replacement key for 2015 Subaru Impreza Sport?

[naturallight]

Hi, what's the best way to get a replacement CWTWB1U811 key for my 2015 Subaru Impreza Sport? If I drive it with the valet key, the alarm goes off when I manually unlock the car (but it stops when I turn the ignition). That's not tenable. Everything works fine with my current CWTWB1U811 key, but I need another. 

Some websites sell a blank CWTWB1U811. If I buy this, can I program it? Could a locksmith cut it? Or do I need to take it to a dealer? 

thanks much!

[naturallight]

 

Just talked to a locksmith on this. If I bring him the ($40) blank key, they want $300 to do the cut and programming. That seems ... high. 

 

[idosubaru]

Dealer here programs all your keys and remotes at the same time for $75. 

You can’t program “1 key” - all current keys and remotes need programmed at the same time.  If you have three keys you need to give them all three to program the one new one. 

Take them your key and an extra one or two so you never have to think about this again. It’s “free” to program as many as you want so why not do an extra two keys and remotes. 

[naturallight]

Good to know, thank you very much

[Numbchux]

Yep, call around to your local dealer and locksmiths. Cutting and programming costs vary greatly, as it's all labor and equipment overhead. The dealer I worked at charged $35 for programming.

Yes, OE programming adds the keys' ID numbers into the computer. Any keys not present will no longer work (idea is that if you've had a key stolen, they can't steal the car with it). Also, FYI, if there are no working keys, the Body control unit, and sometimes the gauge cluster have to be sent into Subaru to be reset, I've seen this job cost >$1000. Make sure you always have a spare key!

OE keys are expensive. But at the dealer, we would program aftermarket keys, probably about 60% of them would work, if you buy an aftermarket key through a locksmith, they'll probably guarantee that it works (whereas if you buy an aftermarket one on ebay, and take it to your dealer, there will likely be no refund). Also, when cutting them they were noticeably easier to cut (softer metal), which means they'll wear out faster.

I think there are aftermarket keys that can be cloned, so it's actually the key that's programmed to the same ID as an existing key. This would almost certainly not be an option through the dealer.

 

If you lock the car with the key in the door, it will not arm the security system, so it won't set it off if you unlock it that way. Also, there's a way to put it in "Valet Mode", which disables the security system entirely. I don't know the procedure, but it's in your owner's manual.

[idosubaru]

That would be nice to verify which can be cloned.  I’ve never pulled the trigger on trying that.  They basically copy an existing key, making it a duplicate key and digital signature so it will work without actually reprogramming.   

I got cheap eBay keys to work so far.  I Google the part numbers, check reviews, avoid ones with little info and which look terribly generic. I’ll get OEM looking ones if available (which’s have no merit, i don’t know)  

To me it’s helpfuk to get extra keys and remotes now, program it all and never think about it again even if you loose another key. .