Replacement S4 Key

I'd reckon that this is completely out of your reach. What you need to do is to take proof of ownership to your local Audi dealer, order in a key and when it arrives they will need to arrange with you a suitable date to take the car in and wipe out the missing keys, add back in the existing one and then add the new one.

For your information, that car should probably have had 3-off keys, two full function ones and 1-off emergency key that gets fitted into the adaptor that lives in the glove box. You can interrogate the car to see how many keys are currently assigned to it.

elrao said:

My wife managed to lose her key (well in fairness I think our 1 year old through her keys in the recycling bin and today was recycling day).

I have successfully coded keys to my Mk1 TT before (old flip style keys), but never looked into it for the new models with the slot in style key. Is this something that can be purchased and then re-coded to the car by anyone other than Audi, if so what equipment is required (have full VCDS and some other VAG cables).

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Immo 5 for most Audi's from 2008 onwards, dealer only I'm afraid. The latest transponers are encrypted so even having an existing key doesn't help a 3rd party locksmith as the last bit cannot be read. The immobiliser is coded to the keys. The new key is pre-coded by Audi Germany then the new key to be added to the immobiliser and the existing keys have to be present. The missing key is deleted by default by not being present during the re-code.

The upside is it is super safe.

elrao said:

Cheers, that's pretty much the conclusion I came too. £283.50 for key and programming. Thankfully the other half found her keys!

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Good job she found them before you dropped £283.50 on a new key. If she'd found them afterwards the old key would no longer work and be of no use even as an extra spare - just to add insult to the £283.50 worth of injury! Even the plastic wallet key is close to £200 for a replacement.

mrose said:

Even the plastic wallet key is close to £200 for a replacement.

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Maybe eventually after I get it coded to the car etc, currently, from Audi, as of last week, mine cost just under £45. In my case I'm killing two birds with one stone as I need to "reject" the missing wallet key and buy and code a new wallet key.

Gone in 90 seconds: how thieves hack into and steal keyless-entry cars | Driving.co.uk

Third parties can reprogram keys, that's how they're nicking out cars!

My colleagues 2012 Avant went 2 months ago and my neighbour 2 doors down had his 2011 avant go a month ago!

I'm off to Halfords to get a disklock

rum4mo said:

Maybe eventually after I get it coded to the car etc, currently, from Audi, as of last week, mine cost just under £45. In my case I'm killing two birds with one stone as I need to "reject" the missing wallet key and buy and code a new wallet key.

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Where did you get one for £45? Where did you get one at all? I'm trying to get mine replaced and two Audi dealers haven't even bothered to respond to my request for a quote.

Actually I was quoting the pre VAT price there, total cost to get one "RET KEY" Audi p/n A8K0 837 216 IN F 9 cut for car locks (with out coding to car costs) was £44.41 - so £53.33 with VAT. It was very easy to get, just gave my local Audi dealer, who I've used already to get bits and MOT, my reg number and home address etc - obviously this all tied up with Audi's data base of customers, they said it would take maybe 10 days, but it arrived along with some parts I ordered (front seat storage bins) a few days later - only hold-up with that order of "stuff" was one of the bins, it arrived a week or so later.

Hes said:

Gone in 90 seconds: how thieves hack into and steal keyless-entry cars | Driving.co.uk

Third parties can reprogram keys, that's how they're nicking out cars!

My colleagues 2012 Avant went 2 months ago and my neighbour 2 doors down had his 2011 avant go a month ago!

I'm off to Halfords to get a disklock

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That's a very misleading article. For one thing that video shows signs of editing and that whole process took a lot longer than 90 seconds. The video itself runs to over 2 minutes. There are 4 guys one of whom is holding the front door to prevent the owner being able to come out. Who would be brave enough to confront 4 determined thieves?

I'm sorry but it's just scare mongering. You could encase that car in concrete and steel and a team of 4 highly motivated, practiced, and determined low lifes would find a way to steal it.

Now if the video showed a couple of thieves very casually placing a gizmo on the windscreen, pushing a couple of buttons and gaining entry to the car with the alarm not triggering, then driving away in a minute and a half then I would be concerned.

Reality check - if you have something worth having someone somewhere will find a way of taking it from you. All you can do is make it as difficult as you can. Immobiliser 5 is pretty sophisticated to the point few outside Audi can recode the immobiliser without creating a fuss. It protects you from the type of problem like a selling scam where you hand over thousands for a car and discover the crook who sold it turrns up with a copied key to drive it away. Check the number of keys, code out the missing ones.

In all honesty what we see in the video isn't a no fuss process. If the journalist had installed a retractable lockable bollard behind his parking space he'd still have a car, a damaged car admittedly.

What's to stop professional thieves trawling the streets with a recovery truck and picking up choice vehicles with a low loader and lifting gear? Nothing. It takes minutes. If they wore hi viz vests and one of them had a clip board no one would bat an eyelid.

On a side note I would advise anyone with keyless entry / start to place their keys where they normally leave them in the house the go outside to try the doors. If you park on a driveway that runs along the side of your house, drop you keys on a table in the hall or hang them on a hook on a wall that backs onto that driveway so that the keys are only a few feet away from the keyless entry antenna then you may need to rethink where you keep your keys when indoors. You souldn't need to but why take the risk?

I didn't post the article up to scaremonger at all! My colleagues car was taken by 2 individuals, they were seen going up the road by his neighbours CCTV and driving away 4 minutes later. My neighbours car was almost identical - 2 guys and a few minutes!

Fair enough these are 40k cars but they're not RS4s. They're vulnerable because of EU legislation.

I'll be getting a disklock, they're not invincible but if it makes them look for the next car then it's done it's job.

My point was - it's not just Audi who can code keys to a car legitimately and illegally.