I recently bought a car that came with 1 key so would like another, how the **** do they cut a key from a photo?

http://www.carkeyhelp.co.uk/products/Ford-Focus-transponder-key-FO21T.html

Thanks for that. One thing I would never have thought to shop for online! We need a key for a ford focus and a Suzuki grand vitara and it was looking like £80 from the place in town. Worth a punt for £13 for the 2. I guess they have a database of different key numbers that they match to your photo which means they can copy one of the known keys.
My grandfather once drove off in someone else’s ford fiesta from the Bath and West show ground, only a mile down the road did he realise that his back seats had been covered in feed, this one was clean!

how the **** do they cut a key from a photo?

http://www.keys4classics.com/html/read_Tibbe_DIY.html

There only are a couple of variations, its the ‘transponder’ bit that is car-specific?

given that you’ve got to take the key somewhere to get it programmed once you’ve had it cut you need to check how much that bit is going to cost before its clear whether you are making a saving or not.

As above, check the transponder programming cost.
The place up the road cut me a van key for £12, the next stage would have been another £50. (I only needed entry to the van for the 3rd spare)

You can re-program some remotes yourself. I’ve used this site successfully to re-program the mother in laws Mazda 6.

Not sure if any good but here’s the Focus list:
http://www.programyourremote.com/classified/Browse.asp?cid=166

I only need a spare key so don’t think i need to program it.

If you have 2 existing keys programmed to your Focus, you can reprogram a new one yourself. If you only have one, you need a Ford dealer to do it. This is programming the key to the immobiliser, not remote door opening. A key which is not programmed will open the door manually, but won’t start the engine. Such keys are useful if you lock your keys in the car, or to give to your kids.

So if you have a Focus with 2 programmed keys, get a third, program it yourself and keep it safe; a cheap way to protect yourself against the expensive dealer programming costs.

I guess this applies to all Fords but I don’t know.