New key for 1997 range rover? - advice please

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Badboy2k11

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Im new to the forums and hoping to get some good advice.

Heres my story

I own a 1997 range rover (p38). The car is abroad, and its not from the UK, its left hand drive. the key fob broke and is lost, and im currently using the car with just the key. the dealer in lebanon want to charge me £400 for a new key which i think is too much.

I am in the uk now for a short holiday and i want to know if its possible to get a new key for it from here. i am a UK resient and have a british passport, but the cars logbook is in arabic, and its just a card with details on it, very different from the UK logbooks

Isit possible to get a new one? im staying away from ebay as i heard used keys cannot be reprogrammed and only work for the car it was made for

any advice would be appreciated. thanks :)
 
If you have the VIN number of the car and proof of ownership you ought to be able to get one from the dealer, might take a couple of weeks though as they come from Germany.
 
Well i just rang them up and according to the VIN they said their unable to find the car as it could have a different "frequency"

He also said to me if i get the key, i would need to take the car and key to a land rover dealership abroad to get the key programmed as they cant get it programmed here. now this sounds unusual to me.

Anyway, theirs so many keys on ebay and people say they need reprogramming, will it work? i mean the dealer in lebanon charges $50 (£35) to reprogramme a key, so if i just get one off ebay, would main dealer be able to programe it?

thanks
 
No one can program the P38 key, it comes programmed to your car which is why the VIN is needed, the dealer is ripping you off if he is charging to program the key, it just needs syncing per the owners manual. The Ebay Key FOBs are a complete waste of money.
 
Well yeah mate they wanted to charge me £400 for a new key in the first place :) thats why im trying to get one in london.

Anyway you reckon if i get one from here it will work yeah?
 
Okay great. And by dealer programing my key, did the guy mean resync? beacause that can be done by myself
 
OK thanks.

I just had a small conversation with someone selling a P38 fob, and he told me hes sold a few and all buyers managed to program them. he even said if you get it programmed professionaly and it doesnt work il refund you your money

i cant go wrong thier can i? :S i mean since people are buying these keys and they work... surely you can programe them??

anyway thanks for your time mate. appreciate it :)
 
you have nothing to lose if he actually refunds your money, as said the key off e bay won't work.
 
Your walking dodgy ground !!
The keys are different part numbers for LHD and added to that is the fact that LR used two frequencies. I know for a fact that in the US they operate at 315Mhz. In the UK and many other countries they are on 433Hz. Obviously the transponder and the RF receiver need to be on the same frequency for data transfer to be succesful.
Irregardless of which country your car was first supplied, the details are on the LR database which is accessible by all main dealers. Some dealers are helpful and others are a pain in the ass. I would have thought that if the dealer can get the original market and lockset bar code then it should be easy to access Microcat and get the correct part no. for the fob. If it's 315Mhz that should be no problem for the manufacturers (Huf) as I am sure they are supplying keys to the US.
There were only the two frequency options made.
Try a few more dealers, chances are you will find a helpful one who enjoys a challenge !!
New keyfobs are around £140 + VAT

They do not require "Reprogramming", just a quick and easy DIY resynch. (Genuine new keys, that is)
 
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Thanks alot guys i appreciate your help :)

I spoke to 2 other dealers, and they now are saying they will not accept a international log book even if its in english...weird

im kind of stuck now. I did find a guy on ebay selling a key AND a RF receiver. if i was to replace those with the one on the car would they work? or would the BECM and ECU also need replacing?

every dealer tells me something different. i got quoted £130 + VAT for key number 4 as im not sure if the cars had any previous keys.

ANyone know a way around this issue? i know the alternative is to go to main dealer abroad but god its a rip off + takes a month to arrive
 
thanks for your reply storm but if you read properly i said they are not accepting an international logbook :) so i cannot get a key from here
 
Badboy2k11 said:
thanks for your reply storm but if you read properly i said they are not accepting an international logbook :) so i cannot get a key from here
Click to expand...

Actually I did read it properly...as far as i'm aware you have a land rover product. Go to the dealer and do not leave until you get the service you want. Don't say 'oh, ok' just because their customer service is crap and they can't be bothered to try and help you, foreign logbook or not!
 
haha Well yeah of course you have to fight abit but sometimes you just cant win with certain people :) anyway appreciate your advice guys and il keep you all updated on how i endup with a solution
 
Badboy2k11 said:
Im new to the forums and hoping to get some good advice.

Heres my story

I own a 1997 range rover (p38). The car is abroad, and its not from the UK, its left hand drive. the key fob broke and is lost, and im currently using the car with just the key. the dealer in lebanon want to charge me £400 for a new key which i think is too much.

I am in the uk now for a short holiday and i want to know if its possible to get a new key for it from here. i am a UK resient and have a british passport, but the cars logbook is in arabic, and its just a card with details on it, very different from the UK logbooks

Isit possible to get a new one? im staying away from ebay as i heard used keys cannot be reprogrammed and only work for the car it was made for

any advice would be appreciated. thanks :)
Click to expand...



the best option is calling a locksmith! i lost my keys once and since then i never called the dealer again! they will just get a fortune from you. locksmiths are the cheapest way to get this sort out! may i suggest you this SEARCH UK mobile car auto locksmith replacement car key suppliers | Car Keys costs | Key Speclaists | Trasponder Remote Fobs , that is where i found one! .. hope it can help you too! :)
 
joe2012 said:
the best option is calling a locksmith! i lost my keys once and since then i never called the dealer again! they will just get a fortune from you. locksmiths are the cheapest way to get this sort out! may i suggest you this SEARCH UK mobile car auto locksmith replacement car key suppliers | Car Keys costs | Key Speclaists | Trasponder Remote Fobs , that is where i found one! .. hope it can help you too! :)
Click to expand...

It might be worth asking a dealer, there's only two answers that they can give you. Normally about £150 and a week's wait.

- Oops, computer playing up, only showed me two posts on this thread -
 
Last edited:
Joe2012 - Do you own or have a financial interst in Lock Smith site by chance - thats two really old threads resurrected plugging that Lock smith site...??

The Range Rover keys are coded to the Car - any old Lockie can't just give you a key and happy days...!!
 
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