2008 Honda Element
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in San Diego

2008 Honda Element Transponder Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

I got a call from a rideshare driver parked near the coin laundry off Peutz Valley Road in Alpine. He had already been burned once.

He had called one of those "$49 locksmith" ads that floods Google, and the guy who showed up charged him several hundred dollars for a key that half-worked. Car would start, but the remote buttons were completely dead. He was running rides with a key he had to walk up to every door and manually lock by hand. He found me through Google Guaranteed and the first thing he asked was how he could verify I was legitimate before handing over more money. Completely fair.

I gave him my BSIS license number on the phone. He pulled up the state lookup while we were still talking and confirmed it was active. I told him what I found: the previous guy had only completed part of the job. The transponder side got enrolled, but the remote pairing was never finished. That is a two-part process on these remote-head keys and skipping the second part is exactly the kind of shortcut that produces a key that sort of works.

I ran both procedures on site. When we tested it, all the remote functions came back and the engine started clean. He asked what the dealer would have charged to fix this from the start. I told him a good chunk more than what I quoted, and they would have had him waiting a day or two for a parts order on top of it.

He tipped me in cash and went straight back to taking rides.

BSIS Licensed

LCO#6792

CA Bureau of Security & Investigative Services

NASTF Certified

National Automotive Service Task Force

Fully Insured

Liability & vehicle damage coverage

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