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Replacement key fob cost: WTF?????

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RedHotFuzz

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
So for the first time in my life I lost a car key, and only a few months into owning my Durango. And I knew it would be an expensive one to replace. I don't even know how I could have lost it, since you need it to get home from wherever you've gone.

So while at the dealer today for service I asked the parts guy for a price. $160 for the fob. Ouch, but about what I was fearing. BUT WAIT, THAT'S NOT ALL! Another $40 for the cut key blank (WTF?) and another $45 for the dealership to program the fob (WTF??) for a grand total of $245, plus tax (WTF???).

What a racket. Guess I'll keep sharing the wife's key and hitting that memory seat button manually. :(

WORD OF WARNING: DON'T LOSE YOUR KEY FOB!
 
#2 ·
Yeah man, the days of heading down to the hardware store and cutting a new key are all but gone. Unless you have a dinosaur like I do. Everything is a dang computer anymore, even a car key.
 
#3 ·
RedHotFuzz said:
So for the first time in my life I lost a car key, and only a few months into owning my Durango. And I knew it would be an expensive one to replace. I don't even know how I could have lost it, since you need it to get home from wherever you've gone.

So while at the dealer today for service I asked the parts guy for a price. $160 for the fob. Ouch, but about what I was fearing. BUT WAIT, THAT'S NOT ALL! Another $40 for the cut key blank (WTF?) and another $45 for the dealership to program the fob (WTF??) for a grand total of $245, plus tax (WTF???).

What a racket. Guess I'll keep sharing the wife's key and hitting that memory seat button manually. :(

WORD OF WARNING: DON'T LOSE YOUR KEY FOB!
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure you can buy a remote online from ikelyless or carandtruckremotes.com for about $100 bucks. You should be able to get the key cut at a hardware store or locksmith for a lot less than $40 then all you have to pay is the dealer to program it.
 
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#4 ·
If you have a lifetime Maxcare warranty, I thought it covered one replacement. Oh after finding it, maybe not for lost fobs :(

"KEY FOB: Subject to the limitations in this provision, the Plan provides (i) coverage for up to three key fob repairs or replacements,
and (ii) a total key fob coverage benefit of $600, which limit applies notwithstanding the cost per repair or per replacement of the key
fob for the Covered Vehicle. Key fob coverage is available even if any part of this covered component is not available, recoverable or
operable, and this coverage is not subject to the deductible that applies to repair visits for covered components.
NOTE: FAILURE OF A KEY FOB BATTERY DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A MECHANICAL FAILURE OF THE KEY FOB."
 
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Discussion starter · #5 ·
wayres said:
I'm pretty sure you can buy a remote online from ikelyless or carandtruckremotes.com for about $100 bucks. You should be able to get the key cut at a hardware store or locksmith for a lot less than $40 then all you have to pay is the dealer to program it.
Click to expand...
I'll check that out, thanks. Seriously, $260 would buy me a friggen iPad Mini! Just obscene. Must be part of Mercedes culture left over from the broken merger. :(
 
#6 · (Edited)
X2 first time... 30 years of vehicles may have misplaced but never lost a key . Its been about 6 months procrastinating getting the replacement just due to the hassle of going to the stealership. Probably lost mine after a 5k running race typically I hide the key by a tire or bumper panel the spare must have been left in the car hit the start button and drove away.

Biggest issue with the FOB is the old style ignition would not let you take the key out if the vehicle was left in gear. On more than a dozen occasions I have turned the transmission knob hit the button to kill the motor while opening the door to rush out. Only to find that the car was shifted into reverse and not park and the motor does not shut but you do hear the chime. News stories have been popping about owners getting run over

Do Keyless Ignitions Create Increased Risk of Injury or Death?
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
cambo said:
Probably lost mine after a 5k running race typically I hide the key by a tire or bumper panel the spare must have been left in the car hit the start button and drove away.[/url]
Click to expand...
Yeah, mine probably slipped out somewhere but still let me drive away because I was with my wife at the time and she had her key in her purse. That said, for $265 I'm hoping it's somewhere around the house, so I'll go wreak havoc on every sock drawer and clothes hamper in the place before I go pay that blood money.

