I recently looked at a V70 that the owner lost the key to. He says it was an electronic key that must be replaced with an electronic one and reprogrammed. So I can't just replace with a spare ignition & key?

 

I use regular keys for my Volvo as the remote stopped working. I just got it working again (new battery), but the regular keys worked fine. Am I misunderstanding you? The programmed key is about $200 new, I'm told, the cost of labor for the most part.

 

I don't think that is true. Both my 1999 S70 and my 2000 XC70 use a regular key (no programming). I believe in about 2002 (maybe 2001) they connected the key to the remote which is a programmed key. Only dealer can duplicate and make the key work with the ignition (will open doors but will not start car). Nice feature makes it very difficult to steal the car but costs the owner $300+ to make a duplicate.

 

I was thinking about my '99 and '00, too.

Thanks for your inputs, guys. If that was all the car needed, I'd probably pick it up. But the windows were left down after the car rolled into a tree and bent the subframe...