Not sure if this is the right section for this, but long story short: need a replacement key fob and programming. Dealer says around $400. A local mall has one of those "all things keys" kiosks in the central aisle, and says he can do fob and programming for $85.00.

I'd like to save money, but I want a good job too - has anyone had any experience with one of those mall key guys, or should I play it safe and go with the dealer?? Any random thoughts would be appreciated, and thanks.

 

Dealer is trying to fleece you.

 

$400 for a replacement FOB (they all need to be "programmed" or they're useless anyway) is daylight robbery. I would shop around -- I've seen the fob itself (no programming) for $90 online. No way programming a fob should cost $310 for 10 minutes of work.

It amazes me how unethical some businesses are.

 

You can buy a new, or used, key fob off eBay for less than $100 and take it to a Nissan dealership, with ALL of your other key fobs, and have them reprogrammed for around $100 or less.

A new key, p/n 285E3-JK65A, from discountinfinitiparts.com is $112.35, or from eBay for around $85.

That dealer is trying to seriously rip you off. Personally I avoid mall kiosks as I never really know who those "here today gone tomorrow" characters are.

 

damn $400 is steep. i think the dealer near my place made an extra one for me for about $250 parts and labor to program. shop around and call other dealers.

 

My dealer charged me $250 to do the whole thing, including cutting the key.

It ended up being free because during programming, the dealer locked up/destroyed my BCM and had to replace it. They ended up giving me a loaner for a week while waiting for the part.

 

My dealership told me $450 and tried to sell me "insurance" in case the fob breaks. Luckily, my salesman gave me the locksmith company that all the dealerships use. I paid $135 for a mildly used key fob, which they cut and programmed on site on their mobile unit.

 

Hey folks, I appreciate all the good input. Still not sure exactly what I'll do yet, but in all probability it won't involve the dealer! Thanks again.

 

So this happened to me today. Can someone explain how/why the BCM would go bad on a car that was otherwise perfectly fine until they tried to program a 2nd keyfob? Did this dealer cover the cost of the BCM? So far I've only gotten them to agree to cover the labor and rental.

 

dealer did the same to me too. at first they werent gonna cover it and i told them ur joking right? then they changed their mind and said the manager is going to cover it. i still had to pay for the fob programming which was wat i originally came to do which is fine by me lol. just make sense of the matter they should cover it

 

Why do so many BCM's fail during this process??? I'm hoping someone with some tech background can answer this. I am going to push back once the repair is done and try to get them to cover the cost. My car was running perfectly and had no starting/keyfob issues prior.

 

No idea why they would fail, but I work for Toyota and not Nissan..

When we re-program keys it's a very simple 2-3 minute procedure that requires using a laptop to register the new key. The entire process is very short.

I wonder what the method is for Nissans

 

what i was told by the service guys, assuming hes telling the truth, is they were in the middle of programming and power just went out thus leaving the bcm bricked.

 

That's just Bull****
I did many key programming on many Nissan and Infiniti cars.
Even if you disconnect the battery while programming the key the BCM won't be affected.
Registering a new key take max 2-3 minutes (if you know what you are doing) and is impossible to brick the BCM durring this process.
Yes the BCM might enter on sleep mode, but the procedure of key programming (at the dealer) require to start the hazard lights to prevent the BCM to enter sleep mode.

If they tried to update the BCM firmware, that's a different story.
They can brick the BCM while updating the firmware on it.
But i don't understand why they will do that just for a key register...

 

idk man lol..all that matters is that they covered it. sucky part was having a qx60 loaner for weeks. i hate driving big cars.