Key warranty

[19CDTi]

Hi chaps,

My 2nd key fob is nacked and the remote regularly fails. I still have til June on my warranty, is this likely to be covered? There's no sign of neglect, just 42,000 miles of use...

Thanks
Stuart

[Maverick]

Could be battery. Worth getting it changed, but remember to put in the new battery within 1 minute of removing the old one or the memory will be lost, and you'll need to get it re-programmed.

[19CDTi]

1st thing i tried

[Birchy63]

If you remove the battery, this often invalidates the warranty on it. Although they'll still claim on their suppliers warranty regardless.

So if they tell you it's not covered, make sure you don't let them keep the old one.

[19CDTi]

When it doesn't work I can reprogramme it by puttin it in the ignition and pressin the lock and unlock buttons, so it still works, even though the battery has been out...

[m8internet]

The key is only deemed to have failed if the lock component does not fit the car and you cannot access the car at all
I tried three times to argue that the PCB had failed, but they referred me to the wording in the warranty

I now have that as a spare and bought a new one

[Birchy63]

I know you mentioned that it's only a problem on your 2nd key, but I wanted to add this for future reference in case anyone comes searching for key related problems.

On the Vectra Im not sure if you program the key or program the car..... More than likely the key has a set serial number followed by a code which rotates each time its pressed... eg SN 565781 code 00000001 = 56578100000001
(Although the key will generate a new start code each time a battery is connected, so it won't be reset to 00000001 each time)

When you program to the car, the car remembers the current code and allows access from any code within +200 or so numbers of that one (56578100000201), if your in range when you press the key, then the codes rotate on both the car and the key, if not and you hit the button 200 or so times, the car will eventually reject the transmitter. A good reason to stop the kids messing with your car keys

When you remove the battery, the code is reset on the transmitter and the car obviously rejects it despite the serial number being correct. If the battery is low you shouldn't have to keep reprogramming, but should the battery or a component have an intermittent connection or solder joint, you'll have a problem.

Also the receiver in the car will have a memory chip which remembers the codes of the transmitters associated with it (however many are allowed).
Sometimes it's possible that the receiver is forgetting the code and the key/transmitter is not faulty at all. An extremely common problem which should have lead to a large scale recall (but didn't) on another manufacturers (who shall not be named) vehicle.