fortee9er

I have a 1988 928 S4 5spd that I bought without keys. I looked in eBay for key blanks and they ask if it has an alarm. How can I tell if my car has an alarm from the factory.? Would the VIN indicate if it came with an alarm?
Thank You

Instigator56

Instead of getting "key blanks" from Ebay have you considered just taking the VIN to your Porsche dealership and requesting replacement keys?

fortee9er

Yes I have but I have read in the forums that it is pricey. Key blanks on eBay are @ $16. The auto locksmith will charge $75 for making the key. All told almost $100. I just don't know which key blank I should get (alarm vs no alarm).
If the Porsche dealer can make a replacement for me for the same amount of $ then that would be the way to go.

Instigator56

My dealership in the DC area was willing to make a master key w/o alarm for $100.00. Also, the advantage with the dealership is that they'll make the right key based on the VIN. After that, you can order any additional keys from places like "Keys4Classics.com".

UKenGB

Key blanks @ $16? I think that's very unlikely, even from eBay (even the plastic 'head' is more than that). Most suppliers cannot even obtain those blanks (assuming you have the normal 4 sided key) and not many can cut them.

I don't know where you are, but here in the UK, alarm type keys are longer. if you had a key it would be easy to tell which it is. Have you looked in the car for evidence of any alarm?

When I looked into this, it was cheaper to order a new pre-cut key from my local Porsche dealer than any other way like Keys4Classics.com. It was equivalent of about $75. Porsche keep a record of the key number for every car, matched to the VIN. So in theory, you can show them the VIN and they can order the exact key for your car, delivered, cut and ready to use. However, they need to order the correct type of blank, i.e. alarm or non alarm as Porsche's database seems to not determine that. My dealer first ordered the wrong one and Porsche happily cut the wrong key. Once re-ordered based on the correct (long for alarm in my case) blank, a perfect key was supplied.

Also bear in mind that Porsche's records will be incorrect if locks have been changed and they were not informed. I had to assume they had not been changed and that was correct, but no way to know beforehand.

MALinPA

Those $16 blanks are not Huf OEM but aftermarket (Silca?). They include a black plastic head.

928cs

Yes, the VIN would tell us if your car was delivered with or without factory, but 1988 usually were.
https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...-79-a-295.html

I ordered many keys from the factory without problems. It was also a way to verify that my locks were original to the car.

I wonder how the locksmith can produced a key without template.

Hilton

The key encoding number can be discerned by disassembling the lock and reading the numbers on the tumblers. Its been a few years since I had one apart, but I did note down the encoding scheme at some point as it was fairly evident.

UKenGB

Are you sure the numbers are marked on the 'tumblers'? Anyway, there's only 5 possible versions (depths) so you can quite easily determine the cutting codes just by looking at the key, but the key number is different. That is just a unique number that is associated in Porsche's database with the cutting codes. One cannot be derived from the other, only by reference to that database. Having said that, third party locksmiths may have access to an equivalent database that associates the key number with the appropriate cutting codes, but certainly not related to VIN which is Porsche only data that associates VIN with the key number..

So with either the key number (plus access to the database) or the cutting codes directly, the right key can be cut. This is a perfect cut and not a copy.

Porsche will not willingly provide the key number from the VIN. That is supposed to be handled 'internally' and not provided to the customer, but some dealers may be more helpful than others. With that key number, a good locksmith (that deals with Porsche keys) should then be able to provide the cutting codes and those can be visually compared to a physical key to confirm accuracy.

Without any existing key, seems to me you either have to hope the locks are original and buy a key from a Porsche dealer based on the VIN, or dismantle one or more locks on the car to determine the cutting codes from there. In any case, it is worth establishing the correct key number and cutting codes and securely storing that information. That way you will always be able to get another key relatively easily.

UKenGB

I am not aware of any other manufacturer of these blanks. Locksmiths have explained to me that they are available only from Huf and few locksmiths are able to obtain them that way.

Huf keys are supplied with a small plastic top (which can be pulled off), but the proper head with built-in light is larger and more expensive. Last I checked about £40 on eBay.

If these blanks are available on eBay for $16, please provide a link as I'd grab a few myself.

Jaguarpig

Just had a key cut from VIN from Porsche £60 . 04 inc VAT small plastic head.

MALinPA

With alarm:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/222166151052

Without alarm:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/221222981331

Brand is Ilco, which is not the same as keys4classics sells as a cheaper alternative to Huf. I was mistaken earlier. Keys4classics sells Silca brand as alternative brand, eBay listing is for Ilco brand.

UKenGB

Sorry yes of course, you're right. As soon as I saw that, I remembered that there are non-Huf blanks. I even have one so don't know what I was thinking. Doh! It is the Huf blank that's hard to get apart from through Porsche. Keys4classics can supply them, but it was cheaper for me to simply order one from the Porsche dealer. I could find no UK supplier of Huf blanks, which I wanted so I had a proper OEM Porsche key, with light and shield on the head.

However, for the OP who has no key number nor cutting codes nor even a key to copy, I'd say that ordering from Porsche based on the VIN is the best option. Otherwise dismantling the locks to obtain the cutting codes (if stamped, or visually otherwise) will be required. I'd try Porsche first.

928cs

Agreed.
And he can not even be sure that the key will open the doors, the trunk, the fuel cap, the passenger glove box and start the car.

UKenGB

I think it's despicable that manufacturers won't sell the tumblers/sliders/plates for their locks. So if one lock fails on a car, either replace that one lock and forever-after have to use a different key for that lock, or replace all the locks just to be able to have a single key to open them all. Manufacturers should make these inner lock pieces available as spare parts as there will only be very few different sizes of these small and cheap parts. Then any new replacement lock could easily be rebuilt to suit the existing key(s).

There should be a law to enforce this, as well as forcing the manufacturers to hand over all design details of parts they discontinue. It's an easy distinction. Once the manufacturer discontinues the parts, they have declared their lack of interest in the part and so must relinquish the details. If they object to that and want to keep it all to themselves, then they have to keep supplying the part. There cannot be a fairer way to ensure older vehicles can be kept on the roads and let's face it, if we want to save the planet, continuing to use an old car is FAR better than buying a new one.

Makes me laugh (or cry) when Porsche proclaim they are investing in alternative fuels so that their customers can keep their precious Porsches on the road, while simultaneously discontinuing essential parts. Which brings me back to my previous point.

None of which is really related to keys, so I apologise for the distraction.