many thanks Colin - yes mine's 1997 and today I willed it to click into action, got it to my nearest renault dealer who, after checking the car battery, said i needed a new key which would take 5-10 days! Living alone, a couple of miles out of a village, and having a really important meeting in London in a weeks time I stressed the urgency ... shortly afterwards they showed me how to override the code and at least have access the car. Brilliant! But as you say, you could lose your mind doing it indefinitely, so the key is on order (doubt if I'd been told how to override otherwise as they said they werent supposed to show me).
Seems a bit of a scam from renault (and presumably all makes) as the new key and recoding will cost about £120.
Many thanks for your confirmation of what I've done.
annie
November 2005