500euro for replacement key?

[The Pa]

My 2002 1.2 Stilo wouldn't start last night. It was turning but wouldn't fire. The recovery guy said it wasn't recognising the key, so the immobiliser wouldn't disarm. He towed it to my local fiat garage and they had a look. They got the code from fiat for 50euro but then discovered the key was faulty and needed to be replaced. He broke it down like this (can't remember all the exact figures):

240 for key from fiat
50 already paid for code
150 labour to program new key (around 3 times the hourly rate for mechanical work)

Around 500 total then for a new key with remote control.

Does this sound suspiciously expensive to anyone else??? Thanks.

 

[minirib]

The immobiliser chip in the keys themselves don't generally fail on the Stilo in fact I have never seen one fail. Unless the key has been taken apart and the immobiliser chip has fallen out. I'd be looking for a fault on the car not the key.
Have they attempted to do an emergency start using the code? If the emergency start works then that should rule out a problem with the ecu. Next step would be to check all earths are good check the relays and finally the pick up coil around the ignition barrel.
The prices for the key and code are about rite the labor does seem a little high though for something that takes all of five minutes to do.