Nissan Micra K12 2003- Replacement Car Key

Summary: How to get a cheap non-intelligent Nissan K12 Car Key...

So you lose your non-intelligent car key (ie the above). You call your Nissan main dealers and find that it will cost around £200 for a key. You are annoyed at yourself, pissed off at Nissan and calculate the cans of baked beans you will be eating until payday.

Before I detail how to get a cheap replacement key, I'll briefly go over the 3 functions of a non-intelligent key.

1. The remote, which enables you to lock and unlock your car via the button on the key.
2. The immobiliser control, which turns the immobiliser off for you to drive the car.
3. The key blade, which is inserted into the lock and turns the engine on.

According to the people at the Micra forum, you may be able to buy a used key off ebay and code the key yourself to enable the remote function(1). You can also buy a new key blade and get a locksmith to cut it for you(3). However, not all used keys can be recoded(1) and you will still need to link the key with the car immobiliser(2) somehow.

Now that I've confused you, here's what I did to get a fully working car key for half the quote. I found new uncut remote keys on ebay and called nearby Nissan dealers to see if they were willing to cut and code my blank key at a lower price. Fortunately, on my 5th call the dealer said they would do it for £50. Off I went to Watford on the day of my appointment with the blank key and got my new key in a couple of hours. The key was cut using the original template on the Nissan system and looks slightly different from the old key. It was a bit temperamental at first but now that it is worn in, it works just fine.