"Replacement key FOB cannot be reprogrammed" ... says dealer

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rizrashdi

Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2014
Messages
6
Location
San Diego, CA
So I lost one of my keys a while back and didn't want to pay the $300+ dealership fees to replace. Did some research on this site and saw a few postings of getting the parts myself ...IE: "$16.55 for H0564-1FA0B (they physical key) and $98.70 for 285E3-1KM0D (the remote) from EverythingNissan.com" Thought I'd save some money and grab one off ebay instead and found one for my '11 Leaf for $70. Came with a blank key that I could cut to match my existing. Not sure if it came from a wrecked car, an extra key or whatever.

Took it to the dealer (Mossy Kearny Mesa in San Diego) and bought the key from ebay, as well as my existing key with me. Wanted to take part in the $80'ish reprogramming fee which I've seen talked about here. Service guy came back with $110 to program and cut, figured I'd live with the $30 difference.

Some time later service guy comes to me and tells me this is not possible to do. Something about "once the key had been programmed to a car it cannot be undone".

Few things came to mind as I left the dealership
- I work in IT and have never met a computer/chip that cannot be un-programmed. This sounds like BS to me. Maybe heavy handed security feature car companies are adopting?
- If I had bought some OEM keys from Nissan or EverythingNissan.com I'm assuming I would have gotten a virgin never been programmed key for $100/$150. I thought the re-programming process involved wiping the program from any current keys that you have as well. IE: I could never use my lost key if I ever found it. Doesn't the fact that they can re-program my existing working key speak in direct disagreement to the dealership's claim of "once the key had been programmed to a car it cannot be undone"??

Am I being fed some hog wash here or is there some truth to all this? I haven't called any other dealers yet but it's on my things to do. Last resort I'll be getting the OEM FOB from EverythingNissan.com.

Anyone else run into this?
 
rizrashdi said:
- I work in IT and have never met a computer/chip that cannot be un-programmed. This sounds like BS to me.
Click to expand...

They do exist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programmable_read-only_memory" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have no idea whether this applies to the fob though.
 
When I bought my 13SL I bought this 5 year FOB replacement warranty, it was $189

key_fob_insurance.jpg

I guess I should lose one fob so that I can break even! ;)
 
rizrashdi said:
- I work in IT and have never met a computer/chip that cannot be un-programmed. This sounds like BS to me. Maybe heavy handed security feature car companies are adopting?
- If I had bought some OEM keys from Nissan or EverythingNissan.com I'm assuming I would have gotten a virgin never been programmed key for $100/$150. I thought the re-programming process involved wiping the program from any current keys that you have as well. IE: I could never use my lost key if I ever found it. Doesn't the fact that they can re-program my existing working key speak in direct disagreement to the dealership's claim of "once the key had been programmed to a car it cannot be undone"??
Click to expand...

Whether they can reprogram an existing working key doesn't mean that they can program a blank key. It's definitely possible that there is some private encryption key that they don't have access to at the dealerships, but do at the manufacturing plant. That's exactly the kind of key security handling that I would expect to be put in place so that there are as few points of "leakage" available for car theives to possibly get their hands on a security encryption key that would be possible to make any number of keys from.
 
I would say that the Nissan dealer told you correctly. I work at an Infiniti dealer and all of our vehicles that are MY13 and newer are this way. Once the key has been programmed, it cannot be programmed to another vehicle. Your existing key that is programmed to your car is not 'de-programmed' when a new one is programmed.

I also think that once so many keys have been programmed to the vehicle (four I think), the ikey control unit needs to be replaced because it has reached the maximum number of programmed keys.

I hope this helps.
 
nonleafeater said:
I also think that once so many keys have been programmed to the vehicle (four I think), the ikey control unit needs to be replaced because it has reached the maximum number of programmed keys.

I hope this helps.
Click to expand...
You may be correct, but that is incredibly stupid. No it doesn't help.
 
I work as a computer BIOS programmer. There are things known as "fuses" in some chipsets. Once you've written to them, they are forever in that written state. Intel uses them to "bin" processors. They make a bunch of processors off the same production line. They then test them. The ones that pass all of the tests get placed in the "really expensive enthusiast bin". Those that don't pass all the tests get placed in their appropriate "bins". Last of all, marketing levels are applied. Once they've been "binned", the fuses get "blown" so they will forever be that part. Harddrive manufacturers do the same thing. A drive that doesn't make it as a 4TB might get branded as a 3TB or 2TB due to the "fuses".
 
I just bought a Leaf that only came with 1 key. The dealer said they couldn't find the other one. Looks like this will offset the good deal I got on the car.

I was actually hoping to program the fob to work with both my car and my girlfriends. :( They both have the same fob. I cannot believe its going to cost hundreds of dollars for a key :(

I also had the idea to get one from a junk yard / ebay but it looks like that isn't a possibility at all :(

Edit: I guess this is my karma for sticking the dealership with two lemon trades. Does anyone know if its possible to program a single fob to work with 2 vehicles? Even if I have to pay the dealer to do it. I don't wanna carry around two of those things.. They are too huge as it is.
 
In another thread, Travis said he bought a used 2012 SL. Getting only one key is not unusual with a used car.
 
A dealer on Ebay now sells the transmitter and blank key for $100. These are brand new and never programmed. I looked into my local dealer and he would sell me the transmitter for $170 and the key for $30, plus the programming for over $100. The total was over $300 so I let it pass. You can get the key and transmitter for a bit over $100 from the online dealers. The best I found was a Red River Nissan - nissannewparts.com. They have the best prices for both parts and accessories. Then you still need to get it reprogrammed. I wonder if a locksmith would be less expensive.
 
