Lost Key & Fob - ACE Hardware Replacement

This was just buying a key "direct from the factory". Which was all they offered me. The locksmith we use at work, is probably one of the better ones in town, and he said he can't do my key. So I never really researched beyond that, assuming that ordering from the factory was pretty much my only option.

 

yeah I just looked up the vag-k+CAN...not sure its what i saw before. Looks like a basic OBD2 dongle...i would be VERY surprised if it did anything to transponder keys. But i have one for error codes and real time diagnostics for my truck while im out and about...right to my phone which is mounted on the A pillar...they're worth $20 for the check engine light code reading alone.

Locksmiths can't make keys for many newer VW's. Volkswagen would rather pay a fine annually than release their programming information. They make a lot charging for replacement keys. The program I saw claimed it could root through the ECU and find the code that allows our on-board programming equipment access to the Transponder info. Catch is for that info to help you would need to have the on board programming equipment. TKO might be able to do it...less expensive...ive seen them used for $1000

Yeah...thats what i was saying...VW is the only company that is often Dealer only and VW CHARGES for it. They ran the numbers and make so much off keys they don't mind that annual fine. That's why a year or so ago I was looking into that program that claimed to fish the bypass code out of the VW ECU with nothing more than a laptop and OBD2 to USB cord....

if it existed though the security industry would have been all over it instantly. I would have heard about it because it would save locksmiths a shit-ton of money.... most of the good on board programmers work on a token system. You have to buy tokens from the manufacturer per car programed...its expensive but so is trying to get a bunch of machines that each only program certain vehicles of certain years without restriction... its a whole thing. Its why many locksmith shops haven't bothered trying to keep up with car work.

 

There was a thing a while back about how millions of VW's could be opened or something. Well crap, let me just google it.... https://www.wired.com/2016/08/oh-good-new-hack-can-unlock-100-million-volkswagens/ well not that I read that, that's not at all related.

Anyways, I had forgotten too the reason I didn't buy a blank, and see if it could be cut, was our dealer also refuses to cut anything that isn't their key. I came to find out why, probably this is all due to VW and their crappy key service, that people were getting cheap china "blanks", but whatever material they keyway was made out of, was too hard or something, and would bust the dealers mills.

 

Probably just a C.Y.A. thing...the shops ive worked for would cut anything for a flat charge but would not guarantee a blank a customer provided would work as we don't know where it came from. But all locksmiths have a few make/model/years that when a customer asks we flat out say "no we don't do that." I watched my old manager spend 6 hours on a 2012 prius after knocking everything out of the system and the car going into a lock down program (prius's programing can be
different from year to year...a pain in the ass sometimes)... ended up being the voltage was slightly low and I had to hit the hazard lights to push a little extra juice to the dash equipment to program for him...but i was the car guy..

Although to be honest 75% of the time a transponder key doesn't program is because the customer didn't realize they ordered a non-transponder blank or a blank with the wrong type of transponder as opposed to buying a "fake".

That VW article is funny...I have ALWAYS hated keyless entry (not just because i'm a locksmith and it takes me out of the equation). The keyed ignition is honestly a pretty big deterrent for theft... In a world where tech is increasingly available to everyone everywhere but kids are less likely to know how to change a tire I take solace in my keyed ignition.

You should see the statistics on how much less likely you are to have a manual trans car stolen now. Its pretty funny.

 

Haha, I can relate on many levels of this one. I'm IT now by profession, but I was ASE for a few years after going to a NATEF school. I dunno, I have always said if it has an internal combustion engine or plugs into an outlet I can for sure mess with it. So, on the one side, super interesting seeing the parts you don't like, trying to get around security is always interesting, and computers in general just make it so much easier. The... was it GM? or just onstar, I don't recall, was possible for a good while to just take that whole network over. The physical side is fun too, I guess I literally have 0 experience in locks for auto, other than swapping them. But standard locks, I'm not gonna buy a kwikset. I put abloys on my house just because it was funny. Then yeah, the whole other side of of all of that, there's for sure people that can't change a tire, can't drive standard, but can use a computer. Unfortunately for everyone else, I can do all the above.

 

Don't get me wrong...its not that i dislike proximity start technology...i just don't like transitions that make a product I work on (as a security specialist) less secure..especially when its mostly to try and save a buck by keeping more work in house....Keyless at this point just creates more problems than it alleviates imo.

 

Oh we traded security for convenience in general so long ago there's no going back.

 

I routinely install $2000 Medeco's on doors less than 12" from a plate glass window.....don't i know it.

 

haha, yeah, well I did the same. Unless the windows in my house are unbreakable?!?! .... nope they are not. Kinda overkill on that one. But the best engineering is over-engineering!

 

I think this was the vector used on VW when there was headlines, but it applies to more makes/models. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8rNQ3mBZQ4

 

home depot had some too

 

Wouldn't be quite so bad if they had a keyed ignition

 

I didnt know VW made the Tacoma... you know, what we talk about in this forum.

 

Agreed, I even have the 5-speed anti-theft device in my 2006 Scion xB daily driver. No millennial will ever be able to steal it - if they ever leave their parents basement that is.

 

Other than the video part, the conversation was about on board programing and things still relevant to most all vehicles, including Tacomas... Luckily Tacoma (and Toyota in general) are usually really easy to program keys and fobs for and don't have B.S. issues like VW... probably the easiest to program in my experience....other than maybe old "Circle +" keys from the early 2000's

 

did the same thing, worked just fine on my 2011

 

Yeah...any decent supplier should send out directions with purchase of a new fob for your specific make/model/year programming.

If not you can get them here...

Here is a good free place to get instructions on programing most any fob that can be manually programed.

https://www.keylessentryremotefob.com/Key-Fob-Programming-Instructions-s/1856.htm

 

No shit. I was expecting one step to be, do a lap around your truck while patting your head and rubbing your stomach.

 

Good to know those Duracell ones at Ace work. I may try one. I got a discount fob on Amazon for my wife's car, and it was garbage. I sent it back for a refund. The dealer prices are absurd as is just about everything else at the dealer.

 

Try a locksmith supplier....cheap and quality aftermarket products. Amazon is a craps shoot