Last updated on May 14, 2011
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This is a non-winning AUTO-intelliKEY, a fake key-shaped vehicle remote sent out as a promotion by a local Kia dealer to try and get people into the store. Apparently some of these keys will actually active different locks on some vehicles, and those specific keys win prizes. This photo shows the inside of the unit, with just some metal domes where contacts would otherwise be and no other electronics. Thus this key doesn’t work and is not a winner.
The flier that this was mailed on also includes a scratch-off number and barcode, all of which offer other prizes that must be checked at the dealership. Since I’m not going to be visiting the dealer to check on the state of these numbers then I guess I’m just like the poor souls who failed to claim a $30,000 cash prizes (Lisa C.) and a new vehicle (Lorayne D.).
If you’d like to see some more photos of the AUTO-intelliKEY teardown, take a look here.
Congratulations on puting all this effort into a usles website. Maybe u should get a job and do somthing that actually makes sense. I read the odds and it clearly states the odds of winning each prize and that would only make sense that the ones that arnt the winner wouldn’t work and only one person would qualify to win! Apparently there was a winner in st augustine FLA last month. A brand new car! Don’t u wish that person read ur article they wouldn’t hav won a thing and would b sitting along side of u a pair of losers:(
no real person would call himself a consumer, thats like calling yourself a slave. you sir are a dumb ass
agreeed; smart consumer is a dumb ass. i found the website helpful because i just got one of these in the mail and i broke it apart to see what was in it.
Thanks for posting these pictures. I had my doubts about the “Auto-intelliKEY” when I received it from a local dealer, but was curious. Your site inspired me to tear it apart to reveal the same results you found. Now that I see the inside, I highly doubt that a device this thin could ever house the necessary electronics or battery. If a representative of the company that makes these can provide proof in the form of photos of a working key, I will believe. Otherwise, I hope this site convinces the people in the “7% response rate” they claim to have that this is a scam and save them a trip to an unethical auto dealership.
real consumer: I don’t doubt that actual winners are issued, but I suspect that the actual win/prize rate is quite small. I don’t personally think a dealership using this promotion are necessarily unethical, they just seem to be using a marketing scheme that I find a bit silly.
Hey I cracked open my key and found a small chip and battery . . . I took it to the dealership and was told it was no longer valid due to tampering . . . Thanx mang for inspiring me to break the key to what could have been my new car!!!! Lol!
Potential winner: Darn, that’s too bad. Well, sometimes curiosity results in an undesirable result, particularly if you can’t undo your handiwork. I guess this is just one of those times, eh?
I would like to see a photo of the key with the battery in it.
Sorry you guys have had the Auto IntelliKEY misrepresented to you.
Do not tamper with the key and take your mail piece to the dealership. The key does not determine if you win the prize, the bar code and the winning numbers on your piece determine that. Each mailing has a winner. Those winners are insured by your dealership with a company like American hole in one. The same folks that insure hole in one contest. Your dealership should have a prize board located in plain view. Hope this helps.
Not misinformation.
Truth. I got one of these today, nothing inside of it except for worthless metal domes to make the keys clicky. And the buttons were nasty sticky from the tape used to hold it onto the flyer. Too bad there’s no hobbyist xray machine. Should work on that, then you can check if one of these is a winner. That or just get a frequency counter to see if there’s a signal. I wouldn’t discount the chance that there could be one with a circuit in it. I broke mine open to try and salvage one, if there’s a circuit then I didn’t expect it would be a winner anyways. Doesn’t mean I would have the right security code. Anyways, worthless fake trash so I threw it away.
I like that the people shitting on this are too stupid to use proper English or grammar. Just stupid texting baby language. So cute, but mentally devoid of all value. Then there’s the obvious shady car dealer whining about misrepresentation. And the troll, par for the course on the interwebnets these days.
I just got one of these in the mail today as well. The “guts” of my “intellikey” looked just like the one in these pics. Nice work. It’s funny how desperate some of the local dealerships have become that they’re willing to put their names on this type of trash “promotion.”
I got one of the fliers complete with key and ya, I could crack it open to see what’s inside, or go to the dealership and find out what ridiculous piece of hardware or what not I would win or not win. I thought of different ways to to have fun with the “hard work” that went into making these fliers and keys. Ya, it’s an odd way to get people to the dealership but the turn out rate is much higher then on a normal day to even a sale. I just put mine on my key ring and called it even.
thanks dude when i took my intelakey apart they didnt even try to fake it it was just an empty shell thanks again
The things you learn on-line. My not-so-with-it Mom (really, she’s 92 and doesn’t remember some stuff) had one of these on her kitchen counter. “Where’d that come from, Mom?” She didn’t know, couldn’t remember, but had had a few visitors that day. Could one of them left it? Since it looked to me like a cool device (and kind of expensive is a real pared down way), I figured it had been inadvertently left behind by a visitor. I called them all. Nope, it didn’t belong to any of them.
I totally appreciate this site. Now I can throw away the key and not think “ooohhhhh, what if this belongs to somebody!”
