Look-a-Like GM Keyless Entry Remote Keyfobs with FCC ID KOBGT04A . . . That Are Not Alike

A reader of yesterday’s blog commented that she needs a replacement keyless entry remote for her 2005 Buick Allure sedan. She said her original remote looks exactly like the 4-button keyfob in yesterday’s blog post link (re 2006-12 Buick Lucerne and Chevy Impala remotes), but that it does not have the same FCC ID. Instead it has FCC ID KOBGT04A. She found this confusing and was not certain what part to order.

Yes, this is confusing. GM installed factory keyless entry systems with two families of remote controls that are nearly identical but not interchangeable. We are not sure if GM did this on purpose to make their replacement parts confusing in order to confound customers and aftermarket suppliers or if GM is just a confused company who does not think about these things from a consumer point of view.

Actually, it is even more confusing. Not only do the KOBGT04A remotes look exactly like remotes with FCC ID OUC60270, OUC60221 and M3N5WY8109 from the front, but there are two nearly identical FCC ID KOBGT04A remotes that are not interchangeable, and both were used with the 2005 Buick Allure. Consequently, when replacing one of these two remotes, one needs to match the GM part number found on the back of the original remote. And, as you might expect, GM even has two separate part numbers for one of the parts. Here are links to the two parts:

GM part 15252034 with FCC ID KOBGT04A.

GM part 10305091 or 22733523 with FCC ID KOBGT04A.

Please note: Both of these parts require scan tool programming for all applications, so customers will have to take their vehicle and all replacement remotes used with the vehicle to a dealership for programming. Of course, though this process takes a couple of minutes at most to perform, GM dealers typically charge for up to 1/2-hour of labor for programming. And since they do not want you to know that they are charging you that for a process that only takes a couple of minutes, they will probably hold your car for 30 minutes to give you the impression they are working on it for that period of time. Oh, the games these dealers play!