Fuel Key - 111R

douglasgdmw · Post by **douglasgdmw** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 1:09 pm

My fuel key is not working on the Lotus and have put it in to get sorted under the warranty.

MMC have told me I will now need 2 seperate keys - one for the ignition and another for the fuel filler cap.

Been told that there is no other way that it can be done as Lotus do not provide the fuel filler cap with the correct key fitment corresponding to the ignition.

Has anyone else suffered from this as in true Lotus ethos it is adding additional weight to the car (yes I know I should not have sold the S1 if I was bothered by that

). Seemingly they are saying the same if it was for the ignition, door locks.

Just that it will pee me off with having to use a seperate key for fuel fill ups plus the additional hassle of having another key in my pocket.

Can anyone been able to get matchin keys off Lotus?

Cheers
DMW

VXJON · Post by **VXJON** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 1:16 pm

The Vx Key works on any S2 filler cap, so i would have imagined that any S2 key will work also

douglasgdmw · Post by **douglasgdmw** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 1:27 pm

Should have explained it a bit better. I think it needs a new key barrel hence I will have 2 seperate keys.

1 key barrel of type Y will be against key A which open fuel filler.
ignition, door locks of type Z will be against key B which starts car + opens doors/boot.

Cheers
DMW

Post by **simon** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 1:56 pm

Sounds like bollocks to me, I'm sure there's people have had door locks changed under warranty without needing 2 keys!

The_Rossatron · Post by **The_Rossatron** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 2:09 pm

yeah sounds like a load of mince!

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 2:14 pm

My mate had an old astra with different keys for each lock, but that was a sh*t. Tell them to get it sorted properly!

If they cant match ignition keys to the filler they will have to match the filler keys to the ignition... and change the expensive bits! There is no excuse for this and they will just have to swallow the bill for all door, boot and ignition barrels instead.

douglasgdmw · Post by **douglasgdmw** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 2:47 pm

Must admit it is one of those things that is pretty insignificant but can have the ability to really hack you off with the car in the long run.

I have just contacted Lotus Customer Care as I am not happy about it. Unfortunately their normal c.care rep is off sick so I have left my number so the c.care manager can contact me back.

If someone has managed to convince Lotus to do all the keys then can you let me know as it is always better if a precedence has been started.

Cheers
DMW

douglasgdmw · Post by **douglasgdmw** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:56 am

Had a phone call from Lotus Customer Care last night.

They indicated that sometimes an experienced locksmith can adjust the barrels such that the current ignition key will work but they do not provide the locks specific to the actual keys.

However he did suggest trying the key anyway as we may be very very lucky. If that does not work out then I need to get back onto Lotus Customer Care and they will replace all locks so that I have just one key to use.

Happy that I got such a positive response from Lotus (so all is not lost).

Cheers
DMW

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 10:04 am

But why did you have to go to them in the first place....

delands · Post by **delands** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 12:36 pm

Yep, there is around a 50/50 chance that your ignition key will fit the filler cap or any other Elise filler cap to that matter! Try it the next time a crowd of cars get together... you should be able to take off around half of the caps with your ignition key.

Post by **simon** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:24 pm

RICHARDHUMBLE wrote:My mate had an old astra with different keys for each lock, but that was a sh*t. Tell them to get it sorted properly!

My old astra had door locks that could be opened with a 50p

I eventually got them replaces and they matched the doors to the boot and ignition. It's possible to do it so tell them under the warranty they must repair it to an acceptable standard so kick their arses until they do somethingQ

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:27 pm

You old astra has the same locks as my S1 (And probably the S2 as well!)

Andy G · Post by **Andy G** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 2:54 pm

douglasgdmw wrote: However he did suggest trying the key anyway as we may be very very lucky.

i.e. the lock in the fuel cap is useless

RDH · Post by **RDH** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 2:55 pm

Andy G wrote:
douglasgdmw wrote: However he did suggest trying the key anyway as we may be very very lucky.
i.e. the lock in the fuel cap is useless

Shhh - don't tell anyone!

dr al · Post by **dr al** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 7:01 pm

yep - my fuel cap broke (the barrell exploded in a shower of little springs and tumblers one day at a petrol station) - A lotus one would have mean two keys (unless they changed both doors and ignition.

I bought one second hand of someone intending to take the barrell out and monkey with it to fit my key.

there is no way of removing the barrell without breaking the whole cap.

but - once it'd been in and out about 10 times, my ignition key fitted perfectly. - no probs, no catching, works perfectly every time, so get hold of a 2nd hand fuel cap from someone!

A.