Steering lock gone? What do I need...

[slipd]

Hi guys,

Bit of a weird one - without any prior warning or indication, the steering lock on my 2007 1.6 FSi on Saturday suddenly stopped working. I'd opened the car up in the morning (current UK heatwave) and when I went to lock her up in the PM I noticed I couldn't turn the key - to the point I needed to get the electric windows to work. There was a little bit of key play.

The steering lock appears to have completely gone - as in I don't have one anymore I can mess about with the steering wheel, keys in/out, it doesn't ever lock up like it did previously.

I can eventually turn the key, takes a bit of fiddling and I'm frightened that the key will eventually get damaged... thoughts? What do I need to get, source etc. Can I still keep the same keys or get them switched over?

This is a new one on me.

Thanks!

[TLondon]

Had this a year ago - needed a new lock barrel (kept the same key) but paid £249

[slipd]

Ah, you got off lightly there! I ended up paying nearly double that...

My original steering lock had gone and so had the lock barrel. I needed booth replaced. My mechanic locked out the first one because he fitted it and tested it without the new barrel in it - it warns you in the instructions to be fair... he replaced it anyway. Then there were issues with the immobiliser. He had to get an auto-locksmith out for that!

Now I need to get my new key cut onto a new immobiliser fob and cut my old key onto a new blank in case I ever need to manually lock the car or glove box. It's been a right pain in the a**è