hubilation

Hi everyone, I just got a new (used) 2006 Audi A3. It was actually the first car I've ever bought from a dealership, and my lack of experience led me to forget to ask about a spare tire, owner's manual, or check to see if the key fob worked.

In true representation of Murphy's Law, there was no spare tire or owner's manual, and the key fob had no battery in it. I purchased a battery for the key fob, but it's still not unlocking (the little red light blinks when I hit a button, so I don't think there's a problem with the fob itself). After doing some research, it looks like this is due to it losing it's memory because it was without a battery for so long, and it needs to be reprogrammed.

I've read many different things; you must take it to a dealership, you can use a vag-com to figure out what code you need to use, just use your spare key (which I don't have) to reprogram, and finally, that the owner's manual has the button sequence information on reprogramming the key.

So, is it possible to reprogram your key without a vag-com, a spare key, or taking it to a dealership? Is it in the manual? If it is in the manual, would someone be so kind as to copy the steps from the manual in a reply?

Thanks for any information. I look forward to becoming an active member of this form.

MikeSS

IIRC to do it yourself requires 2 keys with fobs:

http://www.audiforum.ca/showthread.php?t=15046

Spitzbergen

$80 bucks at the dealership.

hubilation

I went to the dealership, and they can't get the key to work. They get it programmed to the car, and it works once, but as soon as it unlocks or locks the car, it loses its memory. They seem to thing it has something to do with a control module on the car. They said parts and labor would be around $600. Anyone have any experience with this fix, and can speak to the difficulty of it?