So after my infamous episode a few weeks back of playing lost and found on the trails with the only working key we had I thought best get this sorted.

Called VW to ask as to what was required as the second key had stopped working as in I can start the car but just cannot unlock the doors and yes I have changed the batteries etc.

I was told they will have to run diagnostics which is 85£, so I said what if we skip diagnostics and replace the key itself (thinking it might be more cost effective). At that point he said perhaps we can re program the key first which is 72£ – I asked what if that doesn’t work . Oh, then we will need to run the diagnostics so you will need to pay the 72 +85. Hmm.. Back to my original question skip this malarky and replace the key, he replied not sure of the actual cost but somewhere between 200 and 300 £ was the answer. I almost choked in disbelief!!

WTF! Literally highway robbery.

Is going through VW the only solution and why in earth does this cost such an abhorrent sum of money?

Call out a mobile lost car key guy
Replaced one for a Honda 2 weeks ago £100 new key and programmed all at home.
If you’re in London have a recommendation

That is nothing – £1500 to replace a faulty low coolant level sensor was quoted by my local Audi dealership last week.

Will he travel out to Surrey Hills

Aye, Mobile guy coming here tomorrow for the T5 (only came with 1 key) £65 for basic key, £115 for flip fob thingy.

https://azlocksmith.co.uk/mobile-locksmith-services/auto-locksmith/?gclid=CI6g5LL1-9ICFc0K0wod8-4IdQ

The Cobbler / Keycutting place in my local supermarket has a sign outside – they’re 75% cheaper than the dealers for replacement keys apprently.

I got one done at Timpsons for a Renault a couple of years ago. IIRC, they can’t do every make but pretty convenient and worked fine.

Is this legit? various posts on the internet seem to suggest only the dealers can do this 🙄

tuskaloosa – Member

Is this legit? various posts on the internet seem to suggest only the dealers can do this

Google Research suggests that post-2006 VW keys were made more secure – they encoded the immobilisation code on the keys so they couldn’t be copied, VW say the only way to get new ones is to go to a dealer who can get the info from the VW central database and order a new key to be made – £lots and 1-3 weeks.

It’s been ‘cracked’ now though, as long as you have 1 working key and the locksmith / key cutter has the right software they can crack the key for the keys encryption key and make a new one on demand for less. It’s more specalist less people can do it.

Got the info here, they serve London and the home counties.

Volkswagen keys

There’s a guy on Facebook called Craig Nettleton, he specialises in replacement keys.
He does 100’s for the Vw forums on there and has done one for me, travels the country and I would recommend him very highly.
He may even be on here…

About £100 for a new “Bently Style” flip key.

Thanks everyone very useful info.. will start calling around.

Crikey £200 – £300 for replacement key VW must be having a laugh. 😯

Robbing bastards.

If you want fun, phone BMW and ask them the price of a new key for your 7-Series. The new-style key with touch screen:

(I don’t know the answer, btw)

Couldn’t find the key to my boxter so had to try the spare. Didn’t work at all. Contacted porsche who informed me that if the key isn’t used it de programmes itself! WTF? Whats the point of having it as a spare then?

So how much to reprogramme, apparently an hrs labour and only main dealer can do it as porsche haven’t released the codes.

So that’ll be 100 quid to reprogramme…but wait..they can’t reprogramme an existing key..i’ll need a new blade and remote as well, cost 275 quid.

Standard charge really Peugeot played the same game with me.

In the end it cost me 80 quid to change all the barrels and move the immobiliser chips across to new cut keys with the added bonus of having a nice dumb key with no electrics that will open the doors but not start the car. So good for swimming etc.

Just done the same again on my latest car.

If you have the key code card from the manual which i didn’t both times….Itd be 75 quid….

OP – My vw caddy key ‘developed’ the same problem after a quick spin in the washing machine 😳 After I dried it out it would start the car, but not unlock it.

Googling ‘programming VW key’ brought up a method, using the working key (and the vehicle) to reset the other key. Can’t remember it now – but worth a look.

It worked for me – 2016 Caddy maxi.

I think it was this…

1.Place your first key into the ignition and turn to the second notch (do not start the car)
2.Now close the door and place your second key into the handle lock
3.Turn the key to the lock position and let it spring back to the central position.
4.Hold down the Lock button on your new remote, you may hear a bleep from the car
5.Now unlock the car using the key in the barrel and remove, then take your first key out of the ignition
6.Close the door
7.Your remote should now be coded
Please be reminded that this procedure WILL NOT add your key to the immobilizer. Even you have completed part 1 and have the blade cut, you are still not able to start your car. This procedure will only code your key to connect to the controller so that you can open/close doors and set/unset alarm. However, this procedure can be used to re-activate an existing key that’s lost its memory from a flat battery.

They are all at it. Ripping the royal piss nearly as bad as the printer cartridge racket.

Some of the basic keys can be done without stealer (****) input.

Buy key blade blank, get it cut, get the correct transponder, may still need to beg the gods to program it for you, for an extortionate fee as they are doing you a massive favour! **** would’t piss on them if they were on fire.

VW charging £300 for a bit of software trickery?! I thought they were experienced at that sort of thing.
I bet your fuming!

😀

IGMC

flowerpower thanks for that . I have one of those pushy key things and there is no door lock which when I ‘lost’ the key riding made me wonder about the the wonders of keyless doors on cars these days!!!

TP oooft

Baron haha he had the gall to ask if I wanted to book the car in despite me saying something about the cost being silly!!

next time you sort out car insurance, take out the ‘lost key’ extra for a few quid.

few weeks in, you just ‘lose’ your key.

