Well I’m not recommending you buy it. But you can call them and see what the details are, so you can fact check the sales department and figure out if they’re just jerking you around or not.
But if it’s not expensive, yeah you could just buy it if it’s cheap enough to save you the hassle.
To me, this seems like a lazy salesman who doesn’t want to do his job. Or you’re just not talking to the correct person. Which is extremely common when contacting any dealer by phone. They basically have a defensive line set up to block you from actually talking to a physical salesman or service advisor.
Generally, this scenario requires the following steps on the dealer’s behalf.
I work for a Chrysler parts department and we see this all the time. The service department will open a repair order with a line stating “customer needs 2nd key - per sales.” We bill a fob and blank on the repair order, cut the blank per the vin, and contact the customer to have it programmed. Customer comes in and gets the fob programmed and off they go. Some newer cars have laser cut key blanks that we have to “vin order” directly from Chrysler. If they take a while to come in we UPS ship them to the customer free of charge. The only time we bill sales for shipping is if they forget to give the customer the 2nd key and find it after.
This shouldn’t be difficult for them. And I’d have to assume a Mazda parts department has the ability to vin cut a key for you without needing you to come in so they can physically copy your key. My 6 just has a normal key, it’s not anything fancy, like a laser cut or worm cut key. It’s the most basic tech in terms of key cutting. I’d have to assume the parts department has the ability to cut it. But maybe they don’t have the correct equipment.
Here’s how you find out for sure:
Call the dealer you bought the car from, and ask to speak with the parts department. Have your vin number ready, and simply tell them you have a key fob that is missing the key blank, and you’d like a price on one. As well as details about how to get it cut. Ask them if they have the ability to cut the key for you by the vin number, without needing to physically copy your existing key.
Don’t mention that you’re missing one from a vehicle you bought there, and don’t mention the back story. Simply get info, see if they’re able to cut the key by the vin, and say thank you and move on.
Generally, sales knows absolutely zero about the service and parts side of things, so I’d assume your salesman just doesn’t know how to fix this, or doesn’t care enough to know.
LOL no dealer on the face of the Earth is going to pop a key fob open during PDI and make sure the hard key is in there.
But almost every dealer on Earth would make it right with the customer after the fact if it wasn’t.
You could start by putting some air in your tires.
As far as being “affiliated” with Mazda, don’t think there’s any.
But for aftermarket parts you can trust, Corksport is probably your best bet.
Not sure if they have a sub on Reddit or not, but I know one of their reps posts somewhere on Reddit regarding new Mazda products. Whether it’s here, a 3 or 6 specific sub, or a Corksport sub.
Mazda
The cars they’ve been putting out since 2016+ are phenomenal. Truly luxury like interiors. Excellent interior quality and materials, stunning exterior design, and extremely well balanced chassis. All for much less than the competition.
I think a lot of people think Mazda and either think of the old Ford/Mazda days. Or think of the crappy, plastic interior cars they were releasing in the late 2000s.
With the release of their new inline 6 engines, their new chassis, the new CX-90 and the upcoming CX-70, Mazda is really doing great things right now.