Are 406 keys coded to the car?

[clarkey1984]

The only reason i ask is that my car only came with one key and i thought it might be handy to get a spare made, ive seen a few places around the lowestoft/beccles area that cut car keys, but i was just wondering that if the worst should happen and i lose the original, would a cut copy start my car. I remember years ago (circa 2000) when i worked at a garage there being something french in the workshop that had some kind of immobilizer type of issue to do with the key not having a chip or being coded in some way. I have the pre facelift 1996 2.1 TD LX if that helps.

[GingerMagic]

I think, if you have a new key and transponder chip coded at the same time from a reputable shop, it will not need coding, probably less than £30.

If you choose to get a remote key made, these are more expensive and will need to be coded - you can still just put it in the door lock to unlock and you can still start the car with it but the remote won't work without coding.

If I'm wrong ( which is not uncommon ) then someone will either agree with me or call me a buffoon....

[mjb]

The car needs programming (via PP2000 and the key pin number) to the key's passive rf transceiver.

Of course, if the car's got no immobiliser, or has had it deactivated, then a cut key should just work

[clarkey1984]

My car has the keypad just near where your right knee would be, but ive never known the code, and in fact only found the buttons by accident, i was giving the cockpit a clean up a few days after i got the car, so im guessing that it must either be bust or deliberately disabled.

[gumby6371]

If you have a keypad then I don't think you need a transponder key, easiest way to check is open up your existing key and have a look for a small black rectangular block inside.
No block then its a standard key and you just need a key cutting which should be cheap enough from any key cutting place.

[mjb]

With the keypad, you WILL have a transponder key. However, the immobiliser will either have been disabled, or be set to using the key instead of the code.

I think that you may be able to disable the immobiliser by turning on the ignition, then disconnecting the keypad. Usually, this is just used when the keypad's knackered and you enter the code first, but I'm betting that in this case it should also stop the requirement for a transponder in the key. If this is the case, you can get a plain key cut nice and cheaply, but you should disclose to your insurance company that you've disabled the immobiliser...