Volvo are the same, pisstake.

If you did the ‘loose the key’ thing and got another from VW ( which the insurance would expect) the ‘lost’ key would be useless as they alter the immobiliser code when adding another key. Or at least that is what is happening with my new key for my Golf so I have been told

Arh… no worries. Figured there must have been a reason you didn’t find it on Google yourself.

Part of the problem with modern car keys is that they’ve become a mini computer with more functionality than just unlocking the car; many recent cars no longer have any service details or stamps in the service booklet, all of the service info is encoded into the keyfob, which is why the damned things have become so extortionate to replace.
The Volvo V40 I’ve got sat outside has these whizzy keys that slot into the dash with a stop/start button, and there are no service details in the book, it’s all on the key.
I’d hate to have to replace one, which is why they’re usually zip tied together when I pick up a car…

I’d hate to have to replace one, which is why they’re usually zip tied together when I pick up a car…

To ensure you lose them as a pair?

Why would they encode the service info into the key? Surely the ECU is a better place!

Had to get a 2nd key for mrs’ polo a while back as only came with one, ditto main agent asking £200+, found a local key place who did a flip one that does all for £85. I noticed he stuck the original key in some kind of gadget on his desk which I assume was some sort of code reader.

VCDS is the answer! get on facebook or instagram or whatever, find your local VW “scene”, ask em about VCDS, someone will have it and will sort yoo out for £20 and a can of monster.

If you think car keys are expensive, you should see how much a new key is for a Scania or Volvo truck!

So £20+k on a car and you complain because an increase in security on the bit of the car you walk around with is 1.5% of the cost to replace because you lost it.

many recent cars no longer have any service details or stamps in the service booklet, all of the service info is encoded into the keyfob

Source ?

Sounds like the sort of thing someone would make up to justify the cost of a replacement.

(Or as an excuse as to why the service tech forgot to stamp your service book)

100thidot – lost and found the working key. It’s the second key that has stopped working fully i.e. it starts the car but won’t lock and unlock.

And after taking depreciation into account I’m not sure your calcs still hold ❓

Need a new key for my Galaxy. Key itself is fine, it’s the remote buttons. Timpsons put they key in some sort of device, to read its details. They reckon they can do one but looking at £160 ea. 🙂
Reading on the Galaxy forum, if I can get a new / spare key, I can program the remote buttons but the key still needs programming to the car, costing hundreds.

Source ?

Sounds like the sort of thing someone would make up to justify the cost of a replacement.

(Or as an excuse as to why the service tech forgot to stamp your service book)
Well, if I could be arsed, I could take photos of the pages of the service handbook that comes with a significant number of cars I drive which would show pages of text, and absolutely no pages with places for a service stamp to go into.
I’ll bet I drive more different cars during any given day than you do.
And as for source, this is what I was told by a number of people when I started working for the car auction logistics company I’m with, that service info was encoded into the keys, I have no particular reason to doubt that, as these are people who have been driving cars professionally, so do you have evidence to the contrary?

Well, if I could be arsed, I could take photos of the pages of the service handbook that comes with a significant number of cars I drive which would show pages of text, and absolutely no pages with places for a service stamp to go into.

That doesn’t show that they are encoded into the keys though does it ?
Just that they aren’t in the service book.

I’ll bet I drive more different cars during any given day than you do.

If it’s a number greater than 1 then I would agree with you.

Not sure how that shows that service records are encoded onto keys either though 😕

And as for source, this is what I was told by a number of people when I started working for the car auction logistics company I’m with, that service info was encoded into the keys, I have no particular reason to doubt that, as these are people who have been driving cars professionally,

Not to be dismissive of your source, but it im still not convinced.

so do you have evidence to the contrary?

Nope. But equally I still don’t have any evidence that it’s true either.

I’m not saying it’s not true, I just asked for a source. I’ve never heard of it, and thought it sounded daft.

Seems like a really stupid thing to do, when it would be far simpler to encode that information into a part of the car that doesn’t get lost all the time. Like the ECU.

What do they use to encode the information into the Key when they service the car ?

After much searching, I found this info about modern keyfobs from BMW:
“Car memory/key memory.
Forget the time-wasting process of returning your seat, mirrors and climate control back to your preferred settings after someone else has driven your BMW – car memory/key memory automatically returns key cabin features back to your individual preferences as soon as you use the key to open the door.

Car memory lets you programme a wide range of settings, including the automatic activation of driving lights when the vehicle starts, and the useful parking headlight function, which keeps the driving lights illuminated for 40 seconds after the vehicle is parked to guide you as you walk out of dark parking spaces.
Key memory saves your personal settings on your vehicle key. Every time you use the key to remotely unlock your BMW, it automatically returns vehicle settings to your preferences: the mirrors are at the correct angle, and your electrically adjustable seat is in your preferred position (seat memory function required). If you wish, the automatic climate control system is set to the cabin temperature and air-flow distribution that you last used.
Key memory is programmed for two keys and can be expanded to up to four drivers. Each driver is automatically recognized by his or her key.”
and this from a BMW forum:
“when I had my E90 the dealer told me all the service logs were saved into your key fob and a record at the dealer (incase you lose your key fob they can rewrite it) and the data is entered by the service advisor
which is why they plug you keyfob into the reader every time you go in for a service
as far as I know the F30 uses this same system
so you should try talking to the service advisor, the sales people probably don’t know how to do it.”

That 7 series key on the first page is iro £1000. I was in a BMW dealer recently where the topic came up.