Junkyard key

[Panshark]

I recently bought a 2006 XLT from an unnamed Ford dealer in Utah, and have had to call them to the carpet on their honesty. Long story on that one, but I'll save it for another time.

I ended up being told by the dealer the morning after the sale that the lot that they drove the expy over from for me to look at said that they never had a 2nd key or keyfob to the car. Now I'm looking for a 2nd key to program to my expedition. If I can do it for as cheap as possible, I will definitely do it.

I was junkyarding today in search of a replacement for the 6-disc in-dash changer, and asked the guy about buying an ignition key off of him, and having it re-cut to match my expedition. He says it would not work.

I'm thinking that the key is dumb, the chip in the key just transponds and doesn't care what car it's trying to start. Re-cut the metal part, have the the new key programmed into the expedition, and I can go on my merry way.

Any thoughts?

 

[bedrck46]

The bad thing about trying to do something "for as cheap as possible" is that most likely it will cost you more in the long run.

I would suggest that you take it to a Locksmith that does auto programing and have him cut you a new key and program it to the expy. Or buy a key from e-bay have it cut and then take it to the locksmith. You can also buy FOB's from e-bay. A locksmith will most likely cost less than the dealer.

 

[tallsville]

i hear that some lowes or doing key programming. Not sure if you need 2 keys for that are not. Did you ask the dealer that you bought it from to give you a 2nd key?

 

[Panshark]

funny you should ask, Tallsville. I did ask, and they said the best they could do if their co-owned sister lot couldn't cough it up was cut me a key at cost. This was on a Saturday night, at a Ford franchise.

Monday morning, they say that the sister lot says no key available, and the dealer cost is x amount for the key, y amount to program it. I haggled them down to the "at cost" of the key, but I still have to drive 250 miles down to Utah to get the key cut at the Ford dealer.

On tuesday, I get around to taking out the 6-disc radio to diagnose the malady, and when I disassemble it, I find a bright thumbprint on the top tray, from whoever fished the cd's out last time.

When the salesman comes back from vacation, I ask him where my title is at (a week and a half with no title, and no temporary registration) and also what he thought of my response to his automated customer satisfaction email. The email thanked him for selling me a car, but what the heck's the story with the radio. The salesman said, "Sorry, at this point there's nothing I can do." The next day I faxed him in a notarized letter rescinding the sale, due to some quirk in Utah law that says the dealer has to either #1 issue me a temp tag, or #2 deliver title in 48 hours.

I called up the next day to let the sales manager know that I would be returning the vehicle bright and early saturday morning, and what time did he open. He gave me guff about "I'm not accepting the vehicle back" and "you can talk to my attorney," and I let him know that I had spoken with the dealer inspector, and that I'm within my rights to return it due to the title issue. (I didn't mention that I would be expecting the dealership to dock me the IRS standard mileage rate, which probably would have cost me $400)

The sales manager asked what it would take for me to stay home last saturday morning, and I asked what he was prepared to offer. He offered me $200 for an aftermarket deck and to resolve the key issue, in return I would go away and not bother him again. I had him send me his offer in an email, and then I stayed home.

But when I got the title, it was in the previous owner's name still. Part of me wants to write the guy, and ask him if he gave the dealership 2 keys, and if they docked him on the trade-in price for having a busted cd changer. I think that if I found out that the other dealership had tossed the spare key just to be slimy jerks, I would have to address that matter, based on the principle that they were trying to run a scam.

 

[AskMeLater]

I just bought a 2003 Expy from a Ford dealer last month. Of course, they only had one key to give me. Would not budge on making a second key.

My 'cheap as possible' solution was Wal-Mart. $60 plus tax for a new key, programmed to match my old key. Works like a charm.

If you have time to wait, Amazon sells blank transponder keys for $8.xx with free shipping. I just had three of them delivered to use as spares/backups for both of my vehicles which use this style key.

As a side note, if you don't already know, if you have two working keys you can program a third key yourself. So, I highly recommend having a total of three working keys on hand at all times, that way if one comes up missing or inoperative, you can still program one yourself (after having it cut, of course).

Hope this helps.

Side note #2: There is a limit to the number of keys that can be associated with the same vehicle. Eight, if I remember correctly.

 

[jjuscg]

Additional Key

I recently bought an '06 and it came with one key. The dealer sent me to a locksmith and paid to have another one programmed for me.
I decided a third key would be a good thing and I found one on EBAY with the remote entry buttons built into the key head. The directions say if you have two different keys, you can program another. However, it didn't work for me.
I suspect that the locksmith CLONED the new key with the same transponder signal as my other key. Both of them work fine, but when trying to program, the computer sees the exact same key instead of two different ones. I suppose the dealer can program it, but I'm looking for a better answer than "$75.00" .

 

[Bedrck47]

check with a locksmith that does Auto programing But $75.00 isn't a bad price if that includes a key It cost me $45.00 to have a key programed and I provided the cut key
Also a locksmith will be able to clear the amount of keys that have already been programed just in case there have been more than two keys that have been programed

 

[slhanks4]

You're awful hung up on this key thing. I bought my 2011 earlier this year and it came with 1 key and 1 fob. Guess what, I bought 2 fobs off of Amazon for about $30 and bought two keys from the dealer and had them program them. Cost was about $140. It is what it is. Yes, $140 for two keys is ridiculous, but I got it taken care of and I didn't let it eat at me. The time to negotiate keys/other issues is before you buy.

 

[rexster314]

First off, the keys aren't programmed, the car's computer is programmed to receive the transponder code from the key. I've bought numerous used cars over the years and most only had the one key. One car/transaction i had the dealer sold me the key at cost and didn't charge to program the key into the car's computer. Hell, when i traded my 09 Buick Enclave i only had one key at the time (other was at home) and the dealer never said anything about another key. I've always gone onto Ebay and got another key and key fob, had the key cut and programmed. The OP is making too much out of not having a second key.