Dear auto dealership:

The BBQ Pit
1

Thank you for welcoming me back to the wonderful world of “we don’t give a fuck about you.” Purchasing my late model used car from a dealership was bad enough, but I survived. That dealership, however, is over 30 miles away, so I won’t be going there for my service needs, and they knew it. They also sold me a car with only one key (or so they claimed), the kind of chip key that, if you have two you can program a new one that you can get cheap online, but if you only have one key you have to buy a new one from the dealer and have them program it.

This is where you come in.

I was reluctant to have a car without a spare key, so I bit the bullet and bought a new key from you*. I mean, where else am I going to go for a key with the remote buttons on it? $283 for a key. OK, but it will only happen once.

Now I have to have you program it. Another $70, but hey, it’s only money, right? Wait, now you tell me I have to wait 2 weeks for an appointment, and that an appointment is only the check-in time, and that what is scheduled for a 30-minute job may take 90 minutes or more?

OK, you got me. Apparently I need you more than you need me at this point. Fine. Rest assured I will make absolutely certain that such a thing never happens again.

Final note: Subarus may be great cars, but my experience of two Subaru dealerships indicates that their dealerships are awful. They’re not going to get another chance from me.

*There are two types of keys available, the one with the remote buttons, and the one that just has the “start the car” chip in it. I bought the more expensive one, so part of that is on me, but I like having remote door locking.

2

Hm, I guess I should have put this in MPSIMS.

3

The magic word next time you buy a car is “due bill.” Look it up. :slight_smile:

Typically the sales department is credited with the full value of the sale, and they’re not reluctant to issue due bills that can be fulfilled by the service department. Maybe they were just idiots, but scoring you a free key is something they definitely should have been able to do without weakening their position.

4

Why wouldn’t you have asked for a spare key as part of the deal?

I bought a used Mercury in the early 90s and made sure that they provided two keys, since originally they were only going to provide one. Screw that. Everyone needs a spare key.

5

It takes a half hour to program a chip key?

6

They said they only had the one key. It was a used car, so I had to take their word for it. And I only found out about the one key when all the papers were signed. Oh yes, the salesperson kindly said “don’t lose it!” when I asked about it.

On the other hand, they flat lied to me when trying to sell me the anti-theft safeguard, that scanners could just lift the code from my key and then program a new chip and steal my car. It’s not that easy for the dealership, how can it be that easy for an ill-equipped thief?

Again, that’s what they tell me. I presume that is how they determine the charge ($70), that it is in the books as a 30-minute job. It may only take two minutes for all I know.

7

My daughter got a used 2003 Honda Civic and had a similar decision. Walmart automotive has a machine could apparently dupe and program her chip key for 80 dollars (and the key works). We then got about 4 door non smart keys duped for 3 dollars each from the chip key that will open the doors and trunk and hid the chip key inside the vehicle and put a magnetic key box under the car with a non smart door entry key.

8

I tried Ace Hardware and a locksmith, both said that this key could not be duplicated except by a dealership. Some chip keys can, these can’t.

I have already ordered a $20 “valet” key (no remote buttons) online from ikeyless, which once I have two working keys I should be able to program myself, at least according to a video I saw on YouTube. If that works, I will probably get at least one more.

9

I recently bought a second-hand Audi which only had the one (smart) key. Dealership quoted an outrageous price to duplicate it, and so I found a local key specialist who was able to do it for just over half the cost.

He told me the Audi dealership (and other European makes) often use his service. They’ll say it takes a full day to duplicate the key, just so they have the time to use the same specialist, and pocket a decent commission!

10

Why only two keys? This pisses me off royally. You don’t just need a “spare” key—you need a key for every driver.

Lots of people on this planet live with their spouse and their loving family.You know-- 2 parents, and maybe two teenagers or young adults, who all drive. So that’s four people who use the car.
It’s a heck of a lot easier if everybody has their own key in their pocket. Why can’t the car companies grasp that concept?
(Yes…I feel like a fanatic fundamentalist preacher screaming about the decline in family values, and nobody’s listening.)

