Getting spare keys made (with the chip)? Shop around.

[Heat]

If you need some spares made… shop around. A week ago I had locked my keys in my car (’99 LX), had to get another ride home to get my spare. So I’ve been looking at how much it would cost to get two spares made and I called three dealers.

One wanted $25 per key or $50 plus tax for two keys. He was going to clone the blank to my existing transponder code.

The second wanted $40 per key or $80 plus tax for two keys. Same thing, he was going to clone the blank to my existing transponder code.

The third one was weird. She said the blanks were $30 each, plus I had to bring in all of my keys and she was going to change (not clone) the transponder setting for all keys, total cost of $150 plus tax for two keys. I think she had my car confused with a different vehicle.

As it turns out, the one that wanted $25 is the closest to me so I’ll be going there of course. He is also the only one that wanted to see the registration for my car (proof of ownership) and a photo ID which I can easily provide of course.

[CB7VTEC]

dont forget on a '98-'02 accords you can have the dealer cut the old style non-programmable key from the '90-'97's if you just need to get into the car, for about 1/3 the price

dont let them sucker you

[Charri]

Wow thats pretty expensive I lost my keys somewhere in another state I went to Honda with proof of registration and everything made me a copy for 5 dollars at Honda World. I dont know why it is so expensive for you.

[JimBlake]

Originally Posted by Heat

The third one was weird. She said the blanks were $30 each, plus I had to bring in all of my keys and she was going to change (not clone) the transponder setting for all keys, total cost of $150 plus tax for two keys. I think she had my car confused with a different vehicle.

This one's a little closer to the truth. You don't 'clone' the transponder chip in the key. You can't program the key. You program the CAR to accept whichever transponders you want to authorize. The other dealers will probably do the job correctly for less money, but none of them are really explaining it correctly. Just for grins, you probably should bring ALL keys along with you because once you get beyond the flak who explained it wrong, the actual mechanic will probably need them.

Originally Posted by Charri

Wow thats pretty expensive I lost my keys somewhere in another state I went to Honda with proof of registration and everything made me a copy for 5 dollars at Honda World. I dont know why it is so expensive for you.

That's because Accords didn't have immobilizers (key transponders) until 1998.

[someone else]

Originally Posted by JimBlake

This one's a little closer to the truth. You don't 'clone' the transponder chip in the key. You can't program the key. You program the CAR to accept whichever transponders you want to authorize. The other dealers will probably do the job correctly for less money, but none of them are really explaining it correctly. Just for grins, you probably should bring ALL keys along with you because once you get beyond the flak who explained it wrong, the actual mechanic will probably need them.

No. On 98-02 accords parts can copy the code onto a T5 key blank from key to key. If a customer loses a key and wants to make sure that key will not start the car if found you need all the existing keys and you have to reprogram the keys to the car.

Originally Posted by CB7VTEC

dont forget on a '98-'02 accords you can have the dealer cut the old style non-programmable key from the '90-'97's if you just need to get into the car, for about 1/3 the price

dont let them sucker you

Yep. If you just need to get into the car this will work for any car with a non-sidewinder key. We have douches that want S2K keys for their civics and integras all the time.

[JimBlake]

Originally Posted by someone else

No. On 98-02 accords parts can copy the code onto a T5 key blank from key to key.

Wow, learn something new every day. I didn't know it was possible to change the serial# of the RFID chip in the key. That's less secure than I thought. I figured it would be about the same as my Saab.

Originally Posted by someone else

Yep. If you just need to get into the car this will work for any car with a non-sidewinder key.

Why not with a sidewinder key? Isn't that just a different kind of machining operation? Granted, not many key shops have an end-mill that would work. But that doesn't seem like a fundamental problem.

[someone else]

Originally Posted by JimBlake

Wow, learn something new every day. I didn't know it was possible to change the serial# of the RFID chip in the key. That's less secure than I thought. I figured it would be about the same as my Saab.

Honda has 2 different types of chipped keys for those cars. The standard key which we usually refer to as a master has to be programmed with the HDS or PGM tester. The T5 keys are available from parts when you just want a duplicate. They have a reader that can flash the code from a master key to a T5. A master cannot be flashed though, only the T5.
EDIT: Most of the 04 and newer cars use a rolling code system that cannot be copied. It has to be programmed with the car there.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why not with a sidewinder key? Isn't that just a different kind of machining operation? Granted, not many key shops have an end-mill that would work. But that doesn't seem like a fundamental problem.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

All sidewinders are chipped which makes it a more expensive key. Unless you happen to find a dealership where they are nice enough to offer to cut you a practice blank (just the key with no head/chip) you have to pay the chipped key price. I just meant that there was generally not a cheap alternative for the sidewinder.

[CB7VTEC]

Originally Posted by someone else

All sidewinders are chipped which makes it a more expensive key. Unless you happen to find a dealership where they are nice enough to offer to cut you a practice blank (just the key with no head/chip) you have to pay the chipped key price. I just meant that there was generally not a cheap alternative for the sidewinder.

Even these practice keys can be pricy for some reason. I believe Ilco still charges us around $10-$15 each. It's funny though...if only you guys only knew how many sidewinder keys most dealerships write off because of dumbasses who didn't take the 5 minutes to learn how to cut them...our service internal is full of transponder keys

[Chiovnidca]

Originally Posted by CB7VTEC

It's funny though...if only you guys only knew how many sidewinder keys most dealerships write off because of dumbasses who didn't take the 5 minutes to learn how to cut them...our service internal is full of transponder keys

Our parts department cant cut right. Every once in a while they get one right the first try.

[CB7VTEC]

haha, our dept. wasted so much damn money when we had the Matrix manual cutter that they put me in charge of cutting keys for like a year, I finally said f**k off, and then they bought the computer controlled BD Lazer