Key Fob Programming in Berkeley

Fob calls arrive in three shapes. A second remote for someone new driving the household car. A fob ordered online that will not pair no matter what the video promised. And the only fob for a commuter car, which went through a wash cycle in a coat pocket or over the rail at the Berkeley Marina. Campanile Lock & Key programs remotes and proximity fobs for most makes at a driveway, an office lot or a BART garage, on the same day.

The first check is the part number and the radio frequency printed on the back of the fob, against what the car expects, because a large share of the cheap fobs sold online are either the wrong frequency for this region or clones that pair once and drop out of memory a week later. A compatible fob is then written through the diagnostic port under the dash, and you choose whether the existing fobs stay in the car's memory or are erased along with the lost one. Every button, the tailgate release and the push-button start are tested before the receipt is written. Where the fob only needed a fresh battery or a cracked shell replaced, that is what is done and that is what is charged.

Programming runs $69 to $169. Pairing a fob you already own to a common Japanese or domestic car is $69. Supplying a proximity fob for a push-button car, or programming a make that requires a manufacturer security session online, reaches $169. The $89 visit is inside the figure rather than added to it, so where the pairing alone falls under $89 the figure is $89 and nothing further appears. A car that also needs a cut blade is combined with key replacement and quoted as one number rather than two visits.

Say the year, make and model, and where the fob came from. The figure is agreed on that call. A text names the technician and the window. At the car: the compatibility check, the programming, erasure of anything lost if you want it, then the button and start test. Ten to twenty minutes on most models. Card or tap, receipt emailed from the driveway.