11

OK, so I ordered a spare “valet” key blank for my 2014 Subaru Impreza from ikeyless.com (no intention to plug them, because they weird). This type of key has the transponder to start the car, but does not have the remote buttons.

The key blank I got was completely smooth and blank. No grooves, no nothing. I took it to two different locksmiths, and they both said they could not copy my existing key onto this blank, they both almost literally said the same thing - “they sent you the wrong blank.”

(The transponder coding is not the issue here, it is just the plain mechanical issue of making a duplicate key from a blank.)

So am I missing something? I’ve never seen a key blank that has no grooves on it at all. Did I just get a couple of dud locksmiths, or did this key seller send me something completely useless? Or is there a third alternative?

12

FWIW, I was trying to get a chip key copied for my Explorer and was quoted various prices from $70-100. and time from 30 minutes to all day. Then someone told me to try Home Depot. It took seconds (aside from the actual cutting of the key) and was about $40. That dealer hosed you good. Hell, I think maybe I got hosed, too but maybe the chip duplicator is expensive and the cost needs to be recovered.

13

I just got a Subaru too and feel like I should go to a dealer at least during the warranty period (right?). The closest one was the one who didn’t even try to sell me a car and also held a friend’s car hostage claiming they had done work they didn’t do. So I am driving an hour for the dealer I got it from to do the routine 6000-mile checkup. But if I keep going there, I get every other oil change free. Big whoop.

14

You don’t have to go to the dealer during warranty period unless it is to fix something under warranty (and good luck with that). Regular service and non-warranty repairs can be done anywhere.

I had my key-coding appointment today and it was relatively painless, but I hope I never have to see them again. Total cost for the key, $355 and two trips to the dealership.

15

They grasp it just fine. They just see no need to overlook a source of profit(eering).

Not quite on topic, but… if you rent a car these days, you’ll often be given both keys to it.

The keys are held together with an unbreakable cable. As in, there really IS no spare key.

We’ve taken to bringing a wire cutter with us when we rent a car. Cut the cable, put a key on each our key rings, and all is well.

This summer, we rented an SUV for a weekend trip. When we returned the car, we put both keys on a regular split ring keyring. Three weeks later, we rented an SUV again - wound up with the same car - still on our split-ring :D.

16

This drives me absolutely fucking crazy. So not only do i not have a spare key to share with my wife, but whichever of us has the key is now required to carry around two bulky keys, rather than one. Idiotic.

Have you ever had a rental company complain or get mad at you for cutting the cable? I might have to do that myself next time we rent.

17

At the risk of ruining one of life’s little surprises, the valet key also doesn’t disarm the alarm. So if you open the door with the valet key after you locked the car with the button on the fob key (or the power lock button inside) the alarm will go off, usually in an embarrassingly crowded parking lot.

18

Well, that’s good to know.

Security: making cars more unusable every year. Progress!

19

What the hell? I’ve got six cars among five drivers. Do you really think I want to carry six keys in my pocket along with the associated fobs every day or that we should have 30 keys for six cars? I wouldn’t even want to carry two keys and fobs in my pocket at any given time.

We have a “key drawer” where the keys live.

I keep my “regular” car keys in my pocket, but if I decide to drive one of the others I simply drop my key in the drawer and grab the one for the car I want to drive.

20

I’ve got one car, and 3 drivers. (yes, amazing, isn’t it? It’s a fairly common situation for those of us who don’t live in the USA)

But if your regular key is in your pocket, then nobody else can drive your car,right?
Suppose you go to the theater tonight with your wife, driving her car. Your car is parked at home, and because the only key is in your pocket, your car is $20 000 worth of useless metal.
But, what the hell, with 5 other cars parked there, I suppose that’s a classic “first world” problem, right?

Oh, and can I move into your garage? It’s obviously larger than my entire house.