Timpsons and the Cost of Car Key Cutting
Discussion
The prices are shocking! (my opinion)
I visited the local branch inside a Tesco Extra and showed the guy my current fob type key and told him I dont want like for like I just want a bog standard plain spare key cutting - how much? Thinking he might say about £8-10 for all of less than 3 minutes work cutting and deburring I was poised with my tenner.
"£59 guv"
Couldnt believe it and slipped my tenner back inside my pocket.
Maybe I am out of touch with prices but then again when I went to the local indoor market there was a chap in there who offered a key cutting service - asked him the same question and he said "thats a basic key so call it £4.00 mate". Job jobbed. Tried it and it absolutely fine.
I can only think that Timpsons have some serious overheads to justify charging these sorts of prices. God know how much it would have been if I had wanted an actual fob type remote key with buttons.
I visited the local branch inside a Tesco Extra and showed the guy my current fob type key and told him I dont want like for like I just want a bog standard plain spare key cutting - how much? Thinking he might say about £8-10 for all of less than 3 minutes work cutting and deburring I was poised with my tenner.
"£59 guv"
Couldnt believe it and slipped my tenner back inside my pocket.
Maybe I am out of touch with prices but then again when I went to the local indoor market there was a chap in there who offered a key cutting service - asked him the same question and he said "thats a basic key so call it £4.00 mate". Job jobbed. Tried it and it absolutely fine.
I can only think that Timpsons have some serious overheads to justify charging these sorts of prices. God know how much it would have been if I had wanted an actual fob type remote key with buttons.
Surley even a bog standard key needs to be programmed for the immoboliser, unless of course you're talking about an old car which doesn't have one? If it's the latter, I'm sure they just quoted you not expecting anybody to be asking for a new key for a car without an immoboliser.
£59 isn't bad for a programmed key, considering most dealers will charge over £200 to get you a new one but yes it is still cheaper to get one from an Indy garage in most cases.
Timpson's quoted me £140 for a new remote fob but my local garage said he could get me one for £100.
£59 isn't bad for a programmed key, considering most dealers will charge over £200 to get you a new one but yes it is still cheaper to get one from an Indy garage in most cases.
Timpson's quoted me £140 for a new remote fob but my local garage said he could get me one for £100.
They couldn't even do mine (Jag X300 with the immobiliser chip inside the key)
The actual fob you can programme yourself so I bought a spare, and a blank key from eBay and took the key to a local locksmith who did the cutting and programming for 20 quid.
The actual fob you can programme yourself so I bought a spare, and a blank key from eBay and took the key to a local locksmith who did the cutting and programming for 20 quid.
Edited by jfire on Tuesday 18th September 11:55
Simpsons wouldn't even cut a blank for me.
I had bought a blank Ebay key and transferred the electronic bits across into it, so just needed the blade cutting to match the old key.
The Timpsons guy wouldn't cut my blank as they hadn't supplied it. Company policy i was told.
So I asked how much for a blank key from them that they would cut. They couldn't get hold of the blanks...
Still wouldn't cut my key
I had bought a blank Ebay key and transferred the electronic bits across into it, so just needed the blade cutting to match the old key.
The Timpsons guy wouldn't cut my blank as they hadn't supplied it. Company policy i was told.
So I asked how much for a blank key from them that they would cut. They couldn't get hold of the blanks...
Still wouldn't cut my key
keirik said:
Must have misunderstood. They cut a new car key for me for £10 a couple of weeks ago
They charged me a tenner a little while back, too.That was to cut a key for an older car without a transponder immobiliser. Almost everything in the last 20 years has a transponder immobiliser. The chip inside the key needs cloning, as well as the key needing cutting.
A £200 dealer key won't just be a clone of the old key, it'll be a new key programmed. When the car came from the factory, it had keys A and B programmed in. You lose key B, and buy key C from the dealer, the car is then programmed to now respond to A and C, not B. Somebody finds B, they can't nick the car. You lose key A, you get the car programmed to C and D.