Gonna stick one of those electronic locater tiles on it if/when I buy a replacement.
 
#8 ·
wayres said:
I'm pretty sure you can buy a remote online from ikelyless or carandtruckremotes.com for about $100 bucks. You should be able to get the key cut at a hardware store or locksmith for a lot less than $40 then all you have to pay is the dealer to program it.
Click to expand...
I would like to second the carandtruckremotes.com I ordered a new key fob for my new to me 14 Durango SXT and received it within three days. Took to local dealer and charged me $25 plus tax to program. Overall cost was about $80. If you look on online on retailmenot.com you can use get 15% off coupon as well. Very fast and easy. Key Fob works flawlessly.
 
#11 ·
When you decide to get a new one, you might request they purge the lost key from the DD. It may give you peace of mind knowing the lost key won't function. The only down side I can see with doing this is if you manage t find the key fob afterwards, it'd have to be added back, if possible.
 
#12 ·
RumbleBeeAL said:
When you decide to get a new one, you might request they purge the lost key from the DD. It may give you peace of mind knowing the lost key won't function. The only down side I can see with doing this is if you manage t find the key fob afterwards, it'd have to be added back, if possible.
Click to expand...
They'll be able to add it back, have to pay for activation, but they'll be able to add it back if they find it.

I had a remote start added to my Rallye and it came with 2 new fobs with remote start buttons. They disabled the original fobs and were just going to keep them. After a bit of yelling, they had no problem finding them again and reprogramming them to work with our Durango. So I currently have 4 working Fobs, but only 2 with remote start on them.

Also, at ~$250 per fob that the OP quoted, that means I bought 2 fobs and got a free remote start and got it installed for free.
 
#13 ·
Mirage85 said:
They'll be able to add it back, have to pay for activation, but they'll be able to add it back if they find it.

I had a remote start added to my Rallye and it came with 2 new fobs with remote start buttons. They disabled the original fobs and were just going to keep them. After a bit of yelling, they had no problem finding them again and reprogramming them to work with our Durango. So I currently have 4 working Fobs, but only 2 with remote start on them.

Also, at ~$250 per fob that the OP quoted, that means I bought 2 fobs and got a free remote start and got it installed for free.
Click to expand...
Yeah, they will try and keep them.. and resell them themselves. Those fobs are pricey. Good job on getting the old ones back.
 
#15 ·
Just purchased a 14 and like many it only came with one fob. I purchased two "new" fobs from carandtruckremotes, but one is clearly used (pry marks, gunk on case) and I'm suspicious of the other one as well. I've read here that fobs can't be reprogrammed and Since my dealer charges $90 for programming (whether it works or not), I'm hesitant to waste $90. I see carantruckremotes also sell refurbished fobs. Do they have a way to unlock them, or is the manual wrong and they really can be reprogrammed?
 
#17 · (Edited)
Id buy one of the plain sentry key have it cut, so the next time (Hope it doesn't happen) you could program a key yourself, as programming new ones require 2 keys. I have it set for my truck and my magnum, the dart doesn't have one yet.
edit;
ahh forgot, push to start, need to find a cheap matching set, challenger of mine was going through battery every year, I bought new FOB thinking it was bad, (why I had 3)
edit2;
Locksmiths will charge way less!
 
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#19 ·
Same thing with me I have never lost a car key before in my life and this one was an expensive lesson. The part the pissed me off was I pulled the truck into the garage with the key went into the house and the next morning it was gone. Spent 2 months looking around for it before buying a new one. Something tells me I dropped it in the trash in the garage on the way in since I took crap the wife left in the truck out to throw out and it was in the same hand.

The dealership wanted $260 for the key and $100 to program it. I bought the replacement key from NorthCoast Keyless on amazon for $77 and paid a locksmith to cut the key and program it for $90 it would have been $50 but he had to call dodge to get the programing pin number.
 
#20 ·
Just wanted to post an update. carandtruckremotes Quickly sent me a replacement remote and a return label for the one they sent me that looked used. I took the two new remotes into the dealer with the 1 original. They programmed them for $90 and now I have 3 working remotes. Total cost $190. Way better that the $300 the dealer wanted for a single new one.
 
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