2017 Chevrolet Malibu
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in Ventura County

2017 Chevrolet Malibu Smart Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

Limoneira sits out past the east end of Santa Paula, all citrus groves and ag roads. A guy out there called me one afternoon because his 2017 Malibu had been throwing a key-not-detected warning intermittently for about two weeks. He said he'd already replaced the fob battery himself, and the warning still came back.

He was halfway convinced he needed a new fob. Maybe two. His wife also drives the car and she was having the same thing on her key.

When both fobs fail at the same time, that's almost never a coincidence. Two independent fobs don't usually develop the same fault on the same week unless something on the car changed. I told him that before I even pulled in.

I got there and ran diagnostics through the OBD port first. The fobs were reading fine when I held them close to the ignition. But at normal pocket distance, the read range was short on both. That pointed me toward the vehicle's antenna rather than either key.

We talked through it. He appreciated knowing the actual cause before any parts were ordered. That's the part dealers skip, not because they're dishonest, but because the service lane model doesn't budget time for explanation.

The fobs themselves were fine. The job shifted from a key replacement to a vehicle-side repair, and he wasn't on the hook for two new smart keys he didn't need.

He mentioned the dealer had already quoted him a fob replacement for each driver without running any diagnostics at all. That quote was just based on his description over the phone.

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