I've just been through this with a 2001 Sporting that I bought with 1 key. The key has the Code symbol (pyramid with radio circles round it and a numeric 2)
Timpsons can copy these, but only at certain branches. You need to ask if they have an
RW4-Plus machine - these are apparently sort-of 1 per area, about 20 of them in the country (at Timpsons, obviously other people may have equivalent machines, I don't know).
The special machine requires them to sit in the car and cycle the ignition (using the original key) half a dozen times while monitoring the transaction between the car and the key with a special probe thingy - so the car has to be there, don't just take the key. Once the probe's seen enough, they return to the key-cutting booth to program the new chip and cut the blank.
What's going on here is akin to WW2 Bletchley Park deciphering Enigma messages to the U-Boats, using examples of communication of known information and intricate crypotological mathematics. But in Tesco's carpark. By a bloke called Dave.
The new key is a clone of the key you already have, so no need to learn a new key into the car. The replacement cost me £80, and that's all I needed to pay because there was no car programming by Fiat
.
Ironically the most difficult part of the process was to successfully cut the metal blank so it would actually turn the lock - the blank that finally worked after 5 attempts was the one that
doesn't look like the original Fiat key, has a more rectangular head, but even that style of blank took a few goes to get right. Previous attempts would turn the door lock but not the ignition lock, so don't leave until you've actually had it work in both.
Hope that helps,
Rob
