The main switchblade-style key for our 2008 Pontiac G8 GT is beginning to break up. The pivot point for the key blade is wonky. The case is coming apart and won't snap back together.
Worst of all, pressing the "unlock" button on the Remote Keyless Entry fob (RKE) to get into the car requires focused pressure and digging with your strongest thumbnail, along with the willingness to stand there through 10 or 15 attempts until it finally relents and lets you in.
Using the actual key to unlock our G8 (now there's a novel thought) isn't any good because this will set-off the alarm. It's such a reflex to lock a car nowadays with the RKE button, you know? And that part of the key fob still works 100% of the time.
Is the battery dead? Not likely. Only the "unlock" button is suspect. But I guess it's worth checking. Now, where's that owner's manual...
None of the symptoms called-out in the manual apply. Three years? Nope. Range trouble? Not really. Any DIC warnings? I have no idea what you're talking about.
Besides, it says that I must see a dealer to have the battery replaced. A dealer? Let me see that. It's practically falling apart as it is.
No dice. However you get the battery out, the split line along which this fob has chosen to fail doesn't help get at it. A special tool is needed that I don't have here at my desk.
Perhaps our key is spontaneously disintegrating, the result of a weak design. Or maybe it got dropped one too many times or went for a ride in someone's clothes dryer. Hard to say.
We must have received at least two keys when we took delivery of our G8. I'll go and see Mike for the spare.
And here it is. The second key isn't just like the first: It's got a fixed blade. I guess a husband and wife are meant to arm wrestle for the switchblade.
Encourage her to take the fixed key. Appeal to her sense of empathy. She'll carry it in her purse, anyway. Us guys must carry our keys in our pants pockets.
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 17,020 miles
pontiac02 says:
08:55 AM, 01/16/09
Other than the "quality" issue this fob is undergoing, its much better than any other fob used by GM, short of the CTS and possibly the late GTO, I'm not familiar with that one.
dougtheeng says:
08:56 AM, 01/16/09
I can see giving a different style of valet key, but its strange that you didn't get two switchblades.
I actually love the switchblade design for my family's VWs. After 4 years they still look like new, are showing no signs of poor "switching" motion and the batteries have never been replaced. Only recently have I noticed some potential battery loss. I much prefer the blade design to a large key (older Toyotas, I'm looking at you) in my pocket. The keys with integrated buttons also grow to be quite large, as seen above.
MS3lvr92 says:
08:56 AM, 01/16/09
Well that's a bummer. I bet it was dropped or ran over or something like that; keys shouldn't just disintegrate from less than a year of normal use.
pengwin says:
08:59 AM, 01/16/09
the switch blade looks a lot like a VW key fob.
https://www.discountfobs.com/images/vw.jpg
slickersdrip says:
09:11 AM, 01/16/09
Maybe one of the other editors couldn't stand the crooked front plate and threw the fob?
tmanz says:
10:08 AM, 01/16/09
Those switchblade keys just seem silly to me. We had a rental car with one and it was just another step when getting out of the car to fold the key in before you put the brick into your pocket.
Brilliant design, add more moving parts to something that already worked.....
cartester16 says:
10:36 AM, 01/16/09
WTH to you guys do to these cars? My 1999.5 Golf, with over 150k miles, key (essentially the same design) is still going strong (in my ex's clumsy hands no less) and only has normal wear on the buttons...Looks like someone put this thing in the wash & dryer. More than once. I say don't blame GM on this one.
jm1212 says:
11:19 AM, 01/16/09
Nobody makes a switchblade key like VW.
ctpax says:
11:38 AM, 01/16/09
somehow poor build quality of the fob is completely ruled out by the posters on this forum.
Really?
tmanz says:
01:13 PM, 01/16/09
"somehow poor build quality of the fob is completely ruled out by the posters on this forum."
Given the prior history with these test drivers I just figured someone used it to pry open a paint can at some point in time.
clarkma5 says:
01:16 PM, 01/16/09
My almost-5-year-old VW switchblade key started to come apart a little a couple years ago but then stopped...it just peeled apart far enough now that when it's fully extended, you can push it closed without having to press the lock button. It's pretty minor, nothing like this. Anyway I digress.
I'm pretty sure DIC would stand for "Driver Information Center" aka the screen in the gauge cluster (or in the G8 maybe it's above the center stack).
pengwin says:
02:53 PM, 01/16/09
what about a boxcutter type key fob design. I think that would be useful. Slide forward until its in the fully out mode, then press a button to retract it.
fadetoblackii says:
07:44 AM, 01/17/09
Pontiac02-
As much as I love the GTO, the key was awful. It was like a deck of cards with a flattened screwdriver sticking out of it.
E_DUB says:
08:08 AM, 01/17/09
I liked the keyless setup that Mazda uses. Much cooler than messing around with keys at all. The G8 fob is not exactly a highlight of the G8 ownership experience, for sure. Doesn't have me bothered too much yet, though.
msh1 says:
05:41 AM, 01/19/09
How about just a regular metal key? You know, a simple all-steel (not brass!) key! Pretty tough for anything to go wrong with those. I have the original regular metal keys for a 1983 and a 1992 vehicle and I expect both keys to out-live both cars as long as the key is not lost.
So what again is the point of a fancy key?
whobodym says:
06:02 AM, 01/19/09
I had a similar problem with the key of our 2006 Mazda5 -- the part of the fob that held the key ring was weak plastic, and broke. That meant, absolutely no way to attach it to a key ring even though it functioned perfectly still otherwise. Of course, RKEs are expensive from the parts counter, something like $200+. Since the car was still under warrantee, I insisted on a warrantee replacement. Interestingly, the replacement key has improved material -- cast metal -- at the ring retaining part, so I have hopes this won't recur in another two year.
g8gtnorth says:
09:38 AM, 01/19/09
I had a similar problem with my key. You guys had better hope they don't need to swap out the chip, it cost me $300(cdn, I know, I know, funny money, but we were above par at the time). The dealership tried to get it under warranty but that's a whole other story.
The bigger issue is the switchblade, as that was quoted as $400(funny money again) and needs to be ordered from Australia. Apparently that's the ONLY place IN THE WORLD, that has the laser cutter required for the keys.
On a side note, the key is two parts, the switchblade part and the buttons. If you manage to slide them apart, the battery should be exposed for easy replacement.
Oh and that whole, lets give people door handles with a keyed entry but if they try to use it the alarm will go off really, REALLY, did not sit well with me. I had to call onstar a couple of times to unlock the car, as my key decided to go bust around 8PM and I didn't have the spare.