Nissan keyfob information

quartzz

Not that I want to poop on a big business, but fyi. If you have a 2018 reg Nissan Micra (this might apply to any number of other cars), if your keyfob battery runs out, Nissan will charge £9 to replace it. (this is after the sales person said when I bought the car 18 months ago [I swear they did, right?] that they'd replace the battery for free).

the battery is a CR2032 (same thing your computer motherboard uses? it's standard, at least), and to open your keyfob you will need a "bladed implement". there's no code, there's no re program. it's just blade/keyfob prise open/new battery.

Now my dad has an Audio TT (apparently he's doing alright), their battery is a specific one. apparently it's very slightly thicker so your £2 ebay one won't work. but the Nissan is just a £5-for-5 CR2032.

of course, if it all goes wrong, I didn't tell you this.

WellKnownSid

£9 from a main dealer? That’s amazing value - you’d probably pay £25 from Timpson!

mr_stripey

£9 seems like pretty good value. Even if I could easily do it myself, i'd pay to avoid the faff!

facade

the instructions for changing the keyfob battery, and the battery type, should be in the owner's handbook. It is certainly something that you can do yourself.

In The Olden Days this would be a printed "book" found in the glovebox, but nowadays it is a pdf file that you download from the manufacturer.

This was the case for my 2008 Renault Nissan, and is the case for the current 2019 Suzuki and 2022 Citroen.

400ixl

If you mean an Audi TT, then like all Audi's they use standard CR2032 batteries as well.

Your typical 5 for £5 CR3032 batteries will not last long though, especially on any modern car. Get a decent higher capacity brand which will cost £3-5 if you don't want to be changing it every 9-12 months.

As for having the dealer do it, that's a choice, instructions are nearly always in the owners manual to do it yourself.

Some dealers include it in the price of the service, others don't. Either way you are still paying for it. Personally I'd prefer they don't price it into the service as I am happy to do it myself.

Jaybee_16

Couple of years ago I was in a Ford service department when someone walked in asking if the service department could change the key fob battery. Ford wanted £35. 
I walked outside with her and explained to go next door to Tesco, buy batteries and how to do them herself. 

Brie

When the keyfob on our old Lexus broke they wanted something like £400 to replace it.  Timpsons did it for £25.  But batteries I agree should be an easy job though supposedly on the older models of VW replacing the battery yourself would do a factory reset on the fob which meant it might not work with your car.  

Nasqueron

My Mazda 3 is very simple despite claims of having to touch it to a space inside the car - it's keyless. Pull out the emergency key, pop the cover off, put new battery in (CR2025 I think) and close it back up. We have DVMs at work so I can test the battery voltage as needed

quartzz

well, since this is the MSE forum, I thought I'd suggest something that could save Nissan owners about £7. that has to be a large McDonalds, at least. plus, it isn't £9 - it's also the petrol and time to drive to the garage

I wouldn't have banked on being able to do it myself, it's only after I watched the service guy at the dealers behind the desk, that I knew he didn't have to program in any codes - he pointed it at a gadget on the wall and checked it communicated. I saw him take the battery out of the pack (and at that point decided I'd been fleeced by about £5), otherwise it's possible it might have been a specialised battery (as prev said, my fathers Audi TT doesn't take standard batteries). tbh I'm not aware of different types of CR2032 batteries, it isn't something I've researched before.

as mentioned I swear the sales person told me the battery change was free 18 months ago, otherwise I might have researched. I turned up at the dealers and said the sales had told me it was free, and the service guy gave me one of those quizzical looks and said "no I don't think that's the case".

Brie - exactly. you never know what tech is involved with especially car stuff, or if they need specialised equipment (like almost everything on modern cars does "these days"). re Timpsons - are they not a standard key cutter, and wouldn't do electronic car fobs? no idea, tbh. as said.....I would have researched it more if I knew it was going to be chargeable. (why would you prise open a keyfob and test the voltage of an otherwise working keyfob? standard procedure is just to wait until a low battery warning?)

you pay the money once, and the next time you know. something I know the sales person didn't say, was that the keyfob change instructions were in the manual. no I haven't read the manual, apart from the ipod radio control. keyfob battery change hasn't been a high priority issue (shrug). next time.

WellKnownSid

quartzz said:

tbh I'm not aware of different types of CR2032 batteries, it isn't something I've researched before.

Like AA batteries all CR2032 batteries are the same standard size. Eg 20mm diameter 3.2mm thick.

There are plenty of other sizes available eg CR2016 CR2025 CR2030 etc being 1.6mm, 2.5mm. and 3.0mm thick.

Barkin

quartzz said:

my fathers Audi TT doesn't take standard batteries

It may not use a CR2032, but it'll use a different type of "standard" battery.

CR1620 perhaps?