Don't Believe Your Lyin' Eyes! Not All Key Fobs Are The Same!

Discovered something and this is where our goal of making Francis’ Keys the place to go is so crucial. Don’t believe your lying eyes!

Officially we’re OK on our end for this exact situation, but we can see where it could be a disaster otherwise. We’re doing active research to figure out how to handle a situation like this if it comes up. The odds are it will, so learning is very important.

In this case we have a 2017 Ford Edge. Owner lost one key, has the other. That makes things fairly easy. But what I found is that even when consulting multiple sources, including the best manuals in the business, things got tricky. The books told us one specific key fob was what this vehicle used. Gave us all the FCC IDs, part numbers from Ford, Ilco, Strattec and several others. All good, right?

Not so fast. The existing key the owner has DID NOT have the same FCC ID or part numbers. It looked like this one, but there are other identical ones but have different part numbers and FCC information. That’s an issue right there.

Fortunately, our research found the right one and it’s on its way, all good. But, and I emphasize but, what about it all keys were lost? That would be a game changer because the books appear to have conflicting information and even the suppliers have multiple fobs that potentially are used in this vehicle. So, wow, that could get difficult fast.

We will be consulting with our mentors and colleagues on this scenario and implementing a plan to address it. Being prepared ahead of time is very important in a potential case like this. In most cases a VIN search would be the most accurate means of knowing what your specific vehicle has assigned to it. But the key here, pun intended, is to realize that most vehicles in a manufacturer's portfolio of models share similar key fobs as far as appearance. Electronically though, they can be vastly different from one model year to the next.

Stay tuned, but for now this should be viewed as valuable information. It also demonstrates where the term "pennywise but pound foolish" comes into play. Hiring a specialists like Francis' Keys, while not the least expensive option, is ultimately far more important than saving a buck or two.