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View Full Version : Note to Self:Dont loose your car key!



Donnie Raines
06-17-2005, 12:08 PM
We bought a 2003 Explorer a few weeks back. My wife misplaced her keys....no big deal right??....WRONG!!. The keys...I guess like many other brand names out there...have a chip inside of it. Cost for key:$30.00. Ok...aweful for a key but things could be worse.....and they will. Cutomer service rep says thank you sir now lets head over to the service department so they can code the new key....and we do. Service rep says the cost to code the key is $78.00...... :mad: :confused: :o . So we do it....it takes the guy all of 3 minutes to "code" the key. He hooks a computer up to the car and inserts the key in the ignition....pushes a few buttons...and thats it.

...don't loose your keys..... ;) :o

Ron Jones near Indy
06-17-2005, 12:19 PM
Wow! Expensive lesson learned. :( Thanks for the heads up. I'll pass the word on the the family.

Tim Morton
06-17-2005, 1:03 PM
Its even WORSE for saab's. Lose your keys and its a whole new wiring harness. Duplicating a key is about a 100 bucks, but replacing a key if you have no key to begin with....forget about it!!!

Doug Shepard
06-17-2005, 1:32 PM
Well I haven't lost any, but the remote keyless entry keyfob broke right where the keyring attaches. Went to the the dealer to get a new keyfob and they also drop the re-programming charge on me. Only problem is, if they do the new one without the 2nd original keyfob, the old one will no longer work. They need to reprogram both at the same time. Of course I didn't take the 2nd one with me, so I still need to go back and take care of this at some point.

Jeff Sudmeier
06-17-2005, 1:47 PM
Wow Donnie! $30 for a key seems like enough, but like you said aww well...

However $78 to re-program it is insane! My wife sometimes takes her car to the local dealership for oil changes (Read if I am too lazy to do it). We only got one key with her car so we had the dealership we bought it from order another. She dropped it off when she dropped off her car for an oil change and they did it for nothing...

Donnie Raines
06-17-2005, 2:05 PM
Wow Donnie! $30 for a key seems like enough, but like you said aww well...

However $78 to re-program it is insane! My wife sometimes takes her car to the local dealership for oil changes (Read if I am too lazy to do it). We only got one key with her car so we had the dealership we bought it from order another. She dropped it off when she dropped off her car for an oil change and they did it for nothing...

Please don't rub it in...... :rolleyes:

Jeff Sudmeier
06-17-2005, 2:12 PM
Didn't mean to :) :) really!

I just find it amazing that these place charge that much for something so simple!! I'd bet you won't hurry back for your next vehicle. Since mine did it as a service, I will consider them next time.

Jim Becker
06-17-2005, 2:41 PM
Sounds like an opportunity to explore a relationship with a different dealer and service center. Paying reasonably for a service is not a problem. Paying two arms, two legs and your first-born, is...unless, of coarse, your first-born is a troublemaker! ;)

Chris Padilla
06-17-2005, 4:50 PM
Keys for the BMW are even more expensive...$150 for a new key but it does include the coding.

The LOML apparently lost her key one evening coming home late from work but it was lost somewhere between the car in the driveway and the house.

Well we searched the house...even asked the kid if she took it and played with it. Next was a thorough search of the driveway, trunk of car, porch, etc. Nothing. My wife keeps her keys on a chain that slips back into what looks like a little coin purse. In fact, it has a pocket for coins.

Anyway, over the ensuing days I keep half-heartedly looking for the key in the landscaping (grass, flower bed, etc.) One day I was walking by the 2' round ball of a hedge-like thing and pushed back some leaves to peer into it a bit...VIOLA!!! There was the key resting precariously on some inner branches just below the foliage line! Upon flipping the keys like she usually does to get them back into the pouch, it must have come loose and went flying into this small bush. I couldn't believe that I had located it. We wouldn't have needed a spare (I had mine) but it would have been a little bit inconvenient....

Curt Harms
06-17-2005, 5:08 PM
We bought a 2003 Explorer a few weeks back. My wife misplaced her keys....no big deal right??....WRONG!!. The keys...I guess like many other brand names out there...have a chip inside of it. Cost for key:$30.00. Ok...aweful for a key but things could be worse.....and they will. Cutomer service rep says thank you sir now lets head over to the service department so they can code the new key....and we do. Service rep says the cost to code the key is $78.00...... :mad: :confused: :o . So we do it....it takes the guy all of 3 minutes to "code" the key. He hooks a computer up to the car and inserts the key in the ignition....pushes a few buttons...and thats it.

...don't loose your keys..... ;) :o

Donnie, I feel your pain :( . I ran into the same thing. I had 2 keys, lost 1.Cost $113 by the time I was done. At least with Ford, if You have 2 keys, you can program a 3rd so you have to just buy the key which can come from a 3rd party. If you only have 1 key, good bye $78 in addition to the new key.

Vaughn McMillan
06-17-2005, 5:42 PM
Am I the first to notice the hidden "new car" gloat? Congrats, Donny. The Explorer is a nice ride. You got off easy, though. When I bought my 2001 Lexus last summer, it only had one key, and the dealer warned me not to lose it, since replacements are about $325.00. The Lexus key has a unique "inside" cut, and it not only has the anti-theft chip, but the alarm remote is built into the key itself -- not the key fob like most are nowadays.

High-priced replacement keys notwithstanding, I still love my RX300. :)

- Vaughn

Frankie Hunt
06-17-2005, 10:14 PM
Doug,

If by chance your key fob is for a Ford then you can program it yourself. You turn the ignition switch from off to on 8 times, stopping on the "on" position. Your door locks will activate telling you that you are in the program mode. You then press any key on each fob. This if from memory so it might vary slightly. :)

Frankie

Kirk (KC) Constable
06-18-2005, 1:10 AM
Sounds like an opportunity to explore a relationship with a different dealer and service center. Paying reasonably for a service is not a problem. Paying two arms, two legs and your first-born, is...unless, of coarse, your first-born is a troublemaker! ;)

I remember my jaw dropping when I bought a new Ford truck in 2001 and asked about getting a key dupllicated. The $78 figure sounds very familiar, and may be one of those that's not a bargaining chip.

Doug Shepard
06-18-2005, 8:01 AM
Doug,

If by chance your key fob is for a Ford then you can program it yourself. You turn the ignition switch from off to on 8 times, stopping on the "on" position. Your door locks will activate telling you that you are in the program mode. You then press any key on each fob. This if from memory so it might vary slightly. :)

Frankie

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately it's a Pontiac Aztek.

Bart Leetch
06-20-2005, 12:37 AM
Looks like I need to pick up my next older vehicle. You know the kind that don't usually get stolen. My usual long trip is only 500 miles round trip so I don't need todays high priced vehicles nor can I afford them or their maintenance costs. I think its like getting ripped off 3 times. Once for the initial cost of the vehicle :eek: , once for the insurance :rolleyes: & once for the repairs :mad: . I haven't had a vehicle payment in the last 15 years or a little more, nor do I have high vehicle repair costs. :D

Maybe in some cases it may not be true but but I suspect that in vehicles as well as many other thing peoples wants & desires outweigh their real needs.

Yes I believe there is a true need for a new vehicle & I am glad there is so some day I can find a good used one. :D