Advice - Warning - Focus (Ford) Keys

Good advice. In fact, I'd add the following for car buyers:

-When buying any new car with "chipped" keys, see if you can have the dealer cut and program a third key for you as part of your purchase contract with them. That way, if you ever lose a key, you still have two which makes getting a replacement much cheaper (and more widely available) than if you find that you're down to one key. Since a car sale will depend on getting an additional key, you may find that you'll get the key free or at least pay less than full retail for the extra.

-When buying a used Focus or other car with "chipped" keys, make sure that the seller has two or more functioning keys. If not, negotiate the price downward since getting another key(s) will cost you a bundle if you buy a vehicle with a single key.

Craig

Craig and Paul,

That is all very good advice. And if your dealers won't throw in an extra key you can always buy a Focus uncut key on the net (sometimes for less than $10 U.S.) and have ANY place that cuts keys cut it for you. Then all you have to do is have your Focus learn its code (instructions are in your manual).

After learning that my neighbor (who has a Ford, but not a Focus) was charged over $100 to get a new key (after he lost one) and have it programmed I got two spares for my Focus.

Well according to my operation manual you can reprogram any key if you at least to keys. So if you buy a car with one simple key and one remote key you can program yourself the third remote key. This applies to the ignition lock. As soon as you have two remote keys you can also reprogram the remote doorlocks yourself according to my operation manual. Thibaud Chabot

Be aware that Ford are moving towards a system where new keys can only be added by connecting the car to WDS which makes it a dealer-only operation. You can still potentially save by buying blanks on ebay but they still need to be cut and the car programmed to accept them. Not sure if non ford service agents can do this job or not. This is certainly the case with my 54plate Cmax and is likely to be so with the MK2 Foci too.

Bob

Does anyone know if there would be a potential security risk from buying keys on E-Bay like this? Basically I'd be supplying the T-Number of my key, and my address. I'd then be programming my car to accept the new key, so if it was possible for someone to clone the transponder in the key then that would obviously be a way of gaining access to my car!

Just to make absolutely clear - this is just a hypothetical question and no comment whatsoever on the seller in E-Bay!

Gary.

The New Focus is like that as well.

-Nick

Just to clarify: it's the car, not the keys, that gets porgrammed. The chips in the keys are read-only.

Gary,

DON'T supply ANYTHING to the person you are buying the key from. All I did is buy blank (uncut) keys for the year and make (Ford Focus) I needed a key for. Then I took them to a hardware store along with one of the keys that came with my Focus. The guy at the hardware store said even if he cut it the key would work because it had to be programmed by the dealer. I knew he was full of carp (I didn't tell him that) and I asked him to cut them anyway. Once they were cut (he charged me $1 per key) I taught the Focus the keys and I have been using them ever since.

Hi Bill,

Many thanks for the advice. I did supply all the details, however in this case I'm OK because I was ordering the key on behalf of a friend (but delivered to my registered E-Bay address.) I was then going to order one for myself, as I also have a Focus and the price for the key was excellent, when the security issues occurred to me and I stopped. I suppose though I could always get a friend to order it for me. That way the address wouldn't be linked with my car!

Gary.