[tang]

Does anyone know how long it's actually supposed to take to reprogram a key to a E/M/T? I had my Escape towed to the nearby Lincoln-Mercury dealership, and after getting the second key via mail yesterday and bringing it to the dealership, I called today to check and they said that it will be a few hours. A few hours?! I thought it was only a one-hour process. Anyone able to answer my question?

By the way, the second key started the car, which means the car decided to not accept my key anymore.

 

[jpark]

It takes about 2 minutes, total.

You're getting hosed.

 

[jonas1022]

It takes an extra 58 minutes to get the coffee and donuts, plus all the incidental shop supplies...there's a long line at each place.

Seriously, I am an automation tech. If I or anyone else asks for a system to take down, we always estimate the time to be twice-three times the actual. If we bring it out of service early the customer is always happily surprised. If we estimate it to be the actual time and find some other issue at work that needs resolution, we get a landslide of complaints. :shrug: Danged if I do, danged if I don't situation.

Yours is probably minimum shop time to be charged/billed and has nothing to do with actual time working the problem.

 

[RobtRoma]

Does anyone know how long it's actually supposed to take to reprogram a key to a E/M/T?

My brother's a locksmith and I had him make me an extra key a few months after I got the car. He had never done this before but I had found the instructions somewhere and we gave it a try. It took a few attempts to get it right, but even with that, it took no more than 15 minutes. If I remember correctly, when you try to start the car with an improperly programmed key, it can disable the ignition. I forget how long it stays disabled...

 

[UK PONY]

If you already have 2 programmed keys then adding a new one takes about 5mins DIY - the dealer process takes a similar amount of time. It'll be interesting to see how much time they bill you for.

 

[tang]

Here's what happened.
10:05 AM - call from dealership saying that it would be a few hours
10:15 AM - service agent calls back telling me I should show up around 45 minutes

So now I have a Mercury key and a Ford key. Where should I start fooling valets?

Bill: $0. Bad key.

 

[hattrick203]

I don't mean to interrupt on someone else's thread, but when you get a minute I have a question about key/keyfob programming.

When I bought my vehicle (used) it only had 1 key and 1 keyfob. I can buy both of them cheap off of eBay but what is the best way to get them programmed. After a bit of research I know that I cannot do it myself since I don't have 2 keys already programmed, (who needs 3 anyways?)

 

[RobtRoma]

I think you have to go to a dealership and they charge you an arm and a leg...

(who needs 3 anyways?)

I don't "need" 3 keys but I like to have 3. I actually carry 2 sets of keys with me. One set is a car key and a key fob. This is the one I use most often to drive the car. It's light so it won't damage the ignition over time and it doesn't have a house key on it so it's valet friendly. The other set has all my building keys and an extra car key in case I lock the 1st set in the car (it's happened before). The third key I had made is an emergency key that I keep in the house in a key box . It's been used a few times... mostly because of easy access. Additionally, if one of the 2 main keys I have is lost or breaks, I don't have to pay the dealership ransom to get back to 3 keys. I can just use the two I have left to program the new one...