operates the door locks, but no chance for the ignition.

 GrahamD 27 Oct 2021
In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

£350 doesn't go very far for unscheduled services and product distribution.

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