Key fob repairs
Save cash by refurbishing.
When you are tying up the loose ends of a car deal don’t overlook one key aspect; how many of them are being handed to you? It may sound trivial at first, but in fact it can possibly render the vehicle scrap if you lose the sole survivor or it becomes irreparable.
Back in the days of MGBS and Ford Cortinas, a key would typically last the lifetime of the car. But with the advent of ‘plastic fantastic’ fobs that have a touch of 007 about them, they can wear out or become damaged – like this key for a 2004 MINI Cooper S. When sourced from main dealers, new keys are costly – easily over £300 in the case of many Vauxhalls for instance. Happily, key specialists such as Timpsons
(found on the high street and at many supermarkets) can fix them for half the price. However, there’s an even cheaper solution if the old key is still working properly – a re-shell for under £50.
As the pictures show, the scruffy key for our MINI R53 is a pretty common sight among MINI owners and, as no spare was supplied when the car was purchased (a typical scenario), expensive consequences were assured if it was left for much longer.
Along with MINI, other problematic keys are those for Vauxhalls and anything VAG related; the latter in particular where the hinge on their ‘flick out’ keys can break. According to Timpsons, 7 out of 10 suffer from this failure at some point. A specialist repairer can cater for just about every vehicle and eventuality, apart from relatively new vehicles whose key-related problems usually remain a dealer-only job due to replacement cases not yet being available.
After checking on a tester that our MINI key was redeemable, the old shell was split open to reveal the workings, so the transfer process could begin; it’s all straightforward stuff so long as you have the professional tools to do it.
Although you can buy replacement shells on the internet, Timpsons advises that, as the quality of shells varies, it’s common for DIY customers to run into difficulties and end up seeking professional help anyway.
One of the biggest ‘kitchen table’ mistakes is to damage the immobiliser chip when removing it from the old casing, as some are glued or soldered into place.
On the subject of soldering, many fob faults are caused by poor connections, especially in infra-red devices – but you can check its operation by viewing it through a smartphone camera which picks up the beam’s trace. The June 2019 edition of Car Mechanics (Help! page 77) covered this in some detail.
Depending upon the car, it may be possible to use the original key blade in the new carcass. This is a personal preference; on the one hand you have a new key, but on the other, you may possibly experience the inevitable ’new key in old lock’ syndrome with some barrels being worse than others. On the other hand, the original blade becomes a good spare for gaining access to the vehicle – it’s your call.
Extra key
If you only have a single key and want a spare, you have the option of either ordering a like-for-like duplicate, costing on average around £160, or saving about £100 by choosing an ‘emergency’ key, which is a simple fob complete with the immobiliser chip, but not the blipper facility. It suffices, but any fitted alarm or immobiliser will be active until the ignition is turned on to cancel it.
Apart from the assurance that the key is as good as new, a new shell is also a good selling point when off-loading your vehicle. After all, if an owner can’t be bothered to repair the key, what other results of penny-pinching are lurking?