Took me months of searching so many cars to find this baby. I've been to so many dealerships and test drove so many cars, and not one did I fall in love with... Until I saw this beautiful tinted black 2012 TSX with a manual transmission. The second I saw it, I knew I was buying it.

My main focus at the moment is to get a replacement key. I only have the Driver 2 key, and it is in terrible condition. I hate the fact of how much money I spent and seeing this banged up key. The dealer quoted me $280 parts+labor for a new key. I'll do it if I have to, but I am noticing a lot of other options. I would prefer to stay OEM. I believe the part number is 35113-TL0-A00. I have the paper with the exact part number, but its not with me right now so I can reference it. Dealer says $75 in labor to cut\program the key. Thats fine. I've seen OEM keys on eBay for ~$140.

I also have seen a few aftermarket keys for significantly cheaper. I remember a few days ago at the Honda dealership there was a sign that said they do not cut aftermarket keys anymore because it keeps breaking their machine! I am wondering if I am going to find that same response elsewhere. Maybe a high end lock smith may be worth considering if applicable? I even say a non sliding (where you press the button and the key comes out) aftermarket key that had the key + lock/unlock buttons.

eBay examples:
2009-2014 ACURA TSX KEY BLANK OEM BRAND NEW !!! 35113-TL0-A00 eBay - OEM Uncut $142
Replacement for Honda 08-12 Accord Coupe Acura 09-14 TL TSX Remote Car Key Fob eBay - Generic non moving key $12
Keyless Entry Remote Flip Key Switch Blade Replacement for MLBHLIK-1T eBay - Generic switchblade key $22

Can anyone comment on what they recommend? I really would like to have two keys. If I can get a generic cut, and use that as a backup thats fine, and get new oem housing for the OEM used one I have now.

 

I just bought mine from Bernardi Acura Parts online and had my dealership cut/program it... total cost was around $250 or something IIRC (Cut + programming cost was $120), this is for the key fob (push start). Yours should be cheaper. $280 isn't out of the ballpark for the dealership. For something like this, I'd probably go OEM and through the dealership, just because it's not an area of expertise for me and it's (hopefully) a one time expense that isn't too too steep.

 

My opinion is to go OEM. There's been a couple folks recently that have had problems with aftermarket keys. I've seen OEM blanks on eBay for fairly cheap.

I got the dealer to cut my key for free when I was in for service. You can get the buttons to lock/unlock on your own by following the directions in the manual. The expensive part, and what you need the dealer or a good locksmith for, is registering the key in the ECU. That requires the Honda HDS computer.

That's really what they're quoting $120 for, even though it'll just take a few minutes it seems like they bill a whole hour. I've heard of people finding places that more realistically bill it as a half hour job and only charge $50-60.

But, I'd expect that's the neighborhood you're looking at.

Good luck!

 

I had 2 bad experiences with aftermarket keys (Honda & Acura), bought them from eBay and sent them to Honda and Acura to get them cut respectively. Swapped the internals, but non of them worked :/

But you can always try

 

Did you happen to buy this as a CPO from an Acura dealer? If so, you should have received both key fobs and the gray valet key.

If you bought it from an independent lot or other dealer, were you able to negotiate a lower price because the car did not come with all of the keys it should have?

I agree with above, go OEM. It's a small investment for trouble-free days ahead.

 

Thanks everyone for the input, I'm going to go OEM

 

Is it the "key" itself that is beat up? Or the buttons on the remote? The buttons on the remote is what wears out. I "rebuilt" my remote (the push buttons were shot - couldn't see the icons) using this kit:
Keyless Entry Remote Replacement Electronic Holder with Buttons Fits Acura

This only solves one of your problems though. You would still need a key blank for your other key. I would search eBay for Driver 1 used remotes and buy a key blank from a dealer (many dealers sell online) and have a dealership cut the OEM key for you.

 

a manual TSX is not rare. Acura built more than 120k tsx and maybe 1/10 of them are manual. anyway, stay with OEM and rest your mind

 

I just bought a 2009 TSX which came only with a single standard aftermarket key with no fob. A local locksmith specializing in automotive keys quoted me $300 for two fobs with the flip-out keys, cut, and programmed to the car. I got them this week and they took about 10 minutes with the car, plugging a device into the OBD2 port. The new fobs work great. They are marked "Driver 1" and "Driver 2" and correctly control the memory positions. The fobs themselves look like OEM, except that the Acura "A" indentation has no insert.

Compared to buying OEM from an online Acura parts store and then having to have the keys cut and programmed, this seemed to me to be a pretty fair deal.

 

Really? Second gen manuals are not rare? Take a look on cars.com or equivalent and lets see if your 1/10 ratio stands up. Seriously there are very few for sale nationwide. Make it even more realistic and knock it down to 60K miles and under.

Actually, ill do it for you. Cars.com has 1,169 2nd gen TSX's for sale across the United States that are UNDER 60K Miles. Guess how many are manual? Using you 1 to 10 id say it be somewhere around 118? That number sounds pretty rare to me. I mean, only 118 for sale right? Well guess what. There are 17 for sale. Yes, 17 manual transmission second gen TSX's for sale right now with under 60K miles across the United States. 17 for sale from a year span of 2009 to 2014 is not rare to you?

 

You know what is really rare? a 2nd gen TSX V6 under 60k... try that and let me know how many hits you get.

 

But do they exist in manual? No!

I don't understand why we are on the topic of manual 2nd gen TSXs and you come in with the auto v6 option.

 

Because the discussion sort of organically morphed into a rarity pissing match, that's why.

 

Someone's jelly they don't have a rare one :P