Black Keyfob okay for smart backup?

You really really need a second silver logo keyfob. If you lose your only one, you'll have to flatbed the vehicle to a dealer. They'll skid the car onto the flatbed, as it will be stuck in Park until you can turn it on again. The dealer will have to do a seed reset to get even a new keyfob registered. Think several hundred dollars.

I'd recommend getting either a new, never registered silver keyfob from a dealer or locksmith. Be careful about eBay sales that offer a new mechanical key with a used keyfob. You can fully register a new keyfob yourself, while a used one requires a seed reset by a locksmith (dealers generally don't do used keyfobs).

 

Why for heaven sake ??
Or is this just another case of a "millennial" insisting on having things just EXACTLY the way they have decided they want it ????

This could be a good teaching moment......if you handle it right.
Just use the damn thing the way it was designed.

And get a second fully functional FOB. That alone could save you near to a thousand dollars somewhere down the road.

 

The same transponder is used in both black and silver keyfobs. So yes, you can program either fob to your SKS vehicle for use plugged into the dash. Doesn't matter if the keyfob is new or used, so just find cheap...

The circuit boards and signaling technology are different between black and silver keyfobs. Black is not just a subset of silver, it is a different design. So you have to use the proper keyfob for the vehicle design as far as the lock/unlock/alarm buttons are concerned.

Part of registering a silver keyfob to the car is writing a car id into the keyfob. Once that has been done, that keyfob is locked to the specific car. Only a seed reset (dealer/locksmith procedure) can override that lock.

There are virginized Gen3 keyfobs available at a price between used and new. They are used keyfobs that have had the car id cleared back to new status. I haven't seen any available for Gen2.

 

+1 on always having a fully functional, programmed backup key.

As for the driver not wanting the "smart" proximity feature, that can be achieved by using the SKS defeat button underneath the Gen2 steering column. With that set, the car uses less standby power when parked and the silver fob acts like a black fob.