996 key....

so i lost my key on friday on a train so i went into sunset porsche today to get an idea of how much $$$ im gonna spend to get a new key. well, here it goes -$150 for remote key head -$120 for blank and cutting -$125 for reprograming are they serious! and thats with my dealer discount! my BMW was $180 all inclusive shipped and programmed from the factory. so my question to you is how can i piece this together for less $$$?

A new key for my dd 2003 VW Jetta was nearly that much. This is what a manufacturer would call "extending the revenue stream."

Bad news for me in Denver if I ever need a new one. Sunset usually has the best prices - period.

1. get on the train and start roughing up the workers 2. work the next 3 Saturdays (providing you get overtime pay) 3. hot wire the car 4. suck it up - you stole some GT3 seats and there aint no free lunch around these parts !! sorry you lost it man, there are several threads RE this - its not cheap...I have become very aware of where my keys are ever since I found out the cost.... and no more "tossing" them into the key basket at home... awe no, place gently !! Keep in mind they have come down, used to be about $475

Remote key head and blanks can be purchased on ebay for 50 or so. Take that to the dealer and have it cut and programmed?

I posted a thread on this earlier. First, be certain if you buy a keyhead from ebay, etc. you MUST get the code tag or it's worthless. Second, there's a company in England that was (probably still is) on ebay that cut a blade from my digital image as an email attachment for $20 including postage. Mine arrived within just a couple of days. Not much wiggle on the dealer programming, but on the cost of the head, Phil at Sunset only charged me $99+ shipping as a telephone order for a two button. ('04 Carerra2). GL

Better yet, find a buddy with a Durametric setup...

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Durametric won't program a key, only the porsche piwis or whatever they call it

Here is the ebay item number for the British company: 130480239937. They are still in business, still under $20 for the blank, cut and shipped per photo (it really works). That'll shave 100 bucks off immediately.

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And then you still need the "special code" from Porsche to program the key with.. Any way to rake in the extra dough.... I got the replacement alarm for $120 on ebay, but not too much of a savings there.

P.S. - Don't forget to take all of your keys to the dealer when you go for programming. They will actually be programming the car to recognize the keys; I remember the tech telling me that they had to confirm existing keys in the process.

Can you just make a spare key by just getting a new blank cut? or Do you need to get the programmable head for it to work too?

No. The key head has to be recognized to start the car.

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what a scam... but, thats all part of the pay if you wanna play.

And there is no guarantee that the non-dealer key will accept the recode process. What would be the dealer's incentive to troubleshoot if it did not work? You pay the programming fee whether it works out or not. The shortcuts to this process are not guaranteed to work.

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Interesting, I cannot unlock my doors with my FOB but I can start my car?? Are they two different chips?

^^^ is your battery dead?

nope...

They must be two different things because that wouldnt make sense if your FOB battery dies then you cant start your car.. is the chip inside the metal key??

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Had the same problem - shop is re-programming now.

Quite honestly I would stay away from all the ebay keys. The dealers will not cut them if they didn't sell you it. No matter what you tell them they will reply that the material is substandard and it will 'harm' the cutting tool. You and I know this is BS as most of the knock off's are of softer metal if anything but perhaps way back one roque blade DID wreak a cutter and like urban myths - no dealer will risk it. Or they want their mark up on parts - your pick! If you do have a blade still in the bag with the Porsche part number they will cut it however. People are correct - no tag with code # for the head and your screwed. Oh but of course we can sell you a new head to go along with the new blade you need... I believe an 'unlock' code from Atlanta (PCNA) is required before the programming of the key head (and spares) matched to your car can begin.

I've had my car for 3 weeks. No spare key. Is the spare key replacement also a dealer only item at big cost? Geez, I thought it was no big deal

It has been my experience that $150 is about right for a new remote control blank key fob, I take the blank and the old key to my local VW dealership to get cut for $10. Many locksmiths can also cut the key very cheaply. Essentially they put the old key and the new blank in the machine, push start and 5 minutes later the key is done. To pair they key to the car must be done with the PWISS, this takes about 5 minutes and if you have any relationship with your dealers most will do it gratis while you wait. I would not recommend getting the new fob from any place other than a Porsche dealer.

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Not around here they won't. And locksmiths won't touch them either for liability reasons. (Car theft) Using the pwiss is only half of it. It has to get the unlock code from the server in Atlanta. Relationship? I guess if your car is being serviced or repaired for a few thousand I guess they might consider it while it's up on the hoist. My dealer has line ups of vehicles to service and the relationship goes out the window if he has to take a tech away from a busy shop floor they aren't going to do this for free. It takes three weeks to get an appointment in the spring when you only have only two dealers close by serving an area such as the Toronto GTA market. (Hence the growth of good indy shops up here where we only go to the dealer as a last resort or for warranty work)

Agrred. It's a bit more than a two minute job from what I recall. There was only one person in my dealership authorized to do it, and it involved phone calls and database lookups to get security codes before they could do it all. If I remember it all took at least 30 minutes. Not free for 99% of us i expect.