[prerak.kataria]

What happened

The key for my Polo GT had started showing its age, its a 2016 model year polo.
The ignition mechanism of VW vehicles is very hard and resistive hence the key gives up rather soon.
i am not sure of the price quoted by VW for this, but my friends have told me its almost 6,000/- INR for a key replacement. Mine did not need to be replaced, it was working perfectly, its jut that the key blade was coming loose from its place(That price could have been for a new key with the board, not sure). The key blade is mounted to the flip mechanism in 2 pieces and it is not one single unit, this made replacing it easy for sure but this design coupled with the hard ignition mechanism of my Polo meant that it became a weak point and made the flip key mechanism fracture like so.





This is what the Key blade mechanism on the new key shell looked like

Link for the Key Shell used: https://amzn.to/3KFsDwI

Replacement Key Shell

I found a third party key shell on amazon for 800/- i am not sure of the latest pricing or availability but i will be sure to share the link of the product
The key shell comes with a new flip mechanism and a blank blade, you can either get the blade carved from a local key shop or swap blades, because you have to open the key shells to insert the board into new one anyway.

This is what the replacement key shell looked like



Both the keys had to be exploded open to swap/insert parts to make the key function.




I followed this pretty thorough video from youtube to do it, you can do the same, other things and steps which were slightly different or can be done differently will be listed ahead.

https://youtu.be/JmcxyVachho

Lookout for:

In this video, the replacement key shell has a screw on lock, but the key shell i used did not, it was the standard, just like original Pin lock.
Another thing to lookout for is the width of the mounting region of the blade.
The stock blade is thicker than the Blade replacement key shell's mechanism can take, i had to grind down mine (with the help of my Father, he is very good with such stuff and loves to help me in such things all the time, huge shoutout to him) to make the Original blade fit.



If you look closely, you will notice the difference in width, we ground down that area twice or thrice checking each time by fitting it back in, when we were satisfied with the fit, it did not even need the locking pin it had, because the fit was that snug, anyway the pin was inserted to lock it in.

I installed everything in the new shell, something else you can do is to re use the flip mechanism in your old key shell, i managed to damage my old key shell while trying to open it as it requires some force to open it and where there is force involved, damage is bound to happen.

Why do i recommend to do so?
The third party key shell must be made out of lower quality grade materials as it is almost half the weight of the original, some users might not like that and because the problem lied just with the flip key mechanism, replacing that alone should do the trick for you.
Any key shop will be happy to help you with this, be an aware consumer and know the cost of key shell and relatively less labour involved and pay accordingly.

To make up for the slightly different grade plastic used and the weight lost, i used a hard shell plastic key case which was dipped in Carbon fibre, i think i paid 1200/- for this and it retails for anywhere between 12-1500/-




I would say it is a good glow up for sure, from a slightly fractured key to this, my key blade had not fallen out of its place yet, i was not going to wait for it to be stuck in my ignition mechanism, it is difficult already to rotate with a key fob attached to it, i can not imagine what it would be like to rotate with just the key blade, neither do i wish to find out and before anyone recommends lubing the ignition mechanism, i have cross checked with multiple polos and other vw vehicles, the friction of the mechanism feels the same, i am ever so slightly scared to lube it as well :P

I just wished to showcase this quick DIY for anyone who was going to pay huge sum to VW or any local Key shop, this is totally do able at home with very basic tools(yes, you do not require all the tools mentioned in that video), another reason was that i had not seen much content on this topic at the time of doing it and wished to contribute, hope this was helpful.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[AKSarkar1]

Thank you for sharing this thread, IMHO it is one of the most useful DIYs that long-term owners can do for their cars!

Please do post an update of how the key holds up after normal usage for a couple of months. Would be interesting to see how the quality of the key is after normal wear and tear for a while.

This thread will help many VAG owners for sure!

[RavisankarSD]

I own a Vento 1.6TDI 2013 model...She is highly reliable and feel-safe car (except some plastic issues like A/C vent...), always enjoyed the driving pleasure. However, after 8 years, just before lockdown in 2020, starting from office in early night. I tried to crank my car, Key part unfastened from the fob and couldn't use further for ignition. As I always have backup used my another key and driven to home.. Next day, I inquired ASS(I always approach a particular supervisor, who seemed to be genuine to me) advised to approach after car care shop where they can fix in ~1k. ASS can do replacement which was quoted ~15K. Thanks to him, when I approached specific shop, I could fix my fob in just 1.2K and still works fine !!!

[ranjith_cbz]

Kudos to your DIY spirit and thanks for sharing it with us. My GT key is also showing signs of ageing and would definitely try this route if time comes. Saves some money and also a fun weekend project without getting hands dirty without a complicated process. Would also be a feel good factor every time you hold the key you put together.

[madraspaiyan]

Thank you for sharing. I recently got a used car from Cars 24. The original key was broken like the one shared here when the car was delivered. The sales rep initially said I will get a new key under warranty and all I had to do was raise a ticket on the app. It's been six weeks now, and despite several follow ups there was no real help. The estimate given by the Honda showroom was also close to 6k. Think I will take this route now.

[Precision]

DIY for the win once again!
Please try spraying some WD40 into the lock where the key goes in, it has always made the key turning experience smoother for me.

[rjtourer]

This DIY is not actually an easy one. You will need the appropriate tools to remove the pin. I did try this in January after watching the same Youtube video and few others, ended up breaking the old key shell.

There is a pin inside the keyfob which needs to be hammered. I couldn't find the appropriate tool to push the pin inside. I did not know the name of the tool and hence couldn't procure it. I used a small screw driver from a mobile repair kit, but that was not able to push the pin fully inside.





Here are the results post the swap.

[Quad47]

Thanks for DIY thread !
The remote key of my Honda Brio broke at the joint where metal meets plastic. Mentioned this to Honda service centre and they asked for 7K to replace the key !!! . the remote worked absolutely fine even after 10 years so started to find replacemnt for the plastic components..and was pleasantly surprised when I found these on Amazon for 300 Rs!!.
Bought the set and battery as well and preplaced them at home )

[Hulk]

Hello! I did the same for my Fiat Punto's key (10 years old now) but now the car refuses to start with this key!

The car locks and unlocks just fine after changing the key shell, but the car refuses to start when I crank it. This looks like immobilizer is acting up, but I'm not sure why as all the components of the old key were transferred to the new key shell (the circuit, the physical key, battery, etc.). The car starts just fine with the spare key though.

Any idea how can I resolve this?

[Quad47]

It could be because of the extra plastic near the neck which might be acting as a spacer between the keyhole and shell , resulting in misalignment of key and hence immobilization.

[Lalvaz]

A relative in New Delhi lost one of the original VW Polo keys. The service center is quoting 15k for a new key. Any idea on cheaper aftermarket options. The car is currently running with the spare key.