2017 Acura TLX
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in San Diego

2017 Acura TLX Smart Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

A college student picked up a used 2017 Acura TLX from a private seller out in Otay Mesa, not far from the Ocean View Hills area. Good car, reasonable price. The seller handed him one key and told him a spare would run maybe a hundred bucks at a dealership. It was a nice story while it lasted.

He called the Acura dealer and got a number that was, in his words, more than he spent on textbooks this semester. He found me online and his first message was basically: is that real? I told him it was, and that I could do the same job for a fraction of what they wanted.

We met between his classes. The TLX smart key system requires diagnostic enrollment, so I connected my programming tool to his OBD port, verified the existing fob was registered, and added the new key to the vehicle's memory. I decoded the blade profile from his door lock so the cut matched precisely. Both fobs tested out on all five buttons, the door handles responded the way they should, and the engine started without complaint.

I also walked him through something worth knowing: as long as he holds onto both keys, any future replacement is an add-a-key job rather than an all-keys-lost reset. That distinction matters because all-keys-lost takes longer and costs more. He left with two working keys and did not miss a single class.

The dealer quote sat in his head the whole time we were working. When I handed him the second fob, he just looked at it for a second and said he almost towed it in instead of calling.

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