What in the heck is wrong with General Motors??? When I bought my 04 Z06, it came with aftermarket key's. I decided to look for the original style chevy key because the shape of the head is wider making it easier to start the car when you turn the key. G.M. always has that slogan "Keep the parts on your car G.M." What a joke, the dealer wanted $47.00 per key and then wanted to charge me to program the keys for an extra $20.00
I decided to check with ecklers to see if they carried the keys and how much. Thank God Ecklers was selling them for a reasonable price $14.99 each, but they didn't have the machine to cut the keys which I didn't expect them to. When I brought the keys to the dealer to have them cut, the guy behind the counter said that he didn't want to cut the keys because they are expensive and last time they tried to cut one like it, it took them 3 times before they got one to work . I wont mention the name of the dealership but I don't understand how a Chevrolet dealership can not cut a key for a Chevrolet correctly, do you? I guess I am going to stick with my aftermarket keys and give up on the General. I don't need all the stress.

 

Lowes will cut them for you for nothing.

 

Ordered two blanks off ebay for next to nothing, Lowes cut them for free.

 

Tell me about it. I bought a key from a Chevy dealer a few weeks ago. $42 bucks, doesn't need programming.

-Alex

 

Dealers that I have run into seem to think about 1 thing, "MONEY". If Ecklers is selling them for $14.99 and I know they need to make money to stay in business, look at the mark up the dealer is getting on the keys!

 

I see Vette keys on e-Bay all the time.

 

the problem is the vats pellet on the key MUST MATCH the ecbm program not just the cut of the key or no dice wont work without a reprogram brother is a locksmith

 

There is no reason a mere key needs to cost that much. Made my head hurt to think about it.

-Alex

 

Just to be on the safe side take it to a locksmiths shop and have them cut the keys. I bought some locks for my house at home depot and had them keyed alike and then wanted the guy to cut me a couple of new key to match the one set that came with the original lock. They guy screwed them up twice before he got it right.

Nothing need to be programmed you just have to buy the right key. There is a chip in the key and they have a different resistance. They make 15 different vat # keys.

Just use a meter across the chip on your current key.

VATS #, Resistance in ohms

1 392
2 523
3 681
4 887
5 1.13k
6 1.47k
7 1.87k
8 2.37k
9 3.01k
10 3.74k
11 4.75k
12 6.04k
13 7.50k
14 9.53k
15 11.80k

 

Yeah, I found out which key I needed before I bought the two blanks from Ecklers. Ohms meter was right on.

 

They just take them to a locksmith shop and for a couple of bucks each they'll cut you new keys that will work fine. The dealer didn't want to cut the keys because you didn't buy the hight dollar key from them.

 

I thought this was cool http://www.corvettekey.com/home.html

but if I were to get this I would have a locksmith cut it just in case someone messed it up

 

Hey, if you add it up, Its way cheaper than buying a key and a fob. The dealer wants $75.00 just for a key fob. You get the key and fob for just $79.00

 

I was not aware that the VATs value could be reprogrammed - I thought to fix this it is a replace the ignition switch which is worse. Assuming you correctly match the VATs, the only programming relatted to keys is for the FOBs.

 

true plus its a filp up key like Audi has, so if you ever get bored that could keep you entertained... lol

I know it did for me when I had my Audi

 

No it not cheaper, you have to supply the circuit board out of your FOB to put in the "corvette key"

 

From the link:
So you are paying $79 for a blank uncut key and a plastic shell.

 

yeah but it flips with the push of a button, which is good for people with a short attention span like me

 

It is the same for many makes and models,not just Corvette!

 

They only make it for C5's