You lose key B, and get key A cloned, the car will still respond to A and B. You have two of A. Somebody finds B, they can nick the car. You lose A or the clone of A, you can't easily get that removed and use your clone, because the clone is "the same key", the only key you have that the car recognises. You'd need to get C and D from the dealer, then remove A and B.
Edited by TooMany2cvs on Tuesday 18th September 11:59
The Turbonator said:
Surley even a bog standard key needs to be programmed for the immoboliser, unless of course you're talking about an old car which doesn't have one? If it's the latter, I'm sure they just quoted you not expecting anybody to be asking for a new key for a car without an immoboliser.
£59 isn't bad for a programmed key, considering most dealers will charge over £200 to get you a new one but yes it is still cheaper to get one from an Indy garage in most cases.
Timpson's quoted me £140 for a new remote fob but my local garage said he could get me one for £100.
This. I haven't seen a car key that hasn't contained some kind of electronics in years, immobilisers, keyless entry, even a 20 yr old Honda Civic has an immobiliser fitted as standard. £59 is pretty good considering the costs of programming machines and keeping a large stock of blank fobs. It would have costs £240 to get a new BMW key fob for an E85 Z4, you couldn't get them from anyone but BMW. £59 isn't bad for a programmed key, considering most dealers will charge over £200 to get you a new one but yes it is still cheaper to get one from an Indy garage in most cases.
Timpson's quoted me £140 for a new remote fob but my local garage said he could get me one for £100.
A couple of weeks ago I needed a key for a 1966 MG Midget....I know!
The key looked really small and simple but the guy at Timpsons said they could not do it as they did not have the blank to match. I then found out I could buy a new barrel and two keys for about £11.00. Ten minutes to change so all good.
The key looked really small and simple but the guy at Timpsons said they could not do it as they did not have the blank to match. I then found out I could buy a new barrel and two keys for about £11.00. Ten minutes to change so all good.
I needed one for my old 96 T4 Transporter last week and had exactly the same, £59 for a s
tty looking key blank cutting with the transponder coding. Paid it like as I needed it but also enquired about just having a blank key cutting, no transponder, just one that'd open the doors. Answer 'sorry mate, cant do that'...and that was it!
tty looking key blank cutting with the transponder coding. Paid it like as I needed it but also enquired about just having a blank key cutting, no transponder, just one that'd open the doors. Answer 'sorry mate, cant do that'...and that was it! bobbo89 said:
I needed one for my old 96 T4 Transporter last week and had exactly the same, £59 for a stty looking key blank cutting with the transponder coding. Paid it like as I needed it but also enquired about just having a blank key cutting, no transponder, just one that'd open the doors. Answer 'sorry mate, cant do that'...and that was it!
The correct-profile blank they have already contains the transponder chip.tty looking key blank cutting with the transponder coding. Paid it like as I needed it but also enquired about just having a blank key cutting, no transponder, just one that'd open the doors. Answer 'sorry mate, cant do that'...and that was it! I went into Timpsons to have my Monaro blank cut; I only have one functioning key fob at the moment. The guy told me the same, that he couldn't cut the blank unless he had supplied it. Fair enough. I then went to a recommended key cutter who told me the blank would likely blunt the tool used so would charge me £25 to cut it. No chance.
Luckily I found a guy who's only concern was whether the machine would grip the blank securely enough to successfully cut the blank accurately. He said it would take 15 minutes to do it properly, dependent on the hardness of the metal and it would be a tenner. No guarantee given, but that'll do for me. I'll get it done this Saturday.
Luckily I found a guy who's only concern was whether the machine would grip the blank securely enough to successfully cut the blank accurately. He said it would take 15 minutes to do it properly, dependent on the hardness of the metal and it would be a tenner. No guarantee given, but that'll do for me. I'll get it done this Saturday.
