Question 1

How do I spot a fake locksmith before I get burned?

Accepted Answer

A few things to watch for. If they won't give you a real estimate for your specific vehicle over the phone, that's your first signal. If the opening quote is suspiciously low and they say they'll sort out the price once they arrive, walk away. That's a bait-and-switch pattern that shows up in locksmith complaints regularly.

Search their business name. If you find no real address, no reviews that read like actual customers, or a generic listing with a stock photo and a phone number, keep looking. A legitimate automotive locksmith working on Nissan Intelligent Key vehicles should be able to tell you exactly what your 2008 Murano uses, what the job involves, and what equipment they carry, without hesitating or guessing. If they can't describe the process clearly before they show up, that tells you something.

Question 2

What actually is a smart key, and why can't I just copy it somewhere?

Accepted Answer

The fob your 2008 Murano uses is not a traditional key. It communicates wirelessly with the vehicle security system to authorize the ignition, and the vehicle won't start without a registered fob present. There's an emergency insert blade in the fob for physical entry if the battery dies, but that blade alone won't start the car.

You can't copy it at a hardware store because the copy would just be a metal blade with no electronics. Even a correct-looking fob bought online does nothing until it's registered to your specific vehicle using diagnostic equipment. That registration step is what ties the fob to your Murano and what separates this from a standard key duplication job.

Question 3

What equipment do you use to program keys for a 2008 Murano?

Accepted Answer

Professional-grade programmers that communicate with the Nissan Intelligent Key system through the OBD port. For a 2008 Murano specifically, the job doesn't require the server-based authentication that some newer Nissan models demand, so it's a cleaner process than people sometimes expect. I also carry the right blade decoder and cutting equipment to produce a working key on-site rather than having you wait on a part order.

The short version: the right tools for this exact vehicle, in the van, at your location.

Question 4

My Murano starts fine but the fob buttons stopped working for lock and unlock. What's going on?

Accepted Answer

This is a common one on these, and it comes up on Nissan forums regularly. The fob is talking to the vehicle well enough to authorize the ignition, but the remote entry side is failing separately. First thing to check is the CR2032. Even a battery that tests okay on a basic meter can drop below the threshold needed for the radio signal while still having enough juice for the short-range ignition communication.

If a fresh CR2032 doesn't fix it, the next suspect is the battery contacts inside the fob. Corrosion or a slightly bent contact can cause exactly this split behavior where the car starts but the remote functions are dead. If the fob housing has any cracks or has been exposed to moisture, that's worth looking at too. Full fob failure after all that is less common but it happens, and at that point you're looking at a replacement fob that needs to be programmed to the vehicle.

Question 5

Can I add a second key to my 2008 Murano, or does having one key already make it easier?

Accepted Answer

Having a working key on hand does make the job smoother since the vehicle is operational and I can confirm everything is registering correctly during the process. The 2008 Murano can hold multiple registered fobs, so adding a spare is a completely normal job. It's also the smarter move to do it now rather than waiting until the first fob fails and you're dealing with an all-keys-lost situation, which takes more time and costs more to sort out.

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