Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Lost my car keys

I was on vacation with my girlfriend up in Maryland for the past week. We went to Six Flags America last Sunday, and at some point during the day I lost my keys, because when it came time to leave and we walked out to the parking lot, I realized that they were not in my pocket. So we were stranded without a car for a couple of days. I filed a missing item report at the amusement park and had to pay $30 to catch a cab ride back to our hotel, which was only 6-7 miles away. I had given the only spare key to my father, who of course was home here in VA. Fortunately, I was able to reach him and have him mail it up to me overnight, so we were able to continue our vacation with transportation (found a much cheaper cab to catch a ride back to the park and pick up my car, just $12) and we drove back home today.

Anyway, they never found my keys at Six Flags. I've already had a spare house key made, and I had a spare key for my bicycle lock. I just need a new pocket knife, and hope that my roommate isn't too upset because his bike key was on my keyring as well, since I kept his bike for the summer. Now of course, I only have the one key for my car. Already I'm missing the convenience of my car remote. I'm aware that these keys have to be programmed before they will work in the car. Losing my keys has already cost me about $60: $42 in cab fares, and nearly $20 to have the spare shipped to me overnight via UPS. So my question is, how much will it cost me to buy a new key, and a new remote, which I assume have to come from the dealer?

The funny thing was that Guest Services at the park had an entire collection of car keys in their office. The guy next to me had also lost his keys and they had not been found, but I felt much more sorry for him since he was from Atlanta and there was no spare key for his vehicle. Anyway, I'm going to get one of those clips that hooks your keys to your pants so this can't happen again, even on a rollercoaster.

you can get remotes and keys from ebay but I have read that the ebay keys don't always work. I don' tthink the key cost to much from the dealer.

now since you have a E0 you might have the older PATS system where you only need one key to program another, if so you are lucky, otherwise you need to go to the dealer to have it done

Ever hear of Magnakey. Little metal box with a strong magnet attached. Get a key made and stash it under the car, on bumper supports or any metal surface you can get to on your locked car. I haave to do this for the wife, she has both lost the key or locked the keys in the car.

The keys are the same. It is the system in the car that is different. I don't remember the date of the change to where you needed two keys, but if it is an E0 there is a reasonable chance that you only need one key to add another.

Yes, it should work.

That will work, you can also get the 98+ mystique key, also you do not need two key's to program a new key in an EO. I have tried the how-to and it worked on my EO.

Yeah, I just looked it up in my owner's manual and according to it I do only need one key, so that's a relief. Now where's the cheapest place to get the key cut? Someone told me that Wal-Mart does that service...

Also, does anyone know what is required to program a remote? The remotes I see on eBay offer programming instructions with them, but I'm just curious as to what that process involves.

usually its a matter of opening a door, a sequence of turning the ignition on and off several times, and hitting a combination of buttons on the remote for the car to "learn" the frequency of the transmitter....simple.