$350 for a freaking new key fob??????

[Justwondering]

2023 - summer - bought a used 2018 Ford Explorer to be able to more easily get husband to doctor. His balance, strength, etc was starting to degrade pretty fierce so he could no longer handle the step-in height of the suburban or truck

2024- fall - one of the two key fobs no longer unlocks the car. Have changed the batteries more than once. No bueno..

Just got off the phone with ford dealership nearest me.

This is not just sticker shock. This is like the scam when you buy a new printer for your computer.

Cost for a key fob will be between $100 and $150 depending on which type of key fob I'm replacing.
Cost to 'pair' the fob to the car $200

Total cost for a new key fob is $350 freaking dollars????

Every other vehicle I own costs a few bucks for the key, a few minutes to have someone grind it, and boom -- key for less the $10

But the fancy ass key fob Ford costs $350 -- what the hello??

Like buying a printer for $120 and then each ink cartridge costs $50... they are making boatloads of money on the consumables.

Key fobs are not freaking consumables. A$$ wipes.

JW

 

[Mikes5thAve]

You can usually get them online a lot cheaper. Some cars you can program them yourself others need a shop of some sort.

Funny that they've added all this security stuff to vehicles yet made then easier to steal at the same time.

 

[Justwondering]

Mikes5thAve​

I'm just angry at the world today...and this just set me off when the guy in the parts department thought the price was ''' normal '''. Jeeze.

JW

 

[69-]

Get rid of the Explorer. End of story.

A new key FOB for my SL (Build 1999) costs approx the same (well, a little hundred bucks more, to be honest) - only if it is available at all. Wating for availability the last 2.5 years already, so, seems more likely I find the gold-sprinkled unicorn than this key FOB.
If the last key goes bust - that's it. Almost 20k worth as "Edelschrott", as we would call it in Germany (somehow like "precious junk"). Can't use, can't sell, ...

That's why I try to stick to older cars without much electronics.

Newest bullshit made in Europe: every new car sold has to have "automatic speed sign recognition" combined with getting on your nerves if you go just 1km/h faster than allowed. Bing-Bing-Bing-Bing-Bing.....

You can disable it, but just for the current ride. Next ride it's on again. Last year, you were at least to re-code your car to fully disable this....

Freaking bullshit.

 

[Aspen500]

The Explorer is push button start, correct? It's possible to program yourself IF you have 2 functioning fobs (if you want 3 through 8 fobs). If only one works, then it's a lot of f'ing around with a scanner and interface box, through a secure connection to access the Ford database servers where every Ford is stored by VIN, entering passwords, obtaining authorization, etc...... which is why pairing a new fob , when there's only 1 functioning fob, is pricey. They make it seem like you're trying to access the nuclear codes or something. Honestly, I don't know what was wrong with a key and ignition lock. It worked fine for 100 years.

Have I ever mentioned how much I like being retired from the auto tech business, and don't have to deal with "the modern automobile" anymore? LOL Scratch that. I don't LIKE being retired from it, I LOVE being retired from it!

 

[Justwondering]

Well ... it looks like my current plan of attack is:
Plan A
1. Take my trip this weekend to return my cousin to her home (6 hrs there + 6 hours back)
2. Unlock the door with the working key -- so don't get separated from the other driver (younger brother).
3. Return and take the fob apart looking for grit or grime between the back of the button and the guts of the fob.
4. check the breadboard /circuit board int he fob under lens to see if there is a crack in a solder point & refloat the solder if needed.
5. clean it all properly.
6. put it back together and try it again.

OR

Plan B
1. Buy a replacement fob over the internet
2. Drive 60 miles to certified automotive locksmith
3. Pay the locksmith to pair the device if they can do it.

OR

Plan C
1. Screw it
2. Live with the problem and practice opening the car with the metal key & quickly shutting off the alarm system
3. Sell the car once I get my life together and and figure out what I'm going to drive in 2025 or 2026

Basically, I'm putting off the decision for another week until I get back from the 'cousin delivery'.

JW

 

[Mikes5thAve]

It looks like you can program yourself based on Google search.

What gets me about newer vehicles is this push for better fuel mileage has made them crappier in a way. Look at how common catastrophic engine problems are now. On the other hand they are also going a lot longer with less work but that doesn't help people who keep vehicles long term. Funny that transmissions used to be the problem and engines lasted forever. Now transmissions are more complicated but seem to hardly be an issue and it's engines that go.

