The only key to my 1999 jag was lost over the weekend, what is the most cost effective way to get a new one?

 

Cost effective, or direct? How soon do you need the car up and running?

 

Call tow truck, Call Jaguar dealer, Have tow truck take your car to dealer.
Kick yourself for having only one key!!

bob

 

The alternative is to call a mobile locksmith. 2 ways to do it: Start with a search engine, and speak with one of the MANY aggregators out there. They will forward your location for someone to stop by and make you a key. Expect to pay for the convenience. I would encourage you to ask all the questions upfront and shop for pricing. The other way is to call a local locksmith and ask for a referral as most local hardware-store type do not do car keys. Might be a bit cheaper.

Altogether, take a deep breath and expect some frustration. Especially as you have no keys, expect the possibility that some will try and take advantage of your predicament.

At this point, at the technical level, you need a 8-cut tibbe key made, based on the locks already on your car. This boils down to a code you might be able to get from the dealer, but locksmiths have tools to figure it out. This key can then activate the locks. To start the car, you need a transponder (Megamos 13, I believe), and it needs to be either a clone of an existing key, or paired up with the car. This is a diagnostic port type of thing with the factory software or generic locksmith tool.

Best of luck. It goes without saying that any effort you can put into locating the old keys would be well spent, short of seeing the keys fall into lava or something.

The fob/remote is separate and a lot less trouble. They can be found on eBay and added to the car by following a simple but sometimes tricky procedure.

 

I'm working on tracking it down, there is a very very slim possibility that it maybe in the trunk, is there a way to access the truck through the interior of the car? I think it's worth looking into.
When I bought the car, it only had a single key.

 

So, is the car unlocked? Do you have access to the interior of the car?

 

If you can enter the car, press the Trunk Release Button to open the Trunk.

If the battery is dead, open the hood and connect a battery charger or Jumper Cables to the Terminals in the pic as shown, Then press the Trunk Release Button. These terminals should NOT be used to start the car.