My car only came with 1 set of key and fob. I ordered one off of ebay so far walmart, lowes, and home depot has turned me down even though they have a BIG sign advertising that they can do it.

Any tips besides going to a dealer?

If you have done it, how did you go about it and how much did it cost you.

Thanks

 

Dealer cut my key for free.
Locksmith will also cut your key for free.

YMMV

You'll need to spend some bucks to reprogram your ECU to accept the immobilizer chip in the new key.
My dealer charged me around $55 for the service, but I hear it ranges from $50-$200 depending on dealer.

Back in the day only the dealer had the equipment to reprogram the ECU but now I hear locksmiths can also do the same.
You'll need to do some calling around.

 

It wasn’t so much the cutting, it was the transponder part that they wont do for me.

 

They don't have the equipment to do it, my edited post above should still help you out.

 

Try an Indy lock smith.

 

Not sure why you would think those big box retailers would program your key but Id be curious as to the sign that you eluded to. My experience is these guys barely have proficiency to cut the keys let alone program them.

I got my key cut for free at acura dealer and program was under 1 hr labor and brought it in after hours for a 15% discount.

 

I'm in the same boat. Buying TL with only one key/transponder and called around about getting a second one made. Acura dealer is 40 minutes away so last resort for me.

Most independent locksmiths with a storefront have invested in the equipment to program the transponders as this is lucrative business. Cutting the key is no issue for them as long as you have the key "blank" as essentially none will have one of those on hand.

Was having a motorcycle key duplicated a couple weeks ago and the guy in front of me was having a transponder for his Ford pickup truck programmed. Locksmith used some electronic gizmo the size of a briefcase and made a couple trips back and forth from the guys truck, and voila, working transponder. Not sure what all he purchased but his bill came to over $200. So this ain't gonna be Home Depot cheap.

 

I recently just had two new keys made (driver #1 and #2) based off the single key I received when I bought the car. I purchased the genuine honda switch blade blanks (08 type s) from oemacuraparts.com for about $76 a pop then had the local dealer cut them. They cut both keys for free. However it was the immobilizer chips they needed to program which had to be done through the service department. They actually needed the car present as well. It took about an hour or so before I left the dealer with my 2 new keys for $70 total (just programming)

 

my local dealer charge $135 for cut and programing.

 

home depot around here programs keys. usually you bring your existing key and the new key and they stick them both in a machine and it programs the new key to the original key without needing the car. i dont believe the TL is any different than mitsubishi or nissan or toyota. ask Home Depot local to you. i think the price advertised was $69.99 for cut and programming.