New Generation of Car Keys Explained

 

The True Scam of New Car Keys

 

So if you bought a late model vehicle and either need a spare key or have lost them you may be in for a shock.

 

Most if not all of the newer vehicles have gone to a fob style system which is certainly more convenient and dont wear out like conventional keys. I thought Id take a moment to explain why they are so darn expensive.

 

Some Truths To Start

 

First and foremost - Vehicle manufactures "could" have your phone be the key and it would be just as ( and possibly more so ) secure as a physical fob like Tesla has adopted. The reason they dont is .... $ money $. The manufacturer and dealerships are making a TON of money selling, programming, replacing their key fobs selling dongles, software and subscriptions.

 

One last thing on this - if you bought a newer used vehicle Ill bet you only got one (1) key for it. Yes indeed the extra fobs are boxed and shipped off - sold to companies like "webuykeyfobs.com that "refurbish" the old one and sell them on websites, Ebay, Amazon as "OEM" refurbished fobs - you may just be buying the second key that was given to that dealer who told you they were only given one fob from the last owner. One more "scam" from the dealers.

 

What We Face As Locksmiths

 

The Price of the Fobs or keys - the electronics are far more expensive than in days past and they have to be able to communicate and be programmed to the particular vehicle. Manufacturers now have 4 or 5 different fobs for even one model which makes it harder to stock each one and our cost is many times over $100 just for the blank fob.

 

On the newest vehicles we MUST be a member of NASTF - National Automotive Service Task Force - this isn't an organization to help, support or give us a hand - we have to pay a yearly membership fee, submit a mountain of information on an annual basis and on each vehicle upload documentation, drivers license, registration, insurance card, time, date, what service or we will be suspended - the heads this task force are people from car manufactures primarily - even enabling the car manufacturers to be able to say - see we aren't forcing folks to go to the dealer. With this membership we get the privilege of being able to log into the dealer systems.

 

Programming equipment - In days past we used to buy a programmer and it did multiple vehicles. Now we have to have specific manufacturer software usually on a laptop, a pass thru device to communicate with the car - the laptop must have internet access and a ton of ram. Many new programmers will require logging into NASTF before it will allow any programming.

 

As the programming is now locked down by the manufacturer we have to have a subscription to use their software. Least expensive is Ford which is $2200.00 per year. GM is $4500.00 And Chrysler in addition to a $2000 dongle - the subscription price is in the ball park of $4500.00 plus each vin the cost is $39.00

 

All These Costs Are Before We Even Make ANY Profit

 

So the thing I hear most - especially if a customer hasn't priced a new key from the dealership - Dang why are you so expensive ? ( We are almost 99% of the time FAR less than the dealer)

 

So I will not mention all the regular costs we have like any business - rent, insurance, taxes, repairs, fuel, vehicles, key cutting machines - you know that stuff. Lets just concentrate on these new keys.

 

So doing the math you can see what costs we have accumulated before even turning a dime of profit from our business. But once we do ALL these things then we can make a key correct ? yes BUT Recently some manufacturers have figured out a way to gouge for even MORE money. The following is just a few examples.

 

On New Chevrolet / GM Vehicle Intelligence Platform trucks and SUVs that even with ALL the hoops to get to the actual programming GM has added a two hour wait where the ignition must be on, the vehicle battery not die (has to have a battery charger hooked up) and the internet not drop. Each 12 minutes the brake pedal has to be pushed or the truck will go back to sleep and you start all over. At a dealership they get to charge you two additional hours of labor on each one.

 

On most 2026 Chrysler vehicles if all keys are lost you cannot program keys without actually replacing the RF hub (the wireless module) with a new factory one - $250.00 program that in THEN you can program new keys. BTW many of these RF Hubs are on national backorder. - No you cant make this up.

 

I dont like these key recent revelations anymore than you do however