Dude, I said any decent mechanic can program a fob. If a mechanic doesn't have modern testing equipment they are ill equipped to work on modern cars. Perhaps the term "decent" gave you the wrong impression. If so, my humblest apologies.

 

Not many independent shops can afford a TechII and the $50,000/year subscription.

 

Having one doesn’t make the mechanic “decent” either, but without one the mechanic will be at a total loss. So yes any decent mechanic’s shop may have a way to program FOBs.

Any professional for-profit mechanic will have a lower level equivalent of the TechII available with manufacture specific code reading included. By lower level I mean it may not have the capability to update the software in a module (as that software may only be available from GM), but most have the ability to do some module serial number reprogramming AND to read all codes for all the vehicle systems. Without a professional scan tool today’s vehicles are impossible to work on. Those of us that have the $35 to $200 code readers/scan tools may not have access to all the vehicle system modules and thus may not see all the codes.

I borrow the next-door mechanic’s Snap On unit all the time and have seen the ability to program the FOBs within the screens and so very much more – most of which I do not understand. This particular mechanic only works on domestic vehicles so he only has to periodically buy the software updates for domestic vehicles and not ALL vehicles. It takes money to be a professional. I haven't asked directly about the cost, but my impression is that it is somewhere between 2,000 - 5,000 dollars per update.

 

Well, all I can say is that my 2-man, independent, ASE shop programmed a remote for my '07 HHR, no problem. Check with your mechanic and see if he can do it.


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Wish I would have known of this site before I spent $125+ for an extra key & fob from the dealer. It only took the dealer less than 10 minutes to program both. When we bought the car it only had 1 key&fob. Live and learn...

 

I had our second key fob in our safe for a year and when we went to use it, it had lost it's programing. I went to my local dealer, who I purchased it from, and was quoted $100. to reprogram it. I said forget it! We travel all summer in our motorhome, towing the HHR behind, and stopped at a small Chevy dealer in central California. They were very friendly and said we can handle that. The mechanic reprogramed both fobs together in about 10 minutes and said, no charge, glad to help! I was amazed, there are still customer service dealers out there. Free....and they knew they would never see us again traveling from Florida.

 

The dealer we use didn't charge us for programming but they're one of my brother in law's clients.

 

Fob can't loose it's programing because there is none. It's a rolling code similar to garage door openers. You could have saved yourself some time by reading your Owner Manual, the procedure for that instance is in there IIRC. At least I've seen it before, anyway it is a DIY thing.

 

Just in case Don does not correct the last statement. The FOBs are not programmed - the vehicle is programmed to the FOB; it is NOT a DIY job. Either a dealer, locksmith shop or a mechanic; each with the proper equipment has to program the RCDLR to recognize the FOB.

RCDLR = Remote Control Door Lock Receiver

 

I was responding to the post #16 "had our second key fob in our safe for a year and when we went to use it, it had lost it's programing. I went to my local dealer, who I purchased it from, and was quoted $100. to reprogram it. "

The fob does not "lose" it's programing, it gets out of sync and can be resyced by the owner. The programing involved with the TechII is to match the elements so that they can be synced.

When I get some time I'll muck through the Owner Manual for "chapter and verse".

Well, maybe my memory is bad. I seem to remember some procedure involving pressing the button a bunch of times. I think the problem comes about by not using one remote while using the other one 300 or so times.

Oh well, I still stand by "the FOB can't lose it's programing" part. Matching,syncing and programing are all kind of nebulous words to use for any of these things.