Ignition key

I just purchased a used 04 Santa Fe. It came with only one key, and did
not have the little metal tag indicating the key "series." I tried
getting a copy made at a local place, but it won't insert all the way,
though to all appearances it's identical to the "master" key. Is there
a chip hidden inside this little rubber head? I hope not -- I hate
these big-headed keys.

Assuming it's protected by a chip, and keeping in mind I don't have
that metal tag, how can I get a copy of the key?

 

It's listed as an option in the parts catalog, but no Hyundai I've ever
seen in the U.S. has the immobilizer system (a chip in the key).

 

So... are you saying that a spare key is in the parts catalog, or the
immobilizer chip is? If the latter, no problem -- I don't want one.

I'm dense today -- how do I get a spare key, again?

Shane

 

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I had a bear of a time finding a place to have spare keys for Hyundais cut.
Nobody had the right blank. A locksmith shop had the right blank. It cost me
about 3x what it should have, but less than 1/3 of what the dealer wanted!

 

Assuming it's made with the right blank, check the corners where the cut
section of the key ends and widens out into the head. On my old Excel,
the Hyundai keys had a small chamfer there, whereas the "new" keys had a
square corner. It was just enough to prevent them from inserting all the
way. A few strokes with a file solved the problem

 

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Does that key have a "flat" head, or is the head coated with plastic making
it raised? I ask because I was interested in getting a flat headed duplicate
made. (I wanted to be able to "hide" the spare key on the car.) Walmart was
one of the places I checked, and they didn't have the blank. Only a
locksmith's shop did.

 

Most key cutting places should have blanks. They're nothing special. You
can definitely get one at a dealer, and they may be able to give you a
flat head if that's what you want, if they have aftermarket key blanks.

In a roundabout way, I was saying that if you're in the U.S., you don't
have to worry about the chip because you don't have one.

 

Or you can simply cut the plastic off. There's a metal head underneath.

 

Thanks.

None of the standard places had a key blank that would work; several
locksmiths did not, either. The dealership itself would make me a
couple (but I would have had to wait a few days, as the "guy who did
that was out"), but not flatheaded ones. Eventually, they gave me the
name of the locksmith *they* used, which was a bit of a drive. But the
keys worked.

Shane

 

Walmart sells the Hyundai flat blank key across the country and they
have it in both stores near me here in NC. The Hyundai blade is
exactly the same for Kia. I bought 2 and work perfectly well.