Travis said:
I just bought a Leaf that only came with 1 key. The dealer said they couldn't find the other one. Looks like this will offset the good deal I got on the car.
Click to expand...

Did they only give you a few hundred dollars off, or not even that? I mean, you were buying it from a dealer, and they couldn't find the key? Was it a second-hand car? Either way, you could try to go back and get them to make you another key. If they try and charge you the difference, you could do that. I would personally try and fight them on that. Get the manager, complain, you know the deal. Get them to throw in that key at no cost. Having one key is just too limiting. If you lose the fob, you will need to get back into your car just by other means just to reprogram it. I mean then it becomes an emergency service, you might need to get the car towed. That can get really tricky.

Try and get them to give you another fob. Maybe that doesn't work out. That is fine. I have a plan for you. Buy a fob online from a specialized blank fob retailer. Some of these fobs are the same ones the dealership will buy, others are generic. Whatever you end up going with, make sure that the company has a customer service department that can be reached via audio and/or video. Programing can be kind of tricky. You may need another pair of eyes on the instructions in order to get it right. And that is the other thing, a lot of sites will give you the instruction manual on reprograming along with the fob and the customer service line. Try and find the whole package. Locksmiths can also reprogram the fob once you get it, but as long as you buy from the right company company you can avoid any additional costs.

And I know you wanted to program the fob to work with two cars. It is just not possible. I would guess that no car company would ever want it to be possible either, so I would just let go of that hope. Still though, you should get a spare key. Good luck!
 
I just had a blank, fresh new OEM fob programmed at the dealer. $150. Ouch. At least they cut the blank key. Got the fob $125 shipped and the aftermarket key blank (not very high quality and has a metal loop hole) for $7.

They mentioned, if one believes them, that 2013 fobs/cars can only be programmed (paired?) once. I didn't want to waste $50 on a used fob to find out it was useless. They also mentioned that they thought that only Nissan dealerships could program them.

Food for thought...

Nearly $300 is better than the $480 that I was quoted at another dealership.
 
rizrashdi said:
So I lost one of my keys a while back and didn't want to pay the $300+ dealership fees to replace. Did some research on this site and saw a few postings of getting the parts myself ...IE: "$16.55 for H0564-1FA0B (they physical key) and $98.70 for 285E3-1KM0D (the remote) from EverythingNissan.com" Thought I'd save some money and grab one off ebay instead and found one for my '11 Leaf for $70. Came with a blank key that I could cut to match my existing. Not sure if it came from a wrecked car, an extra key or whatever.

Took it to the dealer (Mossy Kearny Mesa in San Diego) and bought the key from ebay, as well as my existing key with me. Wanted to take part in the $80'ish reprogramming fee which I've seen talked about here. Service guy came back with $110 to program and cut, figured I'd live with the $30 difference.

Some time later service guy comes to me and tells me this is not possible to do. Something about "once the key had been programmed to a car it cannot be undone".

Few things came to mind as I left the dealership
- I work in IT and have never met a computer/chip that cannot be un-programmed. This sounds like BS to me. Maybe heavy handed security feature car companies are adopting?
- If I had bought some OEM keys from Nissan or EverythingNissan.com I'm assuming I would have gotten a virgin never been programmed key for $100/$150. I thought the re-programming process involved wiping the program from any current keys that you have as well. IE: I could never use my lost key if I ever found it. Doesn't the fact that they can re-program my existing working key speak in direct disagreement to the dealership's claim of "once the key had been programmed to a car it cannot be undone"??

Am I being fed some hog wash here or is there some truth to all this? I haven't called any other dealers yet but it's on my things to do. Last resort I'll be getting the OEM FOB from EverythingNissan.com.

Anyone else run into this?
Click to expand...

yep. SEVERAL variations on Nissan's process.

first off; they aren't as common as they used to be but there are machine level chips that cannot be reprogrammed. Ever try to reprogram a SIM card? Some wireless providers won't/can't do it (the reason is the same either way so distinction really doesn't matter) and this is something you should be applauding. it is simply a security process.

as I understand it; the car does not program the FOB, it simply mates the FOB to the car. IOW; the FOB is already hard coded and the car simply registers the information. When this happens all keys you want to use with the car must be present. This is different from other manufacturers. I lost a Prius key and it was $300 to program a new key to the car or $100 if there was another FOB available that was already programmed to the car. so in one way or another; the car could read the programmed FOB and convert another FOB to this so your thoughts probably would have worked with a Prius

Either way in the case of losing one FOB and adding a new FOB, one simply gets "reverified" while the other goes thru the process of "new pairing"

now does this make sense?

lets play out a scenario; you did not lose your keys, they were stolen. allowing previously programmed keys to continue to work... sound good?
 
davewill said:
I would have thought it was the dealer's responsibility to supply two fobs and I would have insisted on it as part of the deal myself.
Click to expand...

sold used cars and either the car is sold "as is" or the buyer simply negotiates the 2nd key as part of the deal. the OP basically let the dealer get away with not doing it. FYI; not sure I can remember anyone accepting only a single key for anything less than 5-6 years old.
 
Travis said:
I was actually hoping to program the fob to work with both my car and my girlfriends. :( They both have the same fob. I cannot believe its going to cost hundreds of dollars for a key :(
Click to expand...

So what happens when you break up with your girlfriend? Do you get the car (or ransom the key fob)?
 

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