Aftermarket Alarm to Replace OEM Key?
 

Due to my own ignorance, dealership that sold me my FRS only provided me with a single master key out the door, so I took my losses and have been babying said key for the past year. I prefer to live life without the threat of being completely screwed if anything mishap were to occur, but my local stealership quoted me $357 for a new programmed oem key. I was wondering if there was any better cost-effective alternative to buying an expensive backup key that i'd store away anyways, such as an aftermarket alarm.

It appears that people have been installing aftermarket alarms to ours cars, but I couldn't gather if a "piggyback" alarm meant you guys are simply using the new alarm fob to unlock the car, and then continuing to use the oem key as usual. That would seem redundant/clunky. Also from reading how the keyless entry installs require a iDataLink to bypass the immobilizer, I was hoping there would be an easy way to do something similar - stash my single master key in the car, and have an aftermarket alarm take over any new security features, where I'd only have to get a cut key and use the new alarm fobs for door functions. Somehow, without getting rid of any security the immobilizer itself would've provided (I don't fully know how alarms work). Any ideas out there? Thanks.

I had a locksmith copy my only key to an aftermarket fob, works fine. cheaper than dealer. dont remember the price but dealers here want 500 minimum!

Hmm.. have any info on the fob you used? Seems like the general info on here is that there's no way to get a fully functional working key without the dealer as they have the codes, accompanied by a few horror stories of locksmiths deleting the code or messing up altogether. One locksmith I inquired with said he previously could pair the key but couldn't get the buttons to work.

nope. the locksmith provided it. as long as you have a current working key you'll be fine.