Coconut Creek Mercedes wants $404 for Keyless Go Remote, any other options?
 

Bought another used Mercedes this weekend with only one remote.

Coconut Creek, FL Mercedes dealer wants $404 for a second Keyless Go Remote, any other options?

I looked on eBay and amazon and all I can see for sale is the shell, but no electronics. Apparently no one online sells this keyless remote, it appears to be a Mercedes only OEM part, and the programmer for these keys is like $2,000 for the least expensive models.

Is there anything else I can try? I don't want to pay twice what I should have to pay because we are a captive audience with nowhere else to go!

1. Your car comes with Keyless-Go package? Either way, you cannot buy off Keys off of ebay to program to your car, that is what I remember from a discussion about an year ago.
2. With the same quote, wait until Spring and look for 125$ off of 250$ or more service and request your SA to use that coupon towards new KeyFob coding..!
BTW, MB charges 70$ for that physical/mechanical Valet key.

Unfortunately there's no safe (as in peace of mind) way to do this without spending around 400$. I lost my key in December last year and had another one made for around 398$ at my local dealership. It was there 3 days after placing the order (they only code them in Florida and send them from there if I remember correctly - or at least that's what I've been told).
Now, I rarely use the second key, but it's good to have around if you lose the one you have since there are very few road assistance companies which will be able to break into a W212 and it's not cheap.
Raja's idea is good, provided you are comfortable with waiting until spring.

It's been mentioned in a few other threads. The problem with the $125 off $250+ is that it's just for service and the key counts as a part so it won't work on the part. $404 is considered a decent price for a keylessgo key, sometimes they're over $500. You could also try other dealers, they all order them from the same place. Usually either there's some parts coupon on their website or you can get them to price match each other so even if you find one 100 miles away, you might be able to get the local one to price match them.

My only other suggestion is to just get one of those lost key finder and attach it to the single key. If you're lucky, you may go through the ownership of the car with that single key and never have a need for a second key. Or you could just buy the metal key blank and have a copy of the metal key made, at least that will get you into the car if the battery dies, but it won't start the car.

They have a few service specials right now, but nothing off parts. what really infuriated me was they charged me $2000 for the 60-70-80 prepaid maintenance, when everyone else is charging $1450, and they had the famous winter discount of $250 off a service, but would not let me use it, claiming they were giving me a discount already.

I hope he chokes on his steak dinner. Celebrate up, because now they won't fool me twice.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...bf24765e13.jpg

i was quoted $650 for a new key

You bought from an MB dealer? (MB Coconut Creek) You should have demanded that second key before walking out the door.

That's not a terrible price for one. I've bought a key or two and they cost about that. I would have them do it, but make sure that they remove the other key for peace of mind so you know there isn't another key to your car floating around out there. As I recall my dealer charged more to remove and add a key than just add one, but mine was destroyed so it didn't matter.