I bought a rubber ended replacement key from Daniel, (this is not a anti-Daniel thread). it's in the shape of the original key with the black rubber end and a silver horse on it. I have had the key for about 1 1/2 years. Today when I went to start the car, the key broke off in the ignition. I had to call a locksmith and have them remove it and make me a new one since my spare was 50 miles away at home. As a public service annoucement, if you have these keys and got them from Daniel or Italian car parts or from ebay, check the area close to the rubber end for stress cracks. The metal looked weak at the break. Thanks to Darth for hanging out and providing a much needed cigar while the locksmith did his work.
The flat plain Ilco blanks are so hard, the local locksmith complains!!! Sorry to hear...it may be just bad luck to have a deep notch close to the shank.......I have had them rearrainge my individual pins, they said the shallow ones are less likely to cause trouble... I had to watch a guy cut one from 'feel' after loosing a set, they said he was pretty tough on the cylinder! It started though.......
How do these rubbered Horse keys look/feel in real life. I have looked at them in the catalog but the blanks were what? $100? & I've had trouble getting plain ones cut correctly but thats another story. I would like a nice key instead of the blah silver one but $100? Bill
Got the same keys about 8 months ago from Daniel--no problem at all, but I will keep an eye on mine from now on. Matt you have to be easier when you stick hard things into holes!!!!
I got mine from Daniel for something like $60-80. I don't remember. sometimes ebay is cheaper. i liked the key but the locksmith cost takes away from the enjoyment
No sweat! Furthermore, I'd give the locksmith a recco in the So Cal section! He was efficient and reasonable.
HA! This same crappola happened to me the SECOND week I owned the car. Snap, crackle pop goes the key in the ignition. Welcome to fcar ownership. I lucked out as mine broke at the hinge which left a nub to grab.
HOLY SHIDD! Matt, I'm very sorry to hear this. These are OEM keys, so I wonder if you just got a bad one. For what it's worth, I don't show any record of selling you one -- is this one that I gave you back in the Februray? Anyway, I am FedEx'ing you a new one + a Yoshi keychain tomorrow morning. You'll have it in California on Thursday. Call me directly if time permits. Do you need a new lock cylinder? -Daniel
The Fiat Ilco key is in every hardware store in the U.S. it seems (cost: $2 for a blank and usually $3 to have cut to match). I was thinking that Daniel just charged $35 for the folding Ferrari key with the rubber cavillino on the end...perhaps a little more for the blank 355/3x8 key that has a light in it. Pretty reasonable, all in all, no matter which way that you go. Bummer about the locksmith, bill, and downtime, though. Was your anti-theft steering wheel lock engaged?
None of the above. Matteo's car uses 168786: http://ricambiamerica.com/product_info.php?products_id=205240
The flat Ilco key is only to get in the door. The 355 style ignition key is what Matteo is talking about. Yes, the Ilco key is $3. The 355 style key a whole lot more. Daniel has the best prices by far.
I purchased the same style of key from a Ferrari dealer and took it to a regular locksmith shop and they said they couldn't cut the key as it was a special hardened key and took a special cutter, I ended up going to a local Porsche dealer and they had the special key machine for the new Porsche keys and cut it for free.Tough key.
They are steel keys; most residential keys are brass. You MUST be sure your locksmith can cut a steel key. If they put this one on their brass-cutting equipment, they'll destroy their wheels.... and be pretty pissed at the snotty Ferrari owner with the fancy key!
You mean "mustang" owner, don't you? After all, if you want to have your steel key with the horse cut for $1.40, there's only one surefire way.
Daniel, You don't have to do that. That is way above the call of duty. I am sure it was just a bad one of the bunch. The purpose of the thread was to just let people know that if they have that key, regardless of who they got it from, to check for fatigue I am pretty sure I bought it via the web (not PM, phone, or email) in 2004. I wanna say the summer. Like July, Aug or September. Cylinder lock was fine. Just the head of the key snapped off. I'll give you a call tomorrow. Matt
What kills me the most was that I called AAA. They contacted a locksmith and I was quoted.....wait for it.......$350 I said no way. I called Ferrari of Beverly Hills and I was told to make an appointment and bring the car in. I called another locksmith, cold call mind you and they came right out and charged $85 for the removal and new key. If you ever need a locksmith in the MDR or LAX area, call a-m.o.t locksmith @ 310 980 6619. Customer service is alive and well without the Ferrari markup
I have a 328, and had to have a new ignition key made for it. Got the current OEM key from Ferrari, which is the one with the near-round black plastic end with the little silver horse inlaid in it: http://ricambiamerica.com/product_info.php?cPath=18&products_id=205240&osCsid=2f4d44b1bc6e2ec885baadf6aa2e9157 Took it to a good local locksmith together with the computer code in the car's factory manual. The locksmith used this code to cut the key; no problem. What I have noticed, however, is that when the key is inserted into the ignition socket - even when the steering-wheel-lock is not a factor - I have to put a little vertical pressure on the key before I try turning it. Without that slight pressure, it sometimes doesn't want to turn. I noticed that wiggling/forcing the turn would eventually work, but that simply lifting the key a little eliminated the problem entirely, allowing the key to revolve easily with no strain on either it or the lock.
I had a door key break in the lock. I was able to pull the shank out with a pair of needle-nose pliers. It was apparently a mild metal. A local locksmith had no trouble duplicating it from an Ilco Yugo blank. I only had one ignition key so that got me thinking. I got a Ferrari replacement from Classic Coach for $14.95 but their locksmith's wheel was broken so I had to get it cut locally, again. The first guy I went to took out a magnet, saw that the key was attracted and told me he couldn't cut steel. The next guy I took it to said "no problem, you just have to go slow" and charged me $2 to grind it. He also had a rack of Fiat blanks that matched, in case I wanted more. It works fine.
Well, I don't know much about keys with a silver horse on them or special made steel keys. I took my set down to the local locksmith and had him make up a spare set. It cost me about three bucks. When It starts showing a little wear, I'll have him make up a new set. Maybe I'll put it on next year's calendar so that I won't forget it. Oh yeah, they look just like the ones that came with the car. Also, I had him make up a house key that does not have the standard handle on it. That way, if a thief grabs my car, maybe he won't figure out that there's a house key on the ring. Bob Wassam
There's a guy in Australia who sells steel Ferrari keys from eBay, which by itself is nothing extraordinary. But the point here is that he can cut your key to the exact factory "tooth pattern" if you give him your key I.D. number at the time of the order. I now have a set of brand new "factory" keys, which work much better than the well worn originals. If you have an old worn key (as I did), taking it to a locksmith does not offer him much to work with - best they can do is to copy the worn tooth pattern onto a new key blank, and so you have simply transferred the wear pattern onto a new blank. Cheers - DM
Aaron, They're stamped on your keys. The ID numbers are also recorded in your warranty book. Barry Image Unavailable, Please Login
