New Key Won't Program

Denali_Joe · February 10, 2010

I have an 08 Denali that I purchased last Thursday from a non-GMC dealership. I only got one set of keys with it. So, I went to my local GMC dealership and bought another key & fob for it. The parts guy tried for an hour and a half on Monday to get the new key programmed with no luck. He hooked his apparatus up to it and the truck would see my original key, but not the new one. He cut another key, but messed it up, so it wouldn't turn the ignition. The new keys came in today and he cut another and the truck still would not start with the new key. A tech came over and worked on it for an hour and hooked his tek programmer thing up and said that the truck still would not see they key and there was nothing more they could do and I would have to bring it in for official service and they would have to open a ticket with GM because they couldn't figure it out. They said more than likely some electrical component was fried.

So I left very pissed. I called the owner of the dealership I bought the truck from and let him have it. He convinced me to give him the rest of the day to figure out what they could do to resolve my situation and he will have an answer for me in the AM. He kept saying "You have 1 key that works..." and I wanted to choke him over the phone. If I get B.S. tomorrow, I am going to probably be arrested because I am going to go down there and kick his ass. Get real, a $30k truck with 44k miles on it, everything should work.

To top it off, I bit on the aftermarket warranty from United Car Care, I got the Platinum one that is supposed to cover everything the bumper to bumper covers on a new car with a $25 deductible up to 100k miles and 5 years from the day I purchased it. I only put on about 12k a year, so it seemed like a good idea, I've purchased 2 of those in the past and they have always paid for themselves for me. So, I call this place to make sure this would be covered and the "claims adjuster" tells me that they don't have the contract yet. Arrgghhh!

Thanks for the vent.

Anyone ever have any problems with this or is there some secret way to program a key that the GMC dealership doesn't know about?

I will follow back up and let you all know the name of this dealership in WI that sells "nationally," the owner, and how they handle this so you will all know whether or not to stay away from them. The parts manager and tech @ GMC told me that they head that some of the vehicles they acquire may be sketchy, like from ins companies, flood damage... No history of previous damage was disclosed to me.

m332is · February 10, 2010

I bought my 2008 Denali used with about 12K miles on it from a non GM store and same thing, one key and one remote. I said I would only take the truck if it had two keys and two remotes. They set up for me to stop at the GM dealer on my way home and pick up a new key and remote. I got there at lunch time so I had to wait for the tech, but they cut the key and after about 10-20 minutes playing with the plug-in programmer, I was good to go.

Sorry you are having problems.

On a side note, I think I found out why my truck was traded in with such low miles. After about 2 weeks of ownership, I noticed an electrical problem which would reset all radio and HVAC and even shut the truck down. Eventually it drained the battery and I had to have it flat bedded to the local GMC dealer. I left them the truck and I left for a two week vacation. After talking to the serivce writter every couple days, they tracked it down to a chaffed wire. Knock on wood, it has been fine since.

The reason I say this, is some dealers will take the time to find and fix problems and others will take short cuts. Find a good dealer!

Vince

Stevens03 · February 10, 2010

Dang that sucks... But I'm sure you'll get it worked out. Be patient... and try not to loose control. But with that said, I'd be fuming too. It just seems so basic. If something was fried, why would 1 work, and not another.

Jubei69 · February 10, 2010

Your truck should still be under the factory warranty, so unfortunately; you'll have to take it to the dealership and do the whole official work order and such on it...

mulletman · February 11, 2010

on my nbs 07 i only got one key and i went to the dealer and got one cut and then they put my old key in turned it on then off put the new key in turned on they off then the old key on and off then the new key and started it up

pm26 · February 11, 2010

The reason I say this, is some dealers will take the time to find and fix problems and others will take short cuts. Find a good dealer!

Vince

That can be very difficult. It is not only the dealer, but the right tech working on your vehicle.

Denali_Joe · February 11, 2010

This was my first dealing with the truck dealer and the GMC dealer. I had a buddy buy a truck from the same truck dealership and had no problems. The comments made at the GMC dealership about "shady vehicle acquisitions" bugged me enough I sprung for a car fax for a piece of mind. Everything came back clear on that, makes me feel a little better about the dealership not lying to me. Car fax matches the history the dealer gave me on the truck. Hopefully this was a practice in the past of this dealership as I know the sons own/run it now and maybe that's what pops did back in the day to make some $$$ to get his business off of the ground.

The parts guy and tech at the GMC dealership said that all they normally do to program a key is put the old one in and turn the ignition on and then remove and insert the new key and start it up. If only mine were that easy. I personally think the GMC dealership went out of their way, making multiple keys, trying on 2 different occasions, and having 2 different techs look at it. They could've told me the truck was messed up after the first key didn't work. Plus, they credited me back for the key because they couldn't get it to work and they gave me 2 keys.

I wish the truck was still under factory warranty, wouldn't but me a bit if I had to drop it off for a couple days til she was fixed up. Doesn't the bumper to bumper only go 3yr 36,000 mi? I'm at 44,000 mi. I don't think this would be covered under the powertrain warranty. Will keep updated, we'll see how the truck dealer handles this.

nickvrebel · February 11, 2010

look in your owner's manual and there are instructions for programming in a new key, make sure to try following them to the "T" just to double check (ok, triple check at this point). After that if you can't get it to work flip to the back of the owner's manual and find the GM service reps phone number. Call and have a calm discussion with them. If you sweet talk them enough they may offer to "goodwill" the service to get this issue resolved. Personally I wouldn't even mention that I'm not the original owner - don't lie, just tell them that you only have one key for the truck, the other was lost and the dealership is unable to get a replacement key to function. 100% truth without getting the "you bought a used vehicle with one key, live with it" attitude ;)

Denali_Joe · February 11, 2010

Good call Nick. I'll triple check the procedure in my owners manual when I get home and try it myself. Also, the service manager at the truck dealership called me first thing this morning and I'm dropping the truck off on next Tuesday and they said they'll take care of it. I almost feel stupid for being so angry yesterday. When I get my truck back and fixed, I'll post up and give them props.

Denali_Joe · February 17, 2010

The service manager called me back the following day at 9AM after I called. I dropped the truck off this AM. Called me at 1 and said it was done. Apparently the 2 techs and the parts guy at the GMC dealership were using the wrong key. Service manager at dealer said he just got a key from the local GM dealer and had it programmed in a couple minutes.

I couldn't figure out how to edit my original post, but I wanted to follow up and say the service people at the dealership have been very good. There were no other problems with my truck and I don't feel that they tried to screw me at all. The owner could've been a little friendlier, but whaddya do? I also wanted to remove the unsubstantiated claims I posted from the GMC dealership about this dealership, Lenz Auto in Fond du Lac WI. Heck, they have my old tundra up for sale and I know there is nothing wrong with that rig!

Long story short, if your dealer can't get a new key to program and your truck reads your current key, the dealer has the wrong key.