I would first clearfully take it apart, if I found any electronic, “ANT” other than just a battery and a small bulb, I will re assemble it and then take it to the dealer. I received one and took it apart, it is not difficult and checked inside, couldn’t find anything other than just a bulb and a battery. The buttons were not even attached to anything :))))) If I found anything, even the simplist of wires and circuits, I would take it to the dealer. I saved my time!
Just a tip: you would be better off buying a lottery ticket, you might have a better chance than this piece of shit., :))))
I received a key today and scratched the code and it matched but I dnt believe I actually really won sumthing but I might just stop by and check the shy out anyways its on my key ring
I’m familiar with these. It’s just like absolutely anything else folks. The keys that come stuck to mailers sometimes? Look at them, they’re devoid of millmarks that come from cutting an actual key. However that hook has been around for years and guess what? Actual keys do get sent out, and also subsequently thrown away.
Congratluations, someone did the math and figured that it would not be cost effective to manufacture and send tens of thousands of tiny RFID keyless entry remotes. The device is a fake, even the winner has no necesary electronics, and furthermore, even if it did it would have to broadcast the proper frequency to do all the things its purported to. THOSE odds are incomprehensible.
As it was mentioned above the number that is cast into the back of it is what actually determines if you are a winner and what you’ve won. This is the only way to control the odds.
If you aren’t in the market for a car, throw it away. If you are on the fence, the fact a dealer is doing something like this means they are aggressive and will spend money to make sales, and also offer aggressive deals. It’s car buying 101 folks.
I suppose some people need something to get mad at, all the OP did is prove that they were smart enough to realize the device itself could never unlock a car, yet that very same key would in fact yield a winner. How smart are you now? By law there has to be a winner sent out every single month by the company with proof and documentation out the yin yang. People win constantly across the nation, prizes big and small.
Everyone usually wins something of value, no matter how small.
I WAS SENT A KEY (INTELLIKEY) BY MAIL I SCRATCHED OFF THE SCRATCHER AND FOUND 3 CARS, I ALSO HAVE THE KEY,WICH ACTUALLY LIGHTS UP. UNFORTUNATELY, I’VE LOST THE PAPER , BUT STILL HAVE THE KEY. ”MODEL NO:” BEING.ALK5A9488. I DON’T KNOW IF I HAD ACTUALLY WON SOMETHING,? BUT I WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT… SINCERELY; L.FALLS
I got one of these too and pried it open to find useless hardware. But it made me think of something funny (and equally serious)…what if one of these actually worked? Someone could go to the dealership when it was closed, walk up to the window, and maybe start the car with it. So overnight it runs INSIDE the dealership. Hope they have good Carbon Monoxide detectors, or the first person who unlocks the business for the day is in for a surprise…
BTW on the same flier with the key I had three matching prize amounts, and was guaranteed either a pair of cars/$25,000, an iPad, $100 cash, or golden coins up to $3,500. Looking at the odds, I am at least guaranteed $2 of those golden coins. Not really worth it, given it will cost that much gas to get to and from the dealership.
Thank you for posting this information. Im glad I tore my apart, other wise I would have looked pretty stupid clicking away at cars all afternoon and it wasn’t even possible to win. Thanks much!
Enjoyed your info. Funny that it looks like the first 3 postings came from employees of the intellikey company. BTW – mine was the same useless hardware, but fun to know.
Lori falls we have the same model number and i just wanna find out because we leave near to where they want us to go to find out I won a T-shirt which is far from what they promise. LOL so if you wanna grab yiur shirt then go
its says i won on my starch off is it fake
I took the thing apart.. There was a battery and a sliver that turns on the LED light but that is it.. and to be honest with you.. I had my suspicions and I was right on target like I expected.. The dealer is spending good money for nothing!
pete
Just got this in the mail, never seen them before so I popped it open with my pen knife to look inside. Pretty neat gimmick, the little metal domes that make it go “click click click’ are pretty clever. I can see why people would fall for this. I guess the winners are dtermined by the number on your flyer. It says chances of winning on mine are 1:29,968 and that is in Orem, Utah
Only one key has the actual transmitter that would open the car door or start the car. By law they have to make sure that one key does what they claim. That means if they send 10000 keys only 1 is real and the rest are just piece of plastic and batteries.
The advertisers them self don’t even know which key will open/start the car.
Think for a moment 10000 transmitters that’s shot load of money they have to spend.
I just tore down 2 of these keys and I believe one would have actually been a winner. It had and RFID chip glued on the middle of the plastic strip that holds the pseudo switches.
This would explain how they can run these contests economically, since there do not have to be batteries and transmitters. RFID chips are super cheap. DAMN… I wish I had gone in to check to see if it was actually a winner! I’d upload a picture of the chip but I don’t see any option that allows you to do that.
I have one allredy
Ignore the snarky comments from people who would rather criticize others than do anything useful themselves. I’ve been holding on to one of these for a few years, not having a clue what it was until I ran across your explanation. So, whoever put this together, thanks for the info.