Car warranty is this right

Hintza

I agree with the above. Since when was a key fob a wear and tear item!

mumsonline_2

All ended well!
Hubby had paid a 50% deposit when he booked it in (£117 although he hadn't told me that until it showed on credit card statement) anyway key fixed and after a few weeks of chasing for a refund it came through!

JethroUK

bod1467 wrote: »

5 months for a key fob falling apart is a joke. You can take the SOGA route on this if necessary, no need to concern yourself with warranty. Up to 6 months the retailer must prove that any fault is not inherent, thus due to wear and tear etc. (The key is an integral part of the sale, thus covered by SOGA, in my opinion).

Yeah What you said :T

JethroUK

Labmanager wrote: »

mumsonline I think you can buy a 'blank key' cheaply online (ebay?), get it cut and transfer the electronic gubbings over from the damaged key.

If you do - It will 'at best' open the car doors & boot but there is absolutely no way it will actually 'start the car' - it will need to be programmed by a dealer & that wont work on Ebay key - hence they can charge £200 for 'a key' - and hence you should always make sure you get two/both keys when you buy a used car (or factor in another £200+)

shaun_from_Africa

JethroUK wrote: »

If you do - It will 'at best' open the car doors & boot but there is absolutely no way it will actually 'start the car' - it will need to be programmed by a dealer & that wont work on Ebay key - hence they can charge £200 for 'a key' - and hence you should always make sure you get two/both keys when you buy a used car (or factor in another £200+)

This isn't always correct Jethro,
Provided that it is just the case, the spring or the part of the key that is inserted into the ignition that is damaged, there is no reason that buying a replacement blank won't work.

Generally, "flip" type keys don't have any electronics inside the metal part of the key (they are inside the fob), and these electronics are usually made up of a battery and a small transponder chip that sends a code to the receiver that is built into, or placed very near to the ignition.

All you need is an uncut key fob and you open it up and swop the electronic module from the old unit to the new one and get the key cut.
It will then work as it should.

This is the sort of thing that you can buy for £8-£10

aldredd

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

This isn't always correct Jethro,
Provided that it is just the case, the spring or the part of the key that is inserted into the ignition that is damaged, there is no reason that buying a replacement blank won't work.

Generally, "flip" type keys don't have any electronics inside the metal part of the key (they are inside the fob), and these electronics are usually made up of a battery and a small transponder chip that sends a code to the receiver that is built into, or placed very near to the ignition.

All you need is an uncut key fob and you open it up and swop the electronic module from the old unit to the new one and get the key cut.
It will then work as it should.

This is the sort of thing that you can buy for £8-£10

It probably varies by manufacturer, but my fob was almost identical to that one.

When I replaced mine, there were 4 parts to it:

New key fob casing (as above, from eBay)
Getting the blade cut (local key cutters)
program the remote locking (self, easy)
Configure the immobiliser. This is the bit required to start the car. For this I had to get a specialist car locksmith to read the code from my existing key and apply it to the new one. He also gave me the code, meaning if I ever lose all 3 keys, all I need to know is the key-code for a replacement to be made.

In these fobs, the immobiliser chip is embedded into the top half of the key (Where the blade is) and can't be swapped out.

cardinalbiggles

I jumped into my car about a year ago and caught the key in the ignition with my knee and destroyed the mechanism. Car was 2 years old, took it to Fiat and they replaced it with a new one no questions asked. The only thing they would not do was give me the old one back which would have been handy as a spare.

mumsonline_2

JethroUK wrote: »

If you do - It will 'at best' open the car doors & boot but there is absolutely no way it will actually 'start the car' - it will need to be programmed by a dealer & that wont work on Ebay key - hence they can charge £200 for 'a key' - and hence you should always make sure you get two/both keys when you buy a used car (or factor in another £200+)

Did get two keys but only one is the electronic type which is the one that unfortunately broke. Oh and it wasn't a " used" car is was brand new hence the reason the key should not have broke so soon.