I bought my car back in March and it only came with the key fob and no spare. Two weeks ago I lost my key fob. Stupidly I didn't get a copy made and now stand to face paying £170 for just a standard key or £270 for a new key fob.*

Can anyone tell me if it's possible at all to do this, any cheaper way? I've heard of people getting fobs from other places like scrapyards for cheaper and getting them programmed in.

The model of the car is a Mazda3 1.4 and it was registered in March 2006.*

Apologies of there is already an answer somewhere on the forum for this.*

 

I can give you the answer as far as US 3's go, however I'd recommend confirming it with someone local before taking it as gospel.

For keys: If you have two keys you can program in additional keys (up to eight) yourself in about 15 seconds. If you have one key then the dealer must program a second key for you via the car's computer. The cost for that varies but is generally around 1 hour's labor charge plus the cost of the key. Here the standard OEM transponder key runs about $30 USD. I don't know if the transponder chips are different from the European models or not or if your keys cost more.

For remotes: As long as you have a single working key you can program in remotes (up to three) yourself. It's a process of turn the ignition on/off, opening/closing the driver's door and pushing the lock/unlock button on the door. Not difficult, just a bunch of steps. Again with the remotes I can't say for sure which remotes you need. In the US the KEU was changed in 2007 and newer models need a different remote. The older remotes can be had for ~$35 USD while the newer ones cost over $100 USD. I'd just confirm the remote you need from your dealer and get the visteon numbers from the back of it. Then go shopping online and find one cheap and make sure it has the right numbers. Many online retailers will advertise a remote's functionality across all years and models either out of malice or stupidity.

Hope that helps some, and let me know if you need a link to the programming steps.

 

In New Zealand there are selected locksmiths that can cut & code a key for you. Time to look on google for locksmiths in your area.