Success with a Ford key and Forscan

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After loosing one of the two keys for my Ford pickup I ordered an OEM key off EBay, loaded Forscan on my laptop, and the Forscan recommend OBDII adapter from Amazon. Got the key cut at a locksmith and then used Forscan to program the key. Twelve minutes latter the new key was all set including it's buttons for doors and remote start.

I paid $100 for the key but it's a genuine Ford key. There are aftermarket keys on Amazon for $30. I may try one if I decide I want a 3rd key.
 
I bought one of the after market keys from Ebay and it wouldn't program at the Ford dealership for my 2014 Ford F-150. I had to buy the original Ford key and
it cost me under $200.00. I cannot remember the exact amount because it was almost 4 years ago. I do not recommend those after market Ford keys.
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
Originally Posted by Donald
I paid $100 for the key but it's a genuine Ford key.


Got these on Ebay for $20 for a 16 Taurus, https://www.ebay.com/itm/Replacemen...Swdb1dUsIm:sc:USPSFirstClass!20854!US!-1 Worked great for a fraction of what a dealer would have charged.


There are a lot of permutations of these keys with 40 and 80 bit transponders. These keys have a chip and buttons for doors and maybe remote start.

I could have tried the aftermarket keys, but I felt more confident with getting an OEM Ford key.
 
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
Originally Posted by Greggy_D
How much does the dealer charge?


We charge 1 hour of labor for programming which is $140.


Plus the cost of the key.
 
I understand profit centers but there is just no way A KEY should cost $250 for a Ford truck or $375 for a RAV4 from the dealer. No way.

These keys probably don't cost $15 to make. The OP programmed his key in 12 minutes and he doesn't know what he's doing. A dealership can do it faster and charges 1 hour labor? Come on.


And I found the missing key to the RAV4 that I posted about a couple of weeks ago.
 
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
We charge 1 hour of labor for programming which is $140.

No matter how I phrase this it won't come out right, but come on, we know it doesn't take an hour. Why not charge something more reasonable time-wise ? I know, free market and capitalism....

I know you didn't make this pricing scheme either. Just asking (hypothetically).
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
We charge 1 hour of labor for programming which is $140.

No matter how I phrase this it won't come out right, but come on, we know it doesn't take an hour. Why not charge something more reasonable time-wise ? I know, free market and capitalism....

I know you didn't make this pricing scheme either. Just asking (hypothetically).


It is a free market out there. I had a key programmed at a Ford dealer years ago, they only charged me a 1/2 hour. A few other dealers were charging 1 hour. I called around til I found the place that only wanted 1/2 hour. This was before Forscan.
 
So beyond the key programming I am thinking about the scanning and bi-directional capabilities. I have AutoEnginuity code scanner with the optional ($$) Ford specific option but its not current for 2020. Maybe 2018.

And now I have Forscan which obviously is Ford specific.

Both are bidirectional.

Both are on one "traveling" laptop. Not my home laptop.
 
Our Fusion needed a module update - well, a module update fixed a glitch which was if you set the instrument cluster to show fuel economy or show tach + fuel level, every time you put it in DRIVE, it would reset to tach+fuel+coolant temp (or whatever). I called the nearby Ford shop and the service advisor was adamant about updating Sync2 and it costs $120 (their hourly rate). I finally got one of their "master techs" that was helping at the desk by chance, knew what I meant, and said "$50 sound fair ?".
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
We charge 1 hour of labor for programming which is $140.

No matter how I phrase this it won't come out right, but come on, we know it doesn't take an hour. Why not charge something more reasonable time-wise ? I know, free market and capitalism....

I know you didn't make this pricing scheme either. Just asking (hypothetically).


I get it. The labor is set by service. They do an hour more of as a way for techs to get an easy hour, especially for our Mazda tech who has been getting hammered with Mazda 3 dash recalls(pays about 2 hours and he has it down to 8). Personally I think it would be more than fair to charge $50-60 for the programming but still give the tech their 1 hour, which now here minimum wage for techs is $26/hr since it is double minimum wage.
 
Asking out of curiosity now..... What is the description on the customer invoice, just "Program and test replacement key fob" with a dollar amount ? Or does the labor-time column get a value ("1") as well ? If I brought a replacement key fob for programming, hand it to the people working and they give it back to me in 15 minutes, I might mention the 1-hour labor charge !
grin.gif
 
More importantly, if there is a minimum labor charge of one hour, can you get up to 4 FOB's programmed if they really only take 15 minutes each, and only pay the 1 hour rate?
 
Originally Posted by zzyzzx
More importantly, if there is a minimum labor charge of one hour, can you get up to 4 FOB's programmed if they really only take 15 minutes each, and only pay the 1 hour rate?


That covers as many keys as the vehicle will take. The older fobs where you do the key dance we don't charge labor as parts usually does it.

The invoice shows 1.0 hour of labor. Normally would say something like "Cut and Program X number of keys" or "Program customer supplied key"
 
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
Originally Posted by zzyzzx
More importantly, if there is a minimum labor charge of one hour, can you get up to 4 FOB's programmed if they really only take 15 minutes each, and only pay the 1 hour rate?


That covers as many keys as the vehicle will take. The older fobs where you do the key dance we don't charge labor as parts usually does it.

The invoice shows 1.0 hour of labor. Normally would say something like "Cut and Program X number of keys" or "Program customer supplied key"


Does the vehicle itself enforce a 12 minute time to run through the full key programming. That is what it seemed like with Forscan.
 
Originally Posted by Donald
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
Originally Posted by zzyzzx
More importantly, if there is a minimum labor charge of one hour, can you get up to 4 FOB's programmed if they really only take 15 minutes each, and only pay the 1 hour rate?


That covers as many keys as the vehicle will take. The older fobs where you do the key dance we don't charge labor as parts usually does it.

The invoice shows 1.0 hour of labor. Normally would say something like "Cut and Program X number of keys" or "Program customer supplied key"


Does the vehicle itself enforce a 12 minute time to run through the full key programming. That is what it seemed like with Forscan.


I forget if it is 10 or 12 minutes on the IDS, but yes you have to wait. It is to prevent vehicle theft.
 
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