Key replacement WTF!

[Uplander]

Whatever you do, make sure you don't ever lose both key fobs. I bought a MY24 courtesy vehicle as a certified preowned with 4500 miles. It ticked all my boxes and I got for 25K under sticker price. All good, at closing they could not find the second fob and the center console keys and the keys for the lockable spare tire storage.

OK they'll get new ones and send them to me. Sounds good, no problem with that. signed papers attesting they owe those keys.

Fast forward 4 weeks and no keys. I give them a prod, "Hey, where's my keys?"

Answer is, key fob replacement will take 3 to 4 months! That's fucking ridicules! It's a fucking fob with a programmable chip and a blade that just needs to be cut. Is that so hard logistically?

I want to love this vehicle but basic shit like key fob replacement which should just take a few days at most, leaves me wondering "What have I gotten myself into here?"

Any thoughts on this?

 

[HRJ]

Any thoughts on this?

Yeah. Don’t lose your remaining key.

 

[Uplander]

Yeah. Don’t lose your remaining key.

Insightful, I hadn’t thought of that.

 

[Dokatd]

Whatever you do, make sure you don't ever lose both key fobs. I bought a MY24 courtesy vehicle as a certified preowned with 4500 miles. It ticked all my boxes and I got for 25K under sticker price. All good, at closing they could not find the second fob and the center console keys and the keys for the lockable spare tire storage.

OK they'll get new ones and send them to me. Sounds good, no problem with that. signed papers attesting they owe those keys.

Fast forward 4 weeks and no keys. I give them a prod, "Hey, where's my keys?"

Answer is, key fob replacement will take 3 to 4 months! That's fucking ridicules! It's a fucking fob with a programmable chip and a blade that just needs to be cut. Is that so hard logistically?

I want to love this vehicle but basic shit like key fob replacement which should just take a few days at most, leaves me wondering "What have I gotten myself into here?"

Any thoughts on this?

Has yours had the door button recall completed? They will have to give you two new keys and fobs for that.

 

[HRJ]

Insightful, I hadn’t thought of that.

Sorry. The devil made me do it

 

[DustCloud]

Has yours had the door button recall completed? They will have to give you two new keys and fobs for that.

For me, they replaced the key blade only when replacing the door lock mechanism. The fob & remote entry components remained the same so no reprogramming was required. The key blade blades attached to the rest of the metal key using a pin. In fact I had to do my second key myself because they failed to tell me to bring both keys when I brought the car to the dealership. Disassembly of the fob was not required.

 

[Zenadier]

In my case, the door button recall included two new complete key fob units.

@Uplander You must confirm whether or not your car has had the 'door button recall' fix. If not, you may be in luck. Having said that, I would be concerned if your dealer sold a MY '24 without the 'door button' fix. But, there was a VIN range for that. I'd search here in the forum for details. Good luck.

In terms of what you've gotten into... settle in, enjoy the vehicle, itsa good one. New car company, new car to the States model year '24, evolving dealer network, plenty of vehicle quirks for sure and tough to get parts. I'm not excusing any of that, but not much to do other than get out and go camping.

 

[Rupert]

I received two new ones as well, glad to give it to you and you can see if they will reprogram what I send you.

 

[Zenadier]

 

[RB60]

This topic makes me wonder if spare / replacement parts still have long lead times? I had my CCI replaced and it took 6 weeks lol. Do all the parts get ordered and shipped from Europe? Setting up a US parts DC would be helpful.

 

[Zimm]

Calm down Francis. If you don’t, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.

 

[fatkins1]

Similar experience with missing keys. In my case, wheel locks, spare tire storage compartment and locking center consol. Dealer order replacement wheel lock keys several weeks ago reportedly "In transit".

 

[Glen]

I ordered a third key as a spare soon after my purchase in October 2025. The key was about $750 and another $200 to program it. Oddly, they needed my two original keys during programming. The new key took three months to arrive.

The last key blank I purchased for my ‘93 4Runner cost $3. Just because you can make a $950 key doesn’t mean you should.

Other parts have been obtained within a few weeks - lower control arm bolts, dash tray insert, driver’s side mirror (for development work). So I think parts are generally available in a reasonable amount of time - as long as you have a second vehicle (or a third, fourth and fifth vehicle like me

The service manual for my Porsche 968 specifies a special Porsche tool to adjust the balance shaft belt tension. It is without units - just an arbitrary scale showing tension, so it would be hard to replace with a generic tool. When I ordered the $500 tool from Porsche in 1994, they sent an order to a one-man shop in a little German village. A few months later, he had finished making my tool and shipped it out. Perhaps Ineos keys are made in the same way . . .

 

[FlyersFan76]

Whatever you do, make sure you don't ever lose both key fobs. I bought a MY24 courtesy vehicle as a certified preowned with 4500 miles. It ticked all my boxes and I got for 25K under sticker price. All good, at closing they could not find the second fob and the center console keys and the keys for the lockable spare tire storage.

OK they'll get new ones and send them to me. Sounds good, no problem with that. signed papers attesting they owe those keys.

Fast forward 4 weeks and no keys. I give them a prod, "Hey, where's my keys?"

Answer is, key fob replacement will take 3 to 4 months! That's fucking ridicules! It's a fucking fob with a programmable chip and a blade that just needs to be cut. Is that so hard logistically?

I want to love this vehicle but basic shit like key fob replacement which should just take a few days at most, leaves me wondering "What have I gotten myself into here?"

Any thoughts on this?

I had the same issue with many other vehicles. Before 2020 I was getting 3-5 keys with every sprinter van I bought. In 2022 when I got my Defender and Wifes Discovery I got 1 key. The sprinters were down to 1-2 keys upon delivery.

I was given at least 2 reasons by both brands. The majority of the chips installed in Key fobs come from the Ukraine. And my favorite coming from Mercedes, The country of Germany is closed so we aren't getting parts?


It happens but stinks I get it. I added a 3rd key to my Defender and they had my truck for a few days because the software had to be updated to work with 3 keys.

 

[FlyersFan76]

Has yours had the door button recall completed? They will have to give you two new keys and fobs for that.

Good point. When I did my door lock recall they only had my main key. So my spare that was at home is not a Christmas Tree decoration like my previous vehicles. Hummer, NAS Defenders, New Defender, etc. all have become ornaments.

 

[Zenadier]

Ornaments?