New Guy Here

[ShapeShifter]

I just picked up a 2006 5 from a dealership. Has 96k miles.

The test drive and the drive home went well, but when I went to start it again at home in my driveway, the Immobilizer locked me out. The key fob that came with it was broken and taped (yes, with clear scotch tape like from your desk drawer). When I got it home of course I took the tape off but I guess that must have been holding in the magic power as well as the transponder joo-joo. The 5 was a brick in my driveway.

I bought it from a Volkswagon dealership. They towed it from my house to a Mazda dealership. I love the car, now comes the test of customer service and integrity of the dealers... Wish me luck!

 

[Silentnoise713]

Welcome and nice Goldwing avatar. Your experience gave me a nice chuckle and you seem to know all the buzz words to get things going .

Let us know how things work out. Be foreworn that Mazda dealers (generalizing here) are not that greatest but of course this varies from each dealer. If you want premium ownership experience, I'd recommend an entry luxury car.

 

[ShapeShifter]

Well good news! It takes two separate matching key fobs to properly program the immobilizer system on a Mazda. So I got two new fobs instead of one! The selling dealership (Volkswagen of Vacaville) took care of everything - gratis! This involved towing, two fobs = ~$500, and the service time for Mazda dealership to diagnose and reprogram, and shuttling the car back to my home. Volkswagen ate about $1k to take care of this for me. Big Props to the Volkswagen dealer (and the Mazda dealer for turning this around in less than 48 hours)! If I had bought this on Craigslist, I would have been SOL and looking at out-of-pocket expenses.

Now its time to personalize and farkle out my 5. Here I go......