Fob batteries

[Boyle de Cabbage]

For 11 years I owned a Honda I cannot remember ever changing the battery in the key fob. I assume the dealer did it as a courtesy.

No such luck with my 5 year old Mazda. Although this won't be a problem for all the lease purchasers out there I suppose. Average lease is 27 months they tell me.

[st3v3cx-3]

My local Mazda Dealer includes a fob battery status check as part of their "free" healthcheck carried out when the annual service is done. However, if a new battery is required they charge around £20!!! I decline and it costs me around 50p for a battery plus less than 3 minutes to carry out a DIY change

[Boyle de Cabbage]

.... if a new battery is required they charge around £20!!!

What is it with Mazda dealers?

[jtonline]

Mazda only expect the fob battery life to be "about one year".

[santa]

For 11 years I owned a Honda I cannot remember ever changing the battery in the key fob. I assume the dealer did it as a courtesy.

No such luck with my 5 year old Mazda. Although this won't be a problem for all the lease purchasers out there I suppose. Average lease is 27 months they tell me.

Did your Honda have keyless entry and start?
If not the you can't really compare the two, as your Honda would only use power when you used remote locking/unlocking.

And a battery for the Mazda key shouldn't be more than £4 and it only takes about 2 min. to change it.

[AndyRen]

And a battery for the Mazda key shouldn't be more than £4 and it only takes about 2 min. to change it.

Agreed, but they're probably charging for a mechanics time perhaps?? Still extortionate but other franchises would do the same I'd imagine.... and if they damage anything it's down to them to fix of course!

6/7 years ago I read on an old VW/Audi forum a guy was charged over £500 for changing 1 tyre on his A3 at an AUDI franchise - after an argument they priced matched a local tyre outlet and it was reduced to around £120! They do try it on eh?!

[santa]

And a battery for the Mazda key shouldn't be more than £4 and it only takes about 2 min. to change it.

Agreed, but they're probably charging for a mechanics time perhaps?? Still extortionate but other franchises would do the same I'd imagine.... and if they damage anything it's down to them to fix of course!

6/7 years ago I read on an old VW/Audi forum a guy was charged over £500 for changing 1 tyre on his A3 at an AUDI franchise - after an argument they priced matched a local tyre outlet and it was reduced to around £120! They do try it on eh?!

Yeah, I know. The price at Mazda would inlcude all kind of things to drive up the price.
Which is why it's much cheaper (and very easy) to change the keyfob battery yourself

[Boyle de Cabbage]

It is the inconvenience of the battery fail. Mine seemed to give no prior notice and just stopped opening the car and even starting the engine was problematic. If I had been in a remote region and needed reliability I did not have it. This is why I think it should be a dealer thing.

Agree about the changing time - no issue - but the procurement time took longer!

[jtonline]

There should of been a dashboard warning icon for a while once the battery started to lose voltage.
If the battery dies, you can open & lock the car with the auxiliary key inside the fob and hold the fob to the start/stop button to start the engine.

[Boyle de Cabbage]

There should of been a dashboard warning icon for a while once the battery started to lose voltage.
If the battery dies, you can open & lock the car with the auxiliary key inside the fob and hold the fob to the start/stop button to start the engine.

No, no dash warning light. 2015 Cx3 Sports Nav AWD.