Does anyone by chance have a semi idea of about how much it would cost to replace the keyless remote for my '98? The key works fine, the locks that you turn in the door with the key, as well as the ignition all work fine, just the buttons on my remote have been pushed a few too many times in the 11 years this car has been alive and currently:
-pushing the button wont work at all and I just have to stick the key in the lock
-pushing the button will work only if I'm within about a foot of the car
-pushing the button requires a significant amount of force behind the push to make it work within 5 feet of the car.

and yes, I have tried replacing the batteries. Same story after the change.

I have a friend who's dad own's the local Audi dealership and he said that since the 98 remote is a two piece remote, unlike the newer ones that are key and remote all in one piece of plastic, that they wouldnt have to re-engrave the laser key and redo all the locks and could just put the current key on a new transmitter piece and program the new transmitter to work with my car and he guessed that it might be between 150 and 200 bones for the new transmitter and the programming of it, but he wasnt positive so can anyone confirm that estimate or give a better one?

 

Check on ebay I got a new keyfob for $45 or so. You just have to find one with the same number in side the fob.

 

Cool, thanks, I'll look into that. If I find one, what do I do after that, just take it to the dealer to have them reprogram it or is there a DIY method that I could do?

 

yea there is a DIY method. here it is:

http://audiworld.com/tech/misc13.shtml

i used this medthod successfully after buying a replacement on ebay. the lights never flashed for me like the article says, but it worked nonetheless.

 

Quick question on this. I finally got around to getting my replacement, got it here and followed the DIY and as of now, pushing the button will lock it but not unlock it. Is it possible it didn't fully program or is it more likely that the unlock button is faulty? Pushing the unlock button worked for programming it but it won't actually unlock the doors, and the panic button doesn't do anything either. I want to try programming it again but since it seems to be half programmed already, I would assume it needs to reset so is there some X amount of minutes that taking the batteries out might reset it or is there a different method for clearing the programming to try again?

TIA,
-Justin

 

I have remotes, just no blank key's... and How did you reprogram? Explain...

 

I reprogrammed following the DIY linked in the post directly above my last one. How functional are these remotes you speak of? Do the buttons work without effort? The original remote I got when I bought the car worked (sans panic button that was torn and majority missing so no contact was made between the rubber and the actual button itself) but to lock/unlock I had to push really really hard on the button, 4/7 times having no success, to get it to transmit, which is what led me to seek the new remote in the first place so if you've got a remote that works with less effort required, let me know

 

didnt read what that diy sugested, but i went to the audi dealership and they said to turn your key backward for 10 seconds, and then forward for 10 secons and then back again for 15 and the windows rolled down (and i could unlock and lock and panic) and i was out the door, 1st time ive been to the dealership without spending a penny ! ha try that though

 

Hmmm, I'll have to give it a shot, thanks

Did the windows move on all three turns, or just the last one? I'm interpreting this as turn key to unlock position for ten seconds, turn it to lock position for ten and then back to unlock for fifteen, correct? But whenever I've used the "turn key to unlock and hold to roll down windows" feature, they start going down after about 4 seconds, is that to be expected when trying this?