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My coupe that I just got only came with 1 key & I would like to get 1 or 2 more additional keys made. I know they are laser cut and the dealer has to cut and program them. My question is has anyone bought the ebay transponder chip keys that are around $10 vs keys at the dealers which are $40-$50? The guy at the dealer said only a civic key will work but aren't CR-V and other Honda model keys the same?

 
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I just had a key made at the dealer at a cost of fifty bucks, and I kicked myself for not calling a locksmith before just heading to the dealer.

While waiting at the Honda dealer parts counter, I was quizzing the guy about the process. Sometimes they can 'clone' the chip from the original (whatever that involves), and then they just trace the the cutting on what I think is a normal key tracer. That's what they did with mine, and it cost me fifty bucks.

There are some keys which can't be cloned (sorry... I didn't really understand which keys they may be) and had to be programmed somehow. This was a bigger deal and the key woudl have cost upward of a hundred bucks.

After that, I noticed contraptions on eBay that one could use to clone the chip from one key to another. This is only half the solution as you'd need to have the key cut as well.

Then it dawned on me that if the machine can be had on eBay, any good locksmith is probably equipped to clone chips. And they can cut the blank. And it will certainly cost less than the dealership. The key you buy prolly won't have the Honda logo on it... but I can live with that.

So... try calling a locksmith.

 
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Thanks, I'll do some more checking. 2 dealers have quoted me $35-$40 for the programming so maybe I can take the key to them and have it cut and programmed to the car if I can't find any better deals at a locksmith.

 
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You can get a cheap key on ebay. Just make sure its for your year civic. However the programming and cutting is expensive.