Stealing a new Fiat 500?

I do not know about the Fiat 500, but, I can buy a new key for one of my cars already programmed for the car. The ignition lock is just a slot. When the car was made ( I was told by the dealer), eight spares were made for it and are held at the factory, and can be ordered by a dealer. The other car does not even have a slot, you just need the key to be in your pocket.

David

My wife bought a Puggy 107 from a local main dealer. I pointed out that they had only given her one key. The dealer wanted the car to match the new spare key which they cut and programmed.

My bike has a Datatool alarm and to programme a key for that you just need put it in the ignition within a few seconds of the ignition being turned on although obviously the pattern on the blade must match too.

It doesn't seem reasonable for a car maker to keep 8 spare keys for every car sold, for the few that would then be sold. How long do you keep the keys for, and don't forget the security implications of someone stealing the keys and then getting the details of the car.

Is it reasonable for a dealer to lie to a gullible purchaser about something trivial in order to clinch a deal?

Fancyplates.com - no paperwork required. All legal and bypasses the monopoly that Tony set up for his cronies.

If...

...then most certainly not...

This was confirmed by other dealers from different groups of companies.

Eg, there are Ford dealerships owned by Caffyns, Arnold Clark, Lifestyle group, Evans Halshaw, Gates, Jennings, et cetera...

The 'spares' are pre-coded. They recommend that the car be taken to a dealer to have any 'lost' keys deleted from the car ECUs (plural).

David

I have a Ford and lost all the keys;

I ordered 2 online online for about half the cost of one from Ford.

Then I paid the local mobile locksmith £50 to come and delete the existing keys (of which there was three in the ECU despite me only being supplied with 2) and adding the two new keys.

I think ford wanted about £250.

There was a time when Fiat 500s were targetted for airbags, apparently they was or are very expensive. The theft usually made a right mess of the dashboard with the theif cutting/snapping most of it to get at the bits they want.

How about the theives in this case just broke in to the car, snapped off the steering lock and pushed it away onto a truck?

That said there was a chap around here recently in the paper for stealing cars (usually old tatty messes) by loading them onto his scrappy type truck.

Who cares, if you get your plates at a good price, with minimal hassle, and they comply with the law on font etc.?

So keys can only be pre-coded when built, and never added, but can be deleted?

ollocks.

And that's a different question entirely, of course.

This is what I shall do. I bought one for a different car about 18 months ago without hassle, but cannot remember from where...

David

You might know better than the parts guys from some different dealerships then...

David

And last time I checked, if you have a gray import, you can legally use a smaller plate to fit the Japanese bracket, but you can't get one made in Great Britain. So that Northern Ireland web dealer is the best option.

How did he know how to cut the blade?

ahhh, now I seem to remember that a few years ago, some cars were able to stolen by the scrotes obtaining a blank key from somewhere, and by using an aftermarket bit of kit plugged into the EOBD port, able to then code the 'new' key to start the car.

The car manufacturer eventually had a security update to defeat this hack.

• They were able to break the driver door window and reach the EOBD port without setting off the car alarm.

David

I got my last set here:

On the balance of probabilities... I'll go with Adrian's view on this one. Just how many keys do these 'parts guys' think a car manufacturer will make and stock 'just in case'?

Slightly more worrying is that there are locksmiths out there who can and will cut a key from a hi-resolution photograph. Whilst you may still need a transponder chip to start the car, being able to photograph a key and get one cut means you can get into a car, more than likely release the steering lock and hand brake, and push / winch it silently onto a trailer / beavertail so you can sort out the difficult stuff at a workshop.

You can work out the cut for a Tibbe key just with a glance.