Any way to key alike?

[Ultramaroon]

I love the general forum.

[nico_rsx]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

I disagree that it can't be done. They can change the coding if keys are lost so they can change it for that. It would cost way more than the convenience would warrant though.

Sure the keys can be reprogrammed, but in this case, it's the car that need to be reprogrammed, so that all 3 cars have the same code. Maybe it's possible, but i'm sure there is no "official" way to do it by the dealer. That would really be complex to do I think.

[Hapage]

Keyless access fobs can only be programed to one car, if it has been done once, that's it. It cannot be reused for another car unless someone has a way to unbind the fob'so memory setting (Subaru cannot IME). Keyed cars I BELIEVE would be able to technically learn the security portion to multiple vehicles, but between the fob and mechanical key issues it's pointless.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by nico_rsx

Sure the keys can be reprogrammed, but in this case, it's the car that need to be reprogrammed, so that all 3 cars have the same code. Maybe it's possible, but i'm sure there is no "official" way to do it by the dealer. That would really be complex to do I think.

Yep. That is my "really expensive" part.
Funny that on a forum where people don't think twice about swapping an engine and all the electronic requirements that go with it are so positive that this can not be done. Of course it can be done but nobody in their right mind is going to pay what it would cost to do it.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Hapage

Keyless access fobs can only be programed to one car, if it has been done once, that's it. It cannot be reused for another car unless someone has a way to unbind the fob'so memory setting (Subaru cannot IME). Keyed cars I BELIEVE would be able to technically learn the security portion to multiple vehicles, but between the fob and mechanical key issues it's pointless.

Can't speak for Subaru key fobs, but I know GM key fobs can be moved from one car to another. I've bought old ones off of eBay and done it for my Suburban.

This all sounds like a business opportunity to me (multiple car key fob, like a universal remote). I guess it depends on whether or not the specs are published so you could do it.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Can't speak for Subaru key fobs, but I know GM key fobs can be moved from one car to another. I've bought old ones off of eBay and done it for my Suburban.

This all sounds like a business opportunity to me (multiple car key fob, like a universal remote). I guess it depends on whether or not the specs are published so you could do it.

My wife had her purse stolen with her Outlander Sport fob in it. Took Mitsubishi 3 hours to change it over to a new key. They could programme what ever they wanted into the car and fob. Cost a freakin' fortune though.

[HeadBanger]

I can't comment on Subaru, but when I worked at a Chrysler dealer we could only have one programming on the fob (which is the key). So you couldn't buy somebody else's old fob and get it reprogrammed to your car.

Now I work at a BMW dealership. There's no programming/reprogramming of keys. When the car is built there are a total of 10 keys made. Two keys come with the car, and the other 8 stay in Germany. If you need a new key, it gets shipped from Germany. If for some reason you lose all 10 keys, you need a new CAS module. The CAS is basically and anti theft device. The key communicated to the CAS etc, etc.

Everybody does things differently. I'm not saying it's impossible to have it done, but it's highly improbable.


The only way I see it working is to get a car that doesn't have push button start, code the three cars' ignition and doors locks the same, and then use one key for all three.

But if you're too lazy to grab the proper key for the car you're taking, you're probably far too lazy to unlock your doors with an actual key, then put the key in the ignition, and then turn it.

[why?]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Since there isn't an infinite set of combinations this is going to obviously be true, just most people don't think it through.

I had never thought about it until one day....

Way back in the day I had a '77 green Honda Civic CVCC Wagon. At the end of a visit to an amusement park one day I walked back out to the parking lot found my car, got in and started it. When I reached down to turn on the radio I realized my newly installed Pioneer headunit had been replaced with the original OEM radio.

That's when I realized I wasn't in my car!

Had it been two weeks earlier (before the radio was installed), I would have driven off with the car.

This was insanely common. My father ran a rental agency back in the late 70's and early 80's. One of his biggest customers was a courier company, there were times they had 3 cars that all had keys that were completely interchangeable with renting maybe 15 - 20 economy cars total.

I just assume their key machine was barely changed between each key, and they figured the odds of two numbered cars going to the same place was next to zero.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

My wife had her purse stolen with her Outlander Sport fob in it. Took Mitsubishi 3 hours to change it over to a new key. They could programme what ever they wanted into the car and fob. Cost a freakin' fortune though.

Don't know about the key, I could see where that would be more difficult.

Coincidentally, just had to do this with the key fob from MomHawk's Mustang. She got new ones as a gift that had a pink cover (the buttons on her originals are starting to act up).

Pretty simple process, and makes me think its the car that is programmed to the Fob, not the fob to the car.

With the door closed and your foot off the brake, you turn the ignition from Off to Run 8 times in 10 seconds.

The locks will cycle once to let you know its in program mode.

You then press the door lock button on every fob you want to work within 20 seconds (including the originals). I did four of them.

I'm guessing if you had another Ford (I don't) you could do the same thing on a second car and have the fob open both cars. The list on the instructions pretty much listed every major model Ford built between 2002 and 2012. That, of course, doesn't help with the key. For the key you would have to physically change the locks.

I would imagine that the tech for keyless start is more sophisticated though.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by why?

This was insanely common.

I think I saw once it was once out of about every 3,000 cars have the same locks around that time.

The killer part is it was the same model/color and that we both parked in the same parking lot close enough for me to find it (my car was just a few spaces further out in the same row). Probably used up all my lottery luck on that one.

[BRZnut]

Just tape all three fobs together with electrical tape and you're good to go.

[Ghost of Akina]

Originally Posted by BRZnut

Just tape all three fobs together with electrical tape and you're good to go.

best solution! Solved...

[gravitylover]

In high school my buddy had a 71 Dart, one day we found out quite by accident that his door key opened another Dart and the ignition key worked on it too. We thought it was pretty cool so we started trying it on other Darts as we cam across them then Dusters and then we figured why not try all sorts of other Chrysler products. Those keys worked on so many cars it was amazing. We always wanted to just move cars around but never had the balls to follow through until a friend of ours whose dad was a cop had a Dodge Aspen and we found out that the ignition key worked on that too. Well this guy was a real ****, slept around, abused his mom, etc. so one night when he was passed out drunk we took the car from his house to his girlfriends house and left it there. The next day when his mom left for work they realized it was gone so he called it in but she spotted it first on her way. You can imagine the shit pretty much hit the fan at that point. We were so proud of ourselves