i took a extra key fob off a hhr at the junkyard and i want to program it to mine.is that something i can do myself or does the dealer have to do it?the dealer already tried to rip me off once when i lost my key and i got a new one made so i reprogrammed that myself and then they told me id have to pay 60 bucks to reprogram the key fob and it turned out all i needed was a new battery lol.

 

It requires programming by a Tech II scanner. Usually done by the dealership unless you can find a shop or a locksmith that has the correct equipment.

 

There is only one locksmith in my area that can program these, and they wanted to charge more than the dealer. The local dealer here charges a flat fee, about $55 if i remember right, to program fobs whether you have 1 or up to the limit of 5 that the car will take to do. I bought a couple of new factory fobs via Ebay and had them both programmed. The point being here is that if you are going to get one programmed, you may as well do one or two more while you are at it since it is isn't going to cost you any more so you have an extra if one dies.

 

There is no relation between the fob and the key, other than the keyring. The fob interacts with the BCM via the RCDLR and the key interacts with the steering column chip.