Why are car keys so expensive?
Discussion
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.
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
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
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.ebay is a good place for keys, then all you have to do is pay to get them reprogrammed
Thank you.
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.ebay is a good place for keys, then all you have to do is pay to get them reprogrammed
Thank you.
I remember leaving one of my keys on a train and getting an Audi blank off ebay for £25
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
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.
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.
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
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.he was gutted when it was suggested that a 5 quid 3v was what he needed
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