The repair-first price list
- Buttons worn through or fallen off — new button pads or a new case, your original electronics and chip transferred: from £30
- Cracked or shattered case — recase with a fresh blade cut to match: the “new key feel” without the new-key price
- Battery & contacts — replaced with the right cell, contacts cleaned; two minutes, tiny money
- Remote lost its pairing — resynced to the car in minutes
- Water damage — board cleaning and revival, surprisingly often successful
Your reg gets you one fixed number — usually back within minutes.
When repair is the wrong answer — we’ll say so
Some fobs arrive genuinely dead: chip cooked, board corroded beyond saving. When that’s the case we’ll tell you straight and quote a replacement key instead — and because you now have no working key, do future-you a favour and read the spare keys page before that day comes. The one thing we won’t do is sell you a £200 key when a £30 repair would have done.
What the symptom tells us (before we even arrive)
A key fob is really two systems in one shell — the chip the immobiliser checks at start-up, and the transmitter that works the buttons. Which half has failed shows in the symptom:
- Car starts, buttons dead — the chip’s fine; look at battery, contacts, worn button pads or the transmitter
- Buttons work, car won’t start — the transmitter’s fine; the immobiliser isn’t recognising the chip, or the fault is on the car’s side
- Range has shrunk to inches — usually a tired battery or a failing transmitter stage, occasionally interference
- “Key Not Detected” on the dash — the keyless system can’t hear the fob: battery first, then fob, then the car’s antennas
- The spare works, the main key doesn’t — that isolates the fault to the key itself, which usually means a repair rather than a mystery
- Neither key works — now we suspect the car, not the keys: often a flat vehicle battery or a vehicle-side fault
Tell us which of those matches on the phone and the diagnosis is halfway done before the van moves. And one myth worth killing: a flat fob battery doesn’t normally erase the key’s programming — if a fresh battery (right way up, clean contacts) hasn’t fixed it, the answer is diagnosis, not another battery.
Fob questions, answered straight
My key fob has stopped working — is it just the battery?
Often, yes — and if it is, it's the cheapest fix on our list. But 'new battery, still dead' usually means worn buttons, a cracked solder joint, or a remote that's lost its pairing — all repairable without buying a whole new key.
Can you fix a fob that went through the washing machine?
Frequently, if you act fast: don't press the buttons, don't put it on a radiator, get it to us. Boards can often be cleaned and revived; if the chip survives, your key comes back from the dead for far less than a replacement.
The buttons work but the car doesn't respond — why?
Classic lost pairing, often after a flat car battery. A resync is a quick programming job — minutes, not money.
What does fob repair cost?
From £30 for cases, buttons and batteries. We'll always quote repair against replacement honestly — if repair isn't worth it on your fob, we'll say so.