Then all the extra weight and cost thanks to new safety features. Which admittedly some are kind of nice.

 

[kkritsilas]

Phone the certified automotive locksmith and see if they can pair the new FOB. If they say that they can for sure do it, buy TWO FOBs, and have them pair BOTH FOBs at the same time. Leave one FOB at home, use the existing FOBs, when one dies, or needs a battery, you can use the at home FOB temporarily until you get a new battery, or if one of the regular FOBs dies, then toss is and use the at home FOB as a replacement.

You may want to ask your local mechanic if he can pair the FOBs as well. If his OBD scanners are sufficiently sophisticated enough, he may be able to; saves on the long drive. Or get Aspen 500 to give you the link on how to do it yourself.

 

[volare 1977]

Shop around

 

[80mirada]

Salvage yards have them for a decent price, usually. The aftermarket ones are hit or miss for quality. You can search the part number online, and find a factory one from a dealer that sells at a discount.

 

[Justwondering]

Based on all the advice I've discovered there is a 'HUGE' variation in price of the fobs as well as the service charge to 'pair' the fobs the car..

I had no clue.

I've never owned a vehicle with a key fob required to start it before. What a strange world we live in now.

JW

 

[Aspen500]

I always thought "smart key" pushbutton start is just fine,,,,,,,until it doesn't work, and it's not just a dead key battery. Usually was not an inexpensive thing to properly diagnose and repair.

 

[69-]

Key - turn - start.

End of story

 

[kkritsilas]

Many newer cars don't even have a keyhole to put the key into. Dumb as a sack of rocks, but many cars have "keyless starting", which means a paired FOB must be in the vehicle, and then you push on a Start/Stop button. No keyed FOB means that the vehicle doesn't start. Some cars have hidden places (as in deep under the dash, or in glove boxes) where a physical key can be put in to start the car, some don't. Even with a completely dead battery, the FOB will start the car by holding the key FOB close to the Start/Stop button, and the car should start. Peersonally, this has to be the height of stupidity to not have a keyhole to use a physical key. Almost as stupid as having one CPU to handle the entertainment, air conditioning, and things like throttle by wire, electric power steering, and brakes, and then not making the CPU hacker proof enough to prevent hackers from taking over your car. Somebody needs to explain why the critical systems (braking, steering, and accelerator) even need to be updated over the air in the first place.

 

[Mikes5thAve]

I dong mind the whole push button start thing it saves on digging for keys in your pocket and taking gloves off in cold weather. What I don't like about it is that theirs can use that as an easy way to steal cars. Altho with everything running thru canbus stuff now it seems like things have gotten even easier.

 

[Oldiron440]

Back in the early nineties I had a customer who had a toddler who had gotten into there Toyota Supra and turned the key with the transmission in reverse, car starts and goes down the driveway and hits a pole with the open door. New door, repaired the rocker panel and roof kid wasn’t hurt but a month after I repaired the car the kid did it again, I should say that the parents let it happen again luckily the kid escaped injuries for the second time.
All this happened with a key in the ignition something easily prevented but mom’s purse or dad’s cote with the key fob even on the hood seems like it would be even more dangerous. Kids like copying parents pushing buttons, I don’t know but they don’t seem like good ideas to me.

 

[Aspen500]

They won't crank without pushing the clutch down, or it's not in park. Not sure if all, but the majority of push button start cars won't crank unless the brake pedal is pressed first, even if the fob is in the car.

I do remember seeing cars with manual trans take off before they had clutch safety switches. Reach in the window, turn the key, and away it goes into a tool box, diagnostic scope (remember those giant things?), etc. No, never had it happen to me, thankfully!

 

[69-]

By and means, I think its more likely to push a button while somehow pushing the brake as well and then just turn the knob to R or D than not to leave the keys in an unreachable position for the toddler.
Reckless parents in the 90s...

My parents had to hide the radio and TV push buttons back in the early 70s. No knob was safe.

 

[Mikes5thAve]

On the other hand the the key needs to be in the vehicle with brake pressed to start it so even if a kid copies mom and dad it's pretty hard for them to press the brakes hard enough and they wouldn't see the fob leaving their pocket or purse to begin with so wouldn't know that's part of the equation. They probably wouldn't see the brakes being pushed either but they'd probably love pressing that big start button.

 

[69-]

Anyway. The prices are plainly ridiculous.

I like normal keys. Can't be hacked by a computer whizz. They don't even know what it is.