LamontGrady
New member
If this has been discussed please provide some links the search engine won't let me search for "key" or "fob"
I got the car for a heck of a deal when it was 8 months old, with repaired accident - and 44k miles. Yep, rental. I have very little experience with cars new enough to have factory warranty but I have very little faith in dealers in general. I like to do as much myself as I can. The only things I've done to the car is intake and BNR tune. Also got a set of steelies and Michelin snow tires which has been a long time goal to have two sets of wheels and I have the tpms tool and it was no big deal to do the tpms stuff which was great. Indy 500 summer tires did not disappoint.
I got one key/fob with the car that all functionality works - proximity, remote start etc. It has the removable metal cut key that opens the door lock and that's all I have to initiate the programming procedure. Some instructions say "insert the NEW or OLD key in door lock" but I think it's just verbiage written for switchblade keys and the car has no way of knowing which key belongs to which fob once they are disconnected.
I bought some of the cheapy $10 ebay switchblade style and programmed them all together (with the wait 10 minute x3 procedure) and wasn't surprised the proximity pushbutton stuff didn't work. But everything else worked, remote start and everything. I never took the metal keys to locksmith to get cut because I feel like I don't really have a "spare" fob in terms of if I lose it how screwed am I. I would never have proximity features on the car again if it became expensive at that point. I really don't like not having a fully-functional backup key/fob.
Then I bought a used key/fob off ebay and could NOT get it to program. Tried everything I could think of and ran through the procedure several times. Never got the "if you have 2 recognized keys" procedure to work but I recently have seen instructions for other Chevy that say the keys have to be aligned a certain way together to be recognized. But I'm not surprised it doesn't work with one good key and one cheapy key nor two cheapy keys.
It was really cheap with lots of "as is" disclaimers so I figured it was a dead key to begin with.
TLDR
Then I bought two more used/cut key/fob from more legit auctions and they won't program either. Got through the whole procedure and all 4 cheapy ones still work (yes remote start etc, NO proximity as expected). Every time I do this I have a backup "plan" that I realize I might "brick" my car and need attention from someone $marter than me. So far so good. Sometimes things get stuck, I think if you just walk away and wait a while it all resets. If you manage to start the car but it won't turn off no matter what you do just pop the hood and it shuts off.
Is it possible to program the proximity fobs yourself? Especially if you have only one, does that matter? Like if I pay to get one done, then have two that work, could I probably do the other two used ones myself?
Is it true in this specific instance that the fob can only be programmed to one vehicle forever and can not be switched to other vehicle?
Is there a tool I can buy? I was thrilled to find out I could get a $30 tool for the tpms when I switch wheels for winter.
I got the car for a heck of a deal when it was 8 months old, with repaired accident - and 44k miles. Yep, rental. I have very little experience with cars new enough to have factory warranty but I have very little faith in dealers in general. I like to do as much myself as I can. The only things I've done to the car is intake and BNR tune. Also got a set of steelies and Michelin snow tires which has been a long time goal to have two sets of wheels and I have the tpms tool and it was no big deal to do the tpms stuff which was great. Indy 500 summer tires did not disappoint.
I got one key/fob with the car that all functionality works - proximity, remote start etc. It has the removable metal cut key that opens the door lock and that's all I have to initiate the programming procedure. Some instructions say "insert the NEW or OLD key in door lock" but I think it's just verbiage written for switchblade keys and the car has no way of knowing which key belongs to which fob once they are disconnected.
I bought some of the cheapy $10 ebay switchblade style and programmed them all together (with the wait 10 minute x3 procedure) and wasn't surprised the proximity pushbutton stuff didn't work. But everything else worked, remote start and everything. I never took the metal keys to locksmith to get cut because I feel like I don't really have a "spare" fob in terms of if I lose it how screwed am I. I would never have proximity features on the car again if it became expensive at that point. I really don't like not having a fully-functional backup key/fob.
Then I bought a used key/fob off ebay and could NOT get it to program. Tried everything I could think of and ran through the procedure several times. Never got the "if you have 2 recognized keys" procedure to work but I recently have seen instructions for other Chevy that say the keys have to be aligned a certain way together to be recognized. But I'm not surprised it doesn't work with one good key and one cheapy key nor two cheapy keys.
It was really cheap with lots of "as is" disclaimers so I figured it was a dead key to begin with.
TLDR
Then I bought two more used/cut key/fob from more legit auctions and they won't program either. Got through the whole procedure and all 4 cheapy ones still work (yes remote start etc, NO proximity as expected). Every time I do this I have a backup "plan" that I realize I might "brick" my car and need attention from someone $marter than me. So far so good. Sometimes things get stuck, I think if you just walk away and wait a while it all resets. If you manage to start the car but it won't turn off no matter what you do just pop the hood and it shuts off.
Is it possible to program the proximity fobs yourself? Especially if you have only one, does that matter? Like if I pay to get one done, then have two that work, could I probably do the other two used ones myself?
Is it true in this specific instance that the fob can only be programmed to one vehicle forever and can not be switched to other vehicle?
Is there a tool I can buy? I was thrilled to find out I could get a $30 tool for the tpms when I switch wheels for winter.
