Spare car key

rafaetha

Hi all,

I've recently purchased an used Toyota Avensis from a registered dealer and before closing the deal I asked if there was a spare key. They told me there was and promised I would receive it. I have a written warranty for parts and labour for 6 months but it doesn't say anything about spare keys.

A few days later, after finishing with the papers and collecting the car, I asked again about the spare key and the dealer said he'd get it from the previous owner ("who lives nearby") and post it to me in a few days.

After one week, still no keys. So I started to ring them up asking for it and I've heard a lot of excuses and promises. Weather conditions, previous owner went on holidays, Christmas period etc.

What should I do in this situation? They promised me the spare key and didn't deliver. I'm thinking the previous owner lost this key and I won't ever get it. If this happens, what can I do? Can I request that they have a new spare key made for me?

biko

A salesman will say just about anything to close the deal. Once your signature is on the paper they don't give a toss.

I suggest you look into getting a spare cut and once you have the price etc tell the garage you'll get it cut and them billed. See what happens. They might just agree.

Anyway, or you can just keep nagging them, it's not a critical component.

rafaetha

biko wrote: »

I suggest you look into getting a spare cut and once you have the price etc tell the garage you'll get it cut and them billed. See what happens.

I could try that, thank you, Biko. But how exactly do I do that? When I get the key cut, do I pay the service provider, then try to get the garage charged?

Or can I get the service provider to send an invoice directly to the garage?

I'm sorry but I'm not used to dealing with situations like this. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

PS: Similarly, the garage said they'd take care of the NCT. They told me to take the car to the test and they'd pay for it. I don't know how exactly this process would be (again). Cheers.

biko

I don't know, never had to do it myself.
But I guess you could ring them and ask who they usually use for keys. Then says you'll have a key cut and tell cutter they'll pay.
Or get a quote for cutting from someone and then mail/ring them with quote and get the money for it off them.

Either way, keep at it. Dealers should not get away with these things.

rafaetha

Thanks for your answer. Just contacted them again and they said the previous owner couldn't find the key. I asked how to solve this since it was promised to me in the first place. The guy didn't say anything, then I suggested that I get a spare key cut and send them the invoice.

He then suggested we go halvsies on the cost, which I politely declined saying it wasn't really fair as it was promised to me when we closed the deal. I know that "it's an offence under consumer legislation to provide false or misleading information to customers in commercial transactions" and I know he knows that, but I didn't mention it in order to keep a friendly non-legal tone.

He didn't try to negotiate after my refusal. He said they have someone who usually cuts keys for them and he'd have this company/person contact me to get this arranged and they'd pay for it. I think it was a step forward

slave1

I was in this EXACT position when I bought my Avensis two years ago, key promised but not there on pick-up, I did not give the dealer too long as I could sense the run-around so phoned Toyota Ireland who phoned the dealer and I had my new key a week or so later at no expense.
Personally I wouldn't pay for it myself, you've already been let down once and fool on you/twice and all that...

rafaetha

slave1 wrote: »

I was in this EXACT position when I bought my Avensis two years ago, key promised but not there on pick-up, I did not give the dealer too long as I could sense the run-around so phoned Toyota Ireland who phoned the dealer and I had my new key a week or so later at no expense.
Personally I wouldn't pay for it myself, you've already been let down once and fool on you/twice and all that...

I wonder if it's the same dealer :rolleyes:

Anyway, someone is supposed to contact me about this today. I get the feeling it won't be getting a call, because every time the dealer promised me a callback himself, I didn't hear from him. If nobody calls me I'll contact Toyota directly. What exactly did you tell Toyota to GET THEM TO CALL the dealer about this?

Thanks for the help.

slave1

Call with Toyota was simple, not given what I was promised and expected more from a brand name such as Toyota, talk to them in common language, need a second key for the better half, what happens if I lose the single key, hope this is a blip and I've made the right choice choosing Toyota, polite but firm and you should be okay.

MarkR

Getting a blank from toyota costs over 300 IIRC. I got a blank from ebay, got it cut, and programmed it.

This should do the trick actually.

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Toyota-Remote-Key-Fob-3-Button-VALEO-736670A-Blade-/220631754584?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item335ead6758#ht_3148wt_906

brownej

For me the worry in this situation wouldn't be the fact that I didn't have a spare key but that someone else did. There's a key out there that can open your car and drive it away.
I was in a similar situation last year when I was buying a car. I attempted to negotiate a discount due to the fact that the second key was missing, dealer didn't agree so I walked away.

rafaetha

Slave1, I'm getting from your answer that you bought the used car from a Toyota dealership. This isn't my case. It's a registered SIMI dealer, but they're not Toyota. In this case there's not much Toyota can do for me as it wasn't their fault.

MarkR, did you programme the key yourself? Just wondering that in case whoever gets my spare key cut is unable to programme it.

Cheers.

rafaetha

brownej wrote: »

For me the worry in this situation wouldn't be the fact that I didn't have a spare key but that someone else did. There's a key out there that can open your car and drive it away.
I was in a similar situation last year when I was buying a car. I attempted to negotiate a discount due to the fact that the second key was missing, dealer didn't agree so I walked away.

That's a scary thought.... However I got the car in a different county than the one I currently live. Don't think I'll have a problem with that.

Anyway, in general terms, how do you "get someone billed"? Do you pay for the service yourself and then send the invoice to someone else to refund you (and hope you'll get the money)? Or do you get the service provider to send the invoice directly to whoever needs to pay for it? How do you get them to do that for you?

MarkR

rafaetha wrote: »

MarkR, did you programme the key yourself? Just wondering that in case whoever gets my spare key cut is unable to programme it.

Cheers.

Yep. There's a specific sequence that you run through in the car

1. Begin by sitting in the driver seat with all the doors shut.
2. Insert your working master (black) key in the ignition.
3. Very Quickly, turn the key from "LOCK" to "ON" 5 times. (You will end with the key in the "LOCK" position)
4. Immediately, open and close the driver door 6 times very quickly. (End with the door closed)
5. Immediately, remove your working Master Key and insert your new Master Key
6. Turn the key to the "ON" position and leave it there while you wait for 1 minute.
7. After the minute, if you want to program another key, just remove the first one and insert the next one, turning it to "ON" and leaving it in position for 1 minute.
8. When you are through programming keys, just take the last one out, open and then close the driver door to lock in the programming, and your done

Makes you look a bit mad sitting in your car, opening and closing doors.

biko

4. Immediately, open and close the driver door 6 times very quickly. (End with the door closed)

Video this!

rafaetha

Just to close the thread, the dealer sent over their locksmith, who then programmed a new spare key for me. The best was that there was no charge for me.

slave1

rafaetha wrote: »

Slave1, I'm getting from your answer that you bought the used car from a Toyota dealership. This isn't my case. It's a registered SIMI dealer, but they're not Toyota. In this case there's not much Toyota can do for me as it wasn't their fault.

MarkR, did you programme the key yourself? Just wondering that in case whoever gets my spare key cut is unable to programme it.

Cheers.

Was away for a while so forgot about this thread, it was not a main Toyota deal, local small garage. I'd imagine the motor trade is small enough and Mr T. probably knew him and they sorted something out between them or whatever.