Spare car key fob

[Theo Huxtable 48]

I lost one of my car fobs that obviously opens the doors and is used for the push start. So, I only have one and want a second one. Is going through the dealership the only way to do this? They said it would be like $250 for the key fob and another $150 for service charge. That's wild.

[Theo Huxtable 48]

How about buying a new fob at an online store, which is cheaper. Then bringing it to the dealership to have it programmed, assuming they WILL program one you didn't buy from them?

[deadshank 24653]

Is this a key fob to your spare car?  Or a spare key fob to your car?

The car key fob replacement bidness is a racket.  They get real stupid with the pricing.

[ztejas 43748]

12 minutes ago, Theo Huxtable said:

How about buying a new fob at an online store, which is cheaper. Then bringing it to the dealership to have it programmed, assuming they WILL program one you didn't buy from them?

Are you in Austin? This dude is awesome https://g.co/kgs/54md9C.

Call him and get a quote. Or call him with your question - he has a ton of spare keys and fobs and could maybe save you the shopping aspect. He'll come to you and I'm sure it will be cheaper than the dealership. I lost my only fob and had to get it replaced and it was like $300 but he told me getting a duplicate made is a lot easier. I can't remember what he told me he'd do it for but it was a lot less than $400.

If you live elsewhere - I'd still shop around. I don't think it's necessarily a cheap service but there's no way someone can't do it cheaper than the dealer (and probably more conveniently). 

[Theo Huxtable 48]

29 minutes ago, deadshank said:

Is this a key fob to your spare car?  Or a spare key fob to your car?

The car key fob replacement bidness is a racket.  They get real stupid with the pricing.

A spare key fob to my car. 

[woohorn 1131]

What city? A good locksmith will have the gear to program but may have to order the correct one. Still pushing $100.

You need to decide if you want oem or Chinese knockoff.

[Gil Bang 26101]

Yeah, last time I needed one a local locksmith made one for 80 bucks or something.  This was a toyota, where the fob and key are one piece. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13554]

They are expensive to replace but key fobs are fairly complex these days. I can lock/unlock my car by touching the handle with the key fob in my pocket. But if the key fob is in the car, I can’t lock it by touching the handle. Crazy witchcraft. My understanding is that if you go with a knockoff brand you might lose some functionality but should have basic functionality.

if I lost a key fob, I wouldnt buy a second one but I’m single and cheap.

[TwiceHorn 31695]

On 2/3/2022 at 4:58 AM, Nice Guy Eddie said:

They are expensive to replace but key fobs are fairly complex these days. I can lock/unlock my car by touching the handle with the key fob in my pocket. But if the key fob is in the car, I can’t lock it by touching the handle. Crazy witchcraft. My understanding is that if you go with a knockoff brand you might lose some functionality but should have basic functionality.

if I lost a key fob, I wouldnt buy a second one but I’m single and cheap.

Well.  As my last vehicle aged, something went wonky and I exited the car while leaving the key in a pocket of a backpack still in the car.  The car was supposed to make a different "beep" and not lock with the fob in the car.  But, as I walked away, it made the normal lock beep, at which time I felt my pocket and realized the key was still in the car.  Went back and sure enough it had locked itself with the key inside.

It only came with one fob, so I had purchased another and programmed it myself.  It was also a fob with a key blank in it, but I did not pay to have that key "cut."

So, having that second key was pretty much a lifesaver.  You could get away I suppose with just a cut key, but I'm not sure how available they are without the fob, when it's one of those "hidden key" things, not to mention the "theft deterrent keys," but I think they incorporate that into the fob these days rather than the key itself.

And, I expect most of the OEM fobs are sourced from China and the manufacturers are doing the usual "knock off" thing where they are actually using the OEM tooling and electronic specs to produce a virtually identical, functionally (maybe a few corners cut on quality or QC), OEM fob.

[AUinHsv 580]

I have programmed a second fob for three different cars. Yep - it's a racket with dealers. For the cars I found, that if you have at least one working remote, you can do it. Instruction for both cars were on the web. It definitely involved a lot of goofy crap (turn key three times, lock/unlock doors three times etc) to get into programming mode. In the end the on line instruction saved a bunch

 

[AUinHsv 580]

1 minute ago, AUinHsv said:

I have programmed a second fob for three different cars. Yep - it's a racket with dealers. For the cars I found, that if you have at least one working remote, you can do it. Instruction for the cars were on the web. It definitely involved a lot of goofy crap (turn key three times, lock/unlock doors three times etc) to get into programming mode. In the end the on line instruction saved a bunch. For all three I used factory key/fob. On the older 4Runner I got it from junkyard.

 

 

Edited February 4, 2022 by AUinHsv