So, due to some freak circumstances which are a topic for another day, I am down to just one key for my Infiniti G35 coupe and NO transmitters/key fobs.
In looking to buy replacement fobs, I don’t get any sense whether I need an old one to reprogram the new one.
I like to be armed with some info before I run to various vendors, dealers, etc… hence me posting here.
So, it’s a 2005 Infiniti G35 Coupe, 6-speed manual trans. (The coupe keys work a little different than the sedan).
You could start herefor the remotes. Also, get a duplicate for the key. I assume it has a chip that is required to start the car. Whatever you do, don’t get it from a dealer. I found a locksmith who made me one for half what the dealer charged. ($60 vs. $120.)
Don’t know if a 05 is the same as an 08, but for the 08 you need to take the car and your bank account to the Infiniti dealer and they will make new ones. I believe it’s about $250 per fob. (2008 anyway)
You could Google 2005 Infiniti replacement fobs and you might have better luck.
Oh,and don’t leave your fob in your pocket when you wash your pants, but that’s another story.
Modern cars are often keyed to the remote, not the other way around. So the mechanism to get a new remote working is to tell the car that it should obey the remote. This requires a CAN Bus connection to the security system (which is typically embedded in the engine control unit). Once connected, a private command sequence on the CAN Bus tells the controller to listen to the remote, and to add the remote’s unique ID to the list of remotes that it will obey. This is where you dealer has you cornered. They use a special CAN Bus programmer that knows the special command sequence for your car model. The manufactures tend not to sell these programmers to anyone other than dealers. (There are third party programmers, but they still cost more than the dealer charges to reprogram the car.) As you might imagine, possession of such a programmer is the near equivalent of owning a universal remote.
Looking around on-line, there are some sites that sell key fobs by year/make/model etc, and then claim to have easy instructions which allow the car to learn the key fob signal (step by step so the customer can do it themselves).
Skeptical… but they also have local locksmith partners, one of which is a place I’ve used before… and their whole local ad campaign is about not needing the dealer…
I’ve reprogrammed two (a 1997 Mazda and a 2001 Mitsubishi). For the Mazda, the process began with finding and pressing a secret button under the dash; with the Mitsubishi, it began with grounding a pin on the datalink connector. That put the receiver in “learning” mode. From there on it was a matter of performing an arcane series of keypresses within a specific time frame (“Press the hazard switch six times within 10 seconds”). But when the dust settled, we had functioning remotes.
YMM (and probably will) V. It’s entirely possible that since 2001 the industry has come up with more secure procedures to protect its secrets from the peasantry. But at least for me, it worked.
I’d go with the yellow pages locksmiths that advertise car lockout service. Dealership was obscenely expensive, I’ve gotten a few shady young Israeli guys with machines of questionable legality to get me a new key/fob for maybe $150. Be prepared for it to take about 20 mins. for the key to be properly mated to the car.
Yeah, since I need one key and at least one fob (to bring me up to one key and fob combo, with a reserve key to put away) I think I will opt for a locksmith that handles chipped keys and fobs.
I don’t need to find out that I have to start pulling panels and doing some other stuff to synch everything up. I’ve got a tile project, a bar project and some other tinkering to do. No patience to deal with it, and my garage is barely 35 degrees.
When I bought my car, it came with a key that was too worn to copy. When I had it at the dealer for some minor maintenance, the dealership was able to make a new key from the VIN. I now have a new key that will copy just fine if I ever remember to go to Lowe’s to have copies made. The guy at the dealership also said they stock fobs, and that if I wanted one, he’d be more than happy to take care of it. This is for a 2001 Honda, so YMWV.
The moral of the story is that, if you do it right, the dealer can take care of it for you quickly and painlessly.
I went to the dealer a few years ago to get a third key, and they wanted about $160 because of the chip. I didn’t need it that bad, and forgot about it.
A few months ago, we lost the second key. We’ve been very nervous about going around with just one key, But we’re on a pretty tight budget, so we just hoped we wouldn’t lose the one key.
A few weeks ago, we were in Home Depot and saw a sign, something like “Special! Duplicate keys made while you wait! Even with a chip!” So I figured it couldn’t hurt to find out how much they charge. It had to be less than the $160 that the dealer wanted, right?
So I went over and gave the key to the guy, who looked at it and said, “There’s no chip in there. A duplicate will be a dollar and a half.”
I couldn’t believe it! I paid him his money, and was shocked when I got back to the car and the key worked fine.
Moral of the story: Are you SURE that it will be difficult to make a duplicate?