Ok guys so i have a question. I bought my 2007 TL used last Aug. when i bought it, it only came with one key the valet key with no fob. i bitched and complained about this to the dealer (not an Acura dealer) in order for them to pay for the fob to be cut and programed etc. All i got out of that was that they had worked out a deal with the local Acura dealer to sell me just the fob at cost of $75 and that the guy from my dealer would come and program it to lock and unlock the doors and all. So i ended up with a switchblade fob for the doors and a key to drive the car. i did end up getting the key in the fob cut for free but as you know it still had to be programed for the key to work in the ignition. Ok so i just dealt with it cuz i was tired of fighting with the dealer. So for Christmas my boyfriend was going to pay for my switchblade key to be programed by Acura which was a $120 an hour fee. So we go to Acura to get it programed and after about 30 mins the manager comes out and tell me my battery has died while they were working on the programing, and tried to sell me of replacing it i passed and told them to just finish and i would go guy one. So another 40 mins later the manager come out and tells me that they couldn't program the key because the valet key i have isn't an Acura key and that he thinks the immobilizer system that is in the car also isn't Acura that it is just set to work with that key and if they try and program the fob there is no way of knowing if it would even work also it would be another $120 for them to do work for another hour, and even so once they figured it out it could end up costing me a few hundred dollars to get it to work. At that point i was just done i told them i didn't want any of that and to just give me my car back. The manager being a nice guy didn't charge me anything for what they did that day and washed my car for me and said sorry 100 times.

Anyway my question is has anyone heard of this before and have ne advise on how to fix it without spending a few hundred dollars at the dealership?

 

This dealer didn't charge you anything, so it doesn't sound like they were out to screw you. I also find it highly unlikely someone put an aftermarket immobilizer in your TL.
Maybe try a different dealer?

These may help too - immobilizer - AcuraZine Community - Threads Tagged with immobilizer

 

Look up some locksmiths in your area that do car keys and find a good one, they'll be able to program it and won't tell you 1million other things "wrong" with your car.

 

yea the Acura dealer was really nice, it was the Mazda dealership i bought my car from that was a pain. But they weren't sure what they had did weather it was changed the immobilizer or what they wanted another hour of service to look into it and then once they figured it out that it could cost me a few hundred dollars or more

 

When I got my car it only came with one key. I bought another and took it to a local dealer to have it programmed. They couldn't program it and didn't know why, hinted something was wrong with some module in my car. I was there for an hour, while they tried to sell me on a timing belt service (car had 60k miles). I thought it all sounded fishy so I didn't buy anything, left and went to another dealer.

They programmed my key in 5 mins and didn't try to sell or BS me anything.

 

yea that's what they said something about some kind of module or something. maybe i will try another dealer just to see thx!!