Community Chat

[Biftu]

My friend lost his Subaru car keys while food shopping.  A store employee helped him look to no avail.  He called me to pick him up so he could go home and get his other car key.  He called the dealer and they charge $340 for a new key!  Has anyone run into this problem?  

[Etoile308]

Is it a vehicle with keyless ignition? Cost of the technology. Before I pay for a new spare I would call the store in the morning to see if they were found, then go back to the store early when not busy, recheck, and go through the parking lot.

[Kachina624]

Is there something super fancy about new car keys?  I have an older car and I just go to the hardware store and have copies made. 

[Venezia]

@Biftu - Because of the chips that are imbedded into car keys now, they're expensive to replace.  I take it he still uses an actual key?

I just bought a new Subaru Forester and it's the push-button start, but you have to have the key fob in the vicinity for the button to work.  I was told immediately by the dealer to not lose it, as these new fobs are about $600 to replace.  How crazy is that?

I won't even let my DH have the spare one (he has his own car) because with my previous car, he nearly lost the spare key to it.  He swore that I never gave it to him, but we eventually found it...when we traded in HIS car and the dealer found it stashed away in some cubbyhole in his car AFTER we'd traded it in and were on our way home with his new car.  I had to turn around and go back to retrieve my spare key.

No way will he get his hands on this new one!  I leave it at home.  If I get stranded somewhere, I'll call a cab.

[Venezia]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

Is there something super fancy about new car keys?  I have an older car and I just go to the hardware store and have copies made. 

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@Kachina624 - Yes, there is something fancy about "new" car keys.  They have microchips and are encoded for your vehicle.  No more getting a new one cut at the store.  (You must have a really older car!)

[Kalli]

I lost my Prius keys on a trail ride several years ago.  It cost well over $200 back then so the price you mentioned doesn't surprise me.  We didn't even try to look.  

With the exception of a light green jacket, I've never found anything lost while trail riding. We go off trail often, ducking under trees, over rocks, etc.  Losing battle to try finding anything, especially small items.  The green jacket was the least expensive item I've lost.  Figures I'd find that one! 

[Linmo]

@Biftu Yes, replacement keys for cars have become very expensive, even without the push-button start.  We have several kids (and cars) and keys have been lost over time.  It usually costs us $300-$400 for a key replacement.

[January121]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

Is there something super fancy about new car keys?  I have an older car and I just go to the hardware store and have copies made. 

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@Kachina624  .... can’t do that with the “new” cars .... it’s been this way for at least 10 years.

[patbz]

With the cost of keyless fobs DH and I put electronic tiles on our key rings.  So eventually I lost my fob and tile was useless.  I got lucky and found key inside my home so now we got engraved tags with our phone # only ( hopefully if I lose one again, that's enough to bring it home!

[Pearlee]

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@Biftu wrote:

My friend lost his Subaru car keys while food shopping.  A store employee helped him look to no avail.  He called me to pick him up so he could go home and get his other car key.  He called the dealer and they charge $340 for a new key!  Has anyone run into this problem?  

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@Biftu  I have a 2015 Subaru Forester and both my keys that open the doors got bent at different times(the metal part of the keys)  and didn't fit into the ignition so I was stuck using the key for  valet service (which turned the ignition but couldn't lock or unlock the doors).  When I wanted to replace the keys my Subaru dealership quoted me that same price for each one.

I had been told the keys couldn't be straightened out or they'd snap in two but I did find a wonderful locksmith who gently hammered both out so they are straight and work fine in the ignition. There was no way I wanted to spend $700 for 2 new keys (and then the valet key wouldn't work since it would be different).   Your friend would need to replace his spare and valet key because a new key is totally different (my dealership told me). They don't make a new version of the old key.