One advantage of having an Old Car as opposed to a Modern.

[Tdm]

It's New Year's Eve and I had just got up when got a call from a lady in a neighbouring complex saying that her car wouldn't start and could I help. She needed to get to Hospital in Santa Cruz as her husband was being released today, and wanted to know if I had a set of jump leads as her battery was flat. Drove round in the Stag in which I always carry a set of heavy duty jump leads, but couldn't park next to her car as the spaces either side were occupied. Apparently she had been trying for ages to get her car started, but it wouldn't fire up, and she had eventually drained the battery.

With the help of a friend & neighbour we pushed the car (a Puegoet 206) onto the road which was on an incline and with the help of another person jump started it without any bother. The jump start driver then left and we let the engine run for a while before the lady in question turned it off, and a few minutes later tried again to start it but once again it wouldn't fire up.

After checking the engine bay and spraying WD40 on all the electrical connections, I and a male colleague tried once more but still no joy.
Unbeknown to me and the another chap there, the lady had initially tried to start the car with a spare key that had been cut, but gave the driver the original key to jump start it, then swapped back to the spare key for her second attempt to start it.

When we discovered this we took the keys off her and found the car started fine with the original key (which has inbuilt electrionics), but would not start with the spare which was just a key. Obviously there being something in the "Master" key to allow the engine to fire up.

Using the "correct" key we ran the engine and fully charged the battery up (which was fine by the way) then left the lady to make her way on to Hospital with a male colleague going with her, telling her not to try starting the car with the cut key.

Good deed done for the day, I went home to finish my cup of tea.
Something to be said for owning a car that you only need a good set of spanners and screwdrivers and big hammer to fix most things,
and always ask in detail what a lady in distress had been doing to cause her problem! .

[73stagman]

Most modern keys have a chip type device that sends a recognised signal to the immobiliser in order to start. The keys have to be recognised by the immobiliser and the owners handbook probably tells how to do it. Else its a trip to a dealer /someone who knows how. There is usually a key that will only open the car and glove box... but it wont start the engine ss its not chipped. My old Fronty spare key was a different colour so I could tell the difference.

[DJT]

Some FIATs are scrap if the master key fails. The cost of replacements is astronomical. My Son's Mk4 Golf only had 1 key when he bought it s/hand. Replacement key was cheap on eBay and a local locksmith cut it to match the original, but it could only be used to unlock the car unless it was programmed to match the immobiliser, which could only be done at a main dealer at a cost of around £65! Luckily he never needed it.........

[Per]

Independents with e.g. Autologic can program keys at a reasonable cost. Some locksmiths have semi universal key programming devices as well. Much lower cost than main dealers.

[Driveshield vehicle track]

Just bought a vauxhall Astra key
The car is "keyless" entry and starting so the "key" is just a transponder to keep in your pocket
Still cost £165.00 though
Stag key was £5 from a stall on the market