I bought a used 2014 Mazda 6 with keyless entry and push-button start that came with only one wireless key fob. Rather than going to a dealer and pay $250 or so for a new fob and programming and get the emergency key cut, I opted to buy a new OEM key fob from an eBay seller remotewholesale (99.3% positive feedback rating) for $54.94 and get Master Locksmith & Safe Service to program the key for a $50 charge.
They did a fine job. With tax for both items (the key fob and the programming), the total came to less than $115, less than half of what a dealer would have charged me. And they cut the emergency key for no additional cost! And if you do have a real emergency, they have 24 hour service for those times when you really need a locksmith. (Expect to pay some premium for work after hours or in the middle of the night though.)
There was an accidental overcharge that I didn't see until Saturday (the following day) and rather than refund it back onto my debit card and me have to wait 5-7 days for the refund to show up in my account, their secretary brought the refund in cash to my workplace the following Monday, which I thought was more than I could ask for. I didn't have to do anything more than make a phone call on Monday morning and the refund was in my hands within an hour in cash, so I coudl immediately deposit it into my bank account after work. That tells me that these people are honest, which is getting to be rare nowadays. How often do you get service like this? Yes, they made a mistake, but to me, it's more important how a company remedies a mistake than the mistake itself. It tells you a lot more about a business that you might not know if a mistake wasn't made.
You might wonder why it costs so much to get a key fob programmed. I talked with the shop owner and found that the programming device used to program my key fob cost $1400. Equipment doesn't come cheap. There was another large piece of equipment next to him that I believe was some sort of NC cutting machine for keys that he said costs as much as a Ford F-150. He said at first he didn't let anyone else in his shop even touch it.
Someone has to pay for that equipment and it ends up being spread out over time in the price we have to pay so that they can pay off the equipment. Things are getting more complicated than they were many years ago when all you needed to do for a spare key was to get one at a hardware store and they would cut it and you would only pay a dollar or two or three (in today's dollars--back then you could get a key cut for less than a dollar). So the equipment gets more complicated and more expensive, too. I understand that and while I miss the time when all you needed to do was to have a plan metal key cut for the job, it isn't that way today. Supposedly, our cars are harder to steal because of the increased security these keyless systems provide. (When you buy a used car, if you don't get two working remotes, consider the cost of replacing the one that was lost. Older ones in the early 2000's are simpler and many you can program yourself, like I did on my 2009 Mazda 3, and those remotes only cost $20 to $30. But not so now.
I highly recommend these people. I will use them again when I need a car key programmed. Yes, it's expensive, but consider what a dealer would charge you (some people call them stealers instead of dealers) and you'll be spending a lot less than you might otherwise. read more
