*EDIT/UPDATE*
This might be a stupid question, because I solved it myself shortly after posting. You just need to search for "Replacement Remote Key Rear Case Shell for MAZDA 3" and you should find listings on ebay and amazon for aftermarket folks who make these cases without any electronics in them for replacement. I'm just going to buy a couple of those. But in case someone else is googling around for this same question, maybe you'll save a couple hundred bucks after reading this. Or maybe you'll just program them yourself.
I'm the very happy new owner of a 2012 Mazda3. Bought it with only one key and even though I knew it would be more expensive, I brought it to the dealer to make 2 new keys (in addition to the key with remote).
When I called, I was feeling cheap. Just dropped $18K on this car, would rather not see that balloon to 18.5 just for keys. So on the phone, the guy in parts told me it wasn't "official" but he could make me a key without a remote for what I think was hundreds of dollars less than a key with a remote. I figured save the money, just get the keys without remotes, use them the way we used to use keys, no problem.
And they work, it's great, but haha, they really are truly unofficial. They're as I asked for, just the key part of the key, which is great and what I wanted, but they have this plastic knobby top where the remote would hook in and no clear way to attach a keyring. They are like key skeletons or sad little half-keys.
They look like this:
I think I could buy a remote and just not program it (or, if I'm feeling saucy, maybe learn how to do that down the road), is that right?
Aside from that, I'm wondering if there's some kind of cap that clips on to create more "finished" looking keys without remotes that anyone here knows about, or any other ideas anyone has. I am pretty sure there are no electronics in the little plastic rod sticking out of the top of the key, so my plan for now is to just pop a hole in that chunk and put a keyring on it. But if there's something more elegant, I'm all ears. Or, if I shouldn't do that, I thought someone here might know.
thanks in advance.
s
This might be a stupid question, because I solved it myself shortly after posting. You just need to search for "Replacement Remote Key Rear Case Shell for MAZDA 3" and you should find listings on ebay and amazon for aftermarket folks who make these cases without any electronics in them for replacement. I'm just going to buy a couple of those. But in case someone else is googling around for this same question, maybe you'll save a couple hundred bucks after reading this. Or maybe you'll just program them yourself.
I'm the very happy new owner of a 2012 Mazda3. Bought it with only one key and even though I knew it would be more expensive, I brought it to the dealer to make 2 new keys (in addition to the key with remote).
When I called, I was feeling cheap. Just dropped $18K on this car, would rather not see that balloon to 18.5 just for keys. So on the phone, the guy in parts told me it wasn't "official" but he could make me a key without a remote for what I think was hundreds of dollars less than a key with a remote. I figured save the money, just get the keys without remotes, use them the way we used to use keys, no problem.
And they work, it's great, but haha, they really are truly unofficial. They're as I asked for, just the key part of the key, which is great and what I wanted, but they have this plastic knobby top where the remote would hook in and no clear way to attach a keyring. They are like key skeletons or sad little half-keys.
They look like this:
I think I could buy a remote and just not program it (or, if I'm feeling saucy, maybe learn how to do that down the road), is that right?
Aside from that, I'm wondering if there's some kind of cap that clips on to create more "finished" looking keys without remotes that anyone here knows about, or any other ideas anyone has. I am pretty sure there are no electronics in the little plastic rod sticking out of the top of the key, so my plan for now is to just pop a hole in that chunk and put a keyring on it. But if there's something more elegant, I'm all ears. Or, if I shouldn't do that, I thought someone here might know.
thanks in advance.
s
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