[ZTWsquared]

So I now have my second PATS key and as it turns out, a lot less expensive than I originally thought; here's how it worked.

I bought a Stratec brand PATS key on ebay for 11.95 - free shipping to my PO box in Lewiston NY.

I had the key cut at Canadian Tire in Georgetown - they have the new automatic key cutting machine that can also clone a PATS key. I asked that they not program the chip, but just cut the metal part of the key. It took them a while how to figure out how to do that (hitting the "skip" button about 6 times does the trick) - and the bonus here is that because it was my key, and because they wouldn't warranty the cut, they didn't charge me to do it - yep, a free key cut.

Took my cut key to Planet Ford and they programmed it for 52.50 + HST. It took them almost an hour to do it - and after a non-start scare, it all worked out.

Note: at the advice of the service manager I used my SCT Xcal3 to reflash the car back to stock. Once the tech programmed the new key, neither of them would turn the car over - we all started getting nervous because they couldn't explain it. So just to do something I reflashed the car again with my SC tune - and sure enough both keys now worked.

At this point, I'm not sure I would recommend putting the car back to stock or not (if your car has aftermarket tune) and no one at the dealership could tell me if it was necessary or not.

At the end of the day, I got a second distinct PATS key for less than $80