TooMany2cvs said:
selym said:
I then went to a recommended key cutter who told me the blank would likely blunt the tool used so would charge me £25 to cut it.
There are steel and there are brass blanks. If his machine's set up for brass, and tries to cut steel, then - yep - it will muller the tool.designforlife said:
Had a spare cut for my integra DC5 last year at a local place.
£10 and he just pulled a blank off the rows of them on the wall to do it...job jobbed.
Helps that there is no transponder in the fob I suppose, unusual on a 2002 car.
Very, my AU delivered 2006 DC5 had one. Would have been illegal in Oz otherwise but I'm gathering all the ones in the UK are JDM imports.£10 and he just pulled a blank off the rows of them on the wall to do it...job jobbed.
Helps that there is no transponder in the fob I suppose, unusual on a 2002 car.
My daughter recently bought a 2012 Fiesta but it only came with one key.
She went into the local Ford dealer and they wanted £250 for a spare key because they said it had to be programmed for the central locking and the immobiliser.
But a quick search on eBay revealed a company that supply a remote key fob which they cut to suit your car from a photo of the original - all for the princely sum of £31.
To be honest I thought this highly unlikely, but worth a try. So I took a photo of the original key on my phone, placed the order on eBay, and sure enough, two days later the new key arrived. The key worked perfectly in the door lock and the ignition lock and it came with printed instructions on how to synchronise the central locking and immobiliser functions with the fob which took my daughter about two minutes to achieve.
It was a great result and I was very surprised that the whole thing worked from a single photo for such a low price.
Here is a link to the item I bought
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Fiesta-2008-2012-n...
And just in case that doesn't work here is a link to the sellers eBay shop
http://www.ebaystores.co.uk/Car-Key-Repair-Service
No connection. Apart from as a happy customer for this one purchase
She went into the local Ford dealer and they wanted £250 for a spare key because they said it had to be programmed for the central locking and the immobiliser.
But a quick search on eBay revealed a company that supply a remote key fob which they cut to suit your car from a photo of the original - all for the princely sum of £31.
To be honest I thought this highly unlikely, but worth a try. So I took a photo of the original key on my phone, placed the order on eBay, and sure enough, two days later the new key arrived. The key worked perfectly in the door lock and the ignition lock and it came with printed instructions on how to synchronise the central locking and immobiliser functions with the fob which took my daughter about two minutes to achieve.
It was a great result and I was very surprised that the whole thing worked from a single photo for such a low price.
Here is a link to the item I bought
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Fiesta-2008-2012-n...
And just in case that doesn't work here is a link to the sellers eBay shop
http://www.ebaystores.co.uk/Car-Key-Repair-Service
No connection. Apart from as a happy customer for this one purchase
ToothbrushMan said:
The prices are shocking! (my opinion)
Maybe I am out of touch with prices but then again when I went to the local indoor market there was a chap in there who offered a key cutting service - asked him the same question and he said "thats a basic key so call it £4.00 mate". Job jobbed. Tried it and it absolutely fine.
I can only think that Timpsons have some serious overheads to justify charging these sorts of prices. God know how much it would have been if I had wanted an actual fob type remote key with butto.
as the OP (thats me) said - only wanted a plain key so no buttons or immob. wish Id have then asked the guy how much to cut me a spare front door key to the house LOL. probably wanted less than a tenner but the point is they are not really any different to each other. the new spare is a generic blank key with an oval shaped black plastic grip-its all I wanted nothing special. I accept maybe Timpsons dont do basic car keys or refuse to cut a key you provide.Maybe I am out of touch with prices but then again when I went to the local indoor market there was a chap in there who offered a key cutting service - asked him the same question and he said "thats a basic key so call it £4.00 mate". Job jobbed. Tried it and it absolutely fine.
I can only think that Timpsons have some serious overheads to justify charging these sorts of prices. God know how much it would have been if I had wanted an actual fob type remote key with butto.
thank god though for the small trader..........
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