On my S reg 156 2.5 AR quoted me I think 35/45, but I didn't go ahead with this because they had really peeed me off trying to get the key (price went up by a few quid each time on 4 seperate enquiries!)

I got an autolocksmith to try (about £60) but the code I had was incorrect so I bought a scrap car of ebay for £10.50, pulled the engine ecu, alarm, immobilser and central locking ecu's with the chip and remote control from the key, transplanted these and they worked, much better than the £1200 AR wanted.

 

i have a mate with a merc sprinter van that has just had the same problem and has cost him £1300 to have resolved. if the computery bit that identifies the key is broken then it is that part which needs replacing and thats where the big costs lie.

 

Dealer told me not to buy an Alfa with out the spare keys as a new set with the electronics can cost over £1000.

you didn't say if you had the spares my guess is not other wise you would be using them.

 

My 147 came with a key missing and it cost about £150 for a new key and having it re-coded.

It does sound like you have something else broken as well, hence the extra cost

 

just bought a new key for my 156 jts 2002.
Key £100
Programming £40
from sunwin, derby.
couldnt program it to open or close windows tho. says its not available on my model (turismo)

 

Hi

I had a missing key when I bought my 147. It was ~£180 to get the key and reprogram the system. This was carried out at the Alfa Workshop in Royston, Hertfordshire. http://www.alfaworkshop.co.uk

Gav

 

i only had one key for my 156 and then ran it over, i bought a complete new lock and key set from Alfa for £160 fitted it myself and then had the keys coded at alfa for £60, they got the codes from Alfa Turin, with no probs, cant see why it would be £800, get someone else to check it out.

 

Had my key (156) replaced by alfa dealer in chelmsford, about £120 in all,

 

ALWAYS get a second opinion

 

This is maybe a little off the topic, I was just told by my dealer that if you are programming new key for your alfa, all keys you want to use need to be present as if not, you cant program them again.

My story: I received 1 normal key and 1 backup key with my alfa. I lost the normal key. I was using backup till I was waiting for the replacement to come. New key arrived; it was programmed to be accepted by my ECU, everything fine. Than I found the lost original key but it didn’t work of course, as it was deleted from the ECU. I thought it was a good idea to have another one spare, so I went back to the dealer, to program it back. He said it is impossible, as the key wasn’t present by the programming before and it is banned forever.

I just want to warn everybody who from some reason want more keys for their alfas, if you program new one, all the others that you want to you use in the future have to be present.

 

I too have had to buy a second key for my 2001 156 - which costed c.£70 for the key and a code card (with a new code on it), and c.£70 for the programming. AS stated above both keys had to be present. I daresay if you did have third key, you could get another code card (c.£10) and then pay to have all three keys reprogrammed - but maybe the ECU will only allow a certain number of reprogrammings, although I don't see why they should restrict that.

Anyway, getting back to the original question - Ascertain just what they think they are going to have to replace for that £800, and then try another quote, but it will probably have to be a main dealer, but with the list of parts you should be able to play one off the other and reduce the price by quite abit. But it does sound like they are quoting for a new ECU - hence the big cost. Bit of a bu99er. Good luck

James

 

I have just bought a new key this week which was £60 for the key,£9 for the code card and £33 to code it in. A total of £115 including vat.

 

I managed to get two new keys and a re code for sub £150 from Sunwin Derby and sub £100 for a recode and new ecu thingy due to a code error about 12 months before that and Sunwin have been worse than abismal at everything else (being kind).

 

£120inc coding, key, chip and vat at Stratstone in Leeds

 

For £800 I guess theyre raplacing all the lockset!

Get a second opinion.

wrinx

 

print this forum off and shove it in their face! Alfa dealers in london seem to want to help people a lot more - just a thought maybe they could offer better service! Alfa in lincoln are crap! Hope they actually do go down

 

print this forum off and shove it in their face! Alfa dealers in london seem to want to help people a lot more - just a thought maybe they could offer better service! Alfa in lincoln are crap! Hope they actually do go down

AR Lombarda have been helpful to me, AR Wimbledon I will never see again out of principle. I enquired on four times about price of a new key and it went up by about £3-4 each time. Not major difference but still not right:tut:

 

http://www.codeman.org/fiat.html

Might be useful.



Ralf S.

 

suggest you specifically ask for an itemised estimate, detailing every last service that they are charging for

800 quid sounds like abuse -push to quarter it if you can

 

AR Lombarda have been helpful to me, AR Wimbledon I will never see again out of principle. I enquired on four times about price of a new key and it went up by about £3-4 each time. Not major difference but still not right:tut:

Hey, I have just purchased a 166 and Lombarda have recommended that i come down for a once over. How do you rate them. Are fair, honest and reputeable, trustworthy? What has been your experience with them?. Going 18/10 so if you get this beforehand let me know.
Thanks

 

I only ever used them for smaller things, but I thought they were brilliant. I purchased a code card and key from ar wimbledon - they knew i needed to get it coded up, but they told me these were all the codes available / required for my car (immobiliser code was on it, but not the alarm code).

When I popped into lombarda for a £0.50 gasket, they happily told me my alarm code for free. Even when trying to find said gasket on ePer, he treated the enquiry with the same seriousness I would expect as if looking for a brand new engine.

I've rung them up for advise on a few occasions over the phone, which they have happily complied with. They seemed like nice decent people

Wimbledon as I mentioned earlier - to me it seems like they make the prices up as they go along, and I found them to be very unhelpful.

 

I think that's way steep. My Dad said just a few days ago that a key would cost $400 to replace on a 147 (and he's the one ordering them so he should know)

I know that's Australian dollars, but that is the equivelant to around 160 pounds, so I would definitely be getting a second opinion.

My intuition tells me that they are trying to rip you off.

 

Had my 156JTDM: spare key stolen by some litttle sh*t whilst on holiday.

Insurers took it away to a non Alfa dealer and to replace the locks,
new keys and reprogramme ECU......£755 thank you very much.

Although Zurich Ins. coughed up £350 - standard cover/limit on
Comp policy.

 

if the key was stolen not lost your insurance would change all the locks for free

 

why is london so expensive?!
my 2 nearest dealers want £180+ for new key, code card, and coding!