Why are car keys so expensive?

Why are car keys so expensive?

Author
Discussion

MonkeyBusiness

Original Poster:

3,912 posts

186 months

Friday 9th November 2012
quotequote all
Freelander keys - £153 + reprogramming (I didn't bother to ask if that was including VAT).

I understand keys are a bit more advanced than they used to be but surely the chips inside are (excuse the pun) cheap as chips?

What are the most expensive keys to replace?

vinnie83

3,367 posts

192 months

Friday 9th November 2012
quotequote all
Because you don't have a choice to get them from anywhere else!

KingNothing

3,159 posts

152 months

Friday 9th November 2012
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They're expensive purely because they can be, supply and demand, if you need a new key, 9 times out of 10 it's because you have no keys and need to use the car, and thus they've got you over a barrel and your pants down, because they know you have to pay it, I also fail to see how theres any other reason, materials, and coding, even with labour costs can't cost as much as what all dealers supply keys at.

tbc

3,017 posts

174 months

Friday 9th November 2012
quotequote all
Land Rover / Range Rover / Jaguar will price these whatever they like because they know the majority of their customers are more than capable of affording their cars and themajority will think little of parting with £150 if it means being able to drive their overpriced and unreliable RR and Jaaaaaagggsss again without much hassle.

i'm sure other 'luxury' carmakers are the same. I remember a work colleugue getting stung £35 just for getting the battery in his Merc fob changed because someone told him it took a 'special battery'

he was gutted when it was suggested that a 5 quid 3v was what he needed

ebay is a good place for keys, then all you have to do is pay to get them reprogrammed




Edited by tbc on Friday 9th November 16:32

MonkeyBusiness

Original Poster:

3,912 posts

186 months

Friday 9th November 2012
quotequote all
tbc said:
Land Rover / Range Rover / Jaguar will price these whatever they like becuase they know the majority of their customers are more than capable of affording their cars and th majority will think little of parting with £150 if it means being able to drive their overpriced and unreliable RR and Jaaaaaagggsss again without much hassle.

ebay is a good place for keys, then all you have to do is pay to get them reprogrammed
This is exactly what I was intending to do but obviously the dealer is telling me I can't.
Thank you.

Trevor450

1,740 posts

147 months

Friday 9th November 2012
quotequote all
£227 for a Mercedes key. curse

ajh38

871 posts

149 months

Friday 9th November 2012
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Our Peugeot ones are about £120 if I remember correctly. It is scandalous.

tbc

3,017 posts

174 months

Friday 9th November 2012
quotequote all
MonkeyBusiness said:
tbc said:
Land Rover / Range Rover / Jaguar will price these whatever they like becuase they know the majority of their customers are more than capable of affording their cars and th majority will think little of parting with £150 if it means being able to drive their overpriced and unreliable RR and Jaaaaaagggsss again without much hassle.

ebay is a good place for keys, then all you have to do is pay to get them reprogrammed
This is exactly what I was intending to do but obviously the dealer is telling me I can't.
Thank you.
go to a good independent garage, obviously any main dealer will tell you they can't because they want the privilege of emptying your wallet

I remember leaving one of my keys on a train and getting an Audi blank off ebay for £25

pjdow

1,116 posts

153 months

Friday 9th November 2012
quotequote all
MonkeyBusiness said:
This is exactly what I was intending to do but obviously the dealer is telling me I can't.
Thank you.
That is because you can't.

Dracoro

8,661 posts

244 months

Friday 9th November 2012
quotequote all
tbc said:
Land Rover / Range Rover / Jaguar will price these whatever they like because they know the majority of their customers are more than capable of affording their cars and themajority will think little of parting with £150 if it means being able to drive their overpriced and unreliable RR and Jaaaaaagggsss again without much hassle.
You do realise replacement keys are this expensive for most cars, NOT just premium ones. For example, how much do you think it costs for a humble Golf or suchlike?

You seem to have a chip on your shoulder regarding nice cars BTW biggrin

To the OP, it's not really a key that you are replacing (the metal key part can be cut reasonably cheaply) but it's the cost of the remote/security/immobiliser programming.

For sure it's expensive and manufacturers can charge a lot knowing you have little choice but I guess nowadays people take more care of their keys and make sure spares come with a car they are buying.

OP, ask LR WHY they can't re-program a key you provide them. I suspect they're scaremongering so you buy from them full whack.

Also, the remote function can often be programmed by yourself (there may be instructions in the manual or online) and as you can get the metal part cut/lasered, it's only really the immobiliser programming that you need the dealer's assistance for.

robsa

2,254 posts

183 months

Friday 9th November 2012
quotequote all
You have to love it don't you?

BMW key = £200

Nexus 7 PDA = £159


err.....

ETA: I only quote BMW as I had to shell out for one, not because it is a luxury brand

Kolbenkopp

2,343 posts

150 months

Friday 9th November 2012
quotequote all
Extortion basically. The bad guys have all the equipment to clone / program the stuff themselves. Available online without much research. For consumers the coding kit is usually to expensive so dealer price it is. Nothing to do with security.

With older VAG cars you used to get the code needed to adapt new keys with the car. They stopped doing that so you can't just ask a friend with VAGCOM for help. Easy money...

Edit: if you have a VAG car and the keys came with a black plastic tab with stickers/numbers on it -- don't throw it away. Chances are there is the code on that. Just need a blank key with the right transponder (ebay, scrap yard) and someone with a full version of VAGCOM to recode.

Edited by Kolbenkopp on Friday 9th November 16:55

ryanjohnstott

1,772 posts

137 months

Friday 9th November 2012
quotequote all
Maserati quoted me around £6500 for a replacement red service key. Apparently I would need the red service key, two new normal keys, two door locks and a new alarm/Imobilizer system plus labour etc

The car in question was a cheap 3200, I then realised why it was going cheap!

Shaw Tarse

31,543 posts

202 months

Friday 9th November 2012
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I think it was Fiat that used to charge a fortune if you'd lost the "Red master key"

Deva Link

26,934 posts

244 months

Friday 9th November 2012
quotequote all
tbc said:
i'm sure other 'luxury' carmakers are the same. I remember a work colleugue getting stung £35 just for getting the battery in his Merc fob changed because someone told him it took a 'special battery'

he was gutted when it was suggested that a 5 quid 3v was what he needed
He'd have been even more gutted if you'd told him it's free (OK, built into the price) of a B service.

Nedzilla

2,439 posts

173 months

Friday 9th November 2012
quotequote all
Nissan GTR intelligent key......£850+vatyikes

OdramaSwimLaden

1,971 posts

168 months

Friday 9th November 2012
quotequote all
Nedzilla said:
Nissan GTR intelligent key......£850+vatyikes
If it was intelligent it wouldn't break or get lost..... wink

£850+VAT!!

BriC175

961 posts

179 months

Friday 9th November 2012
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My brand new E36 key was only £55 from BMW smile I love having an oldish car!

tbc

3,017 posts

174 months

Friday 9th November 2012
quotequote all
Nedzilla said:
Nissan GTR intelligent key......£850+vatyikes
could you not just get one for Micra and get it reprogrammed

the boot lid thing wouldn't work but then who buys a GT-R for the boot

davetibbs

136 posts

145 months

Friday 9th November 2012
quotequote all
I remember being particularly annoyed at how much I had to shell out for a new keycard for my Laguna II runaround. You can't reprogram old keys either - Renault definitely have you over a barrel there.