Just drove off the lot with a used 2012 Chevy Impala here in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and while I’m loving the ride, I’ve hit a snag already. It came with just one lonely key – no spare, and definitely no key fob remotes. Thinking it’d be a quick fix to program a new fob, I dove into the online forums and guides. Big mistake. It turns out programming a 2012 Impala key fob isn’t as straightforward as the internet makes out to be, and I’m officially stumped.
Everywhere I look, I find the same few sets of instructions for Chevy key fob programming. Tried them all, multiple times, in different ways – nothing seems to work for my 2012 Impala. To make things even more confusing, a lot of websites selling key fobs and ignition keys seem to completely skip over any information for the 2012 models. It’s like my car is in some kind of key fob programming black hole.
Now, according to the Chevy Canada website and the official 2012 Impala brochure, keyless entry should be standard on all models, even my LS. So, logically, programming a remote should be possible, right? The owner’s manual, however, throws a wrench in the works, stating point-blank that you must visit a dealership to get any remotes programmed. Dealerships are expensive, and I’m a DIY kind of guy, so naturally, I wanted to explore all home programming options first.
Undeterred, I even went to the dealership and got an official 2012 Impala remote. It’s one with remote start, even though my car doesn’t have that feature – figured it might still work for basic keyless entry. Armed with this brand new remote, I dove back into those online programming methods.
First up was the “info button” method. The instructions say to turn the car to the “on” position (engine off, in park) and then press the “info” button repeatedly to cycle through the menu until you find a “program remotes” or “program fobs” option. I pressed that button more times than I can count, held it down, tried different rhythms – absolutely nothing. No programming options appeared on the display, no matter what I did with the info button or any of the surrounding buttons.
Then there’s the radio method, which involves a “Disp” button. Problem is, my radio doesn’t have a “Disp” button, so that method was a dead end before I even started.
Method number three involved the driver’s side door unlock button and the ignition key. Hold down the unlock button, turn the key to the “on” and “off” positions twice… again, nothing. No beeps, no lights, no indication that the car was entering any kind of programming mode.
Finally, some guides mention using the trip reset/set post for programming. But guess what? My 2012 Impala has the in-dash computer display, so there’s no physical trip reset post to be found anywhere. Another programming avenue blocked.
At this point, I’m really starting to wonder if this remote I got from the dealership is even compatible with my car. Maybe there’s a different frequency or something? But more fundamentally, I can’t even get the car into programming mode to try anything!
I’ve reached out to Chevy Canada customer service via email, hoping they can provide some accurate, model-specific instructions for getting my 2012 Impala into key fob programming mode. Until then, I’m relying on the good old-fashioned key to unlock my doors.
Lesson definitely learned: next time I buy a used car, especially from a smaller dealer, I’m making absolutely sure spare keys and remotes are part of the deal. Never imagined something as basic as keyless entry could turn into such a headache. If anyone out there in the Chevy community has cracked the code for 2012 Impala key fob programming, especially in Canada, your help would be massively appreciated!
