Help needed 2015 Forester 3171 dead (anti theft activated)

It doesn't help now but Good Sam's Roadside Assistance could have helped her. She may want to consider it for the future.

In her place I would call a local mechanic who's familiar with the problem and see if he would be willing to come out to the RV and start it there.

Apparently she doesn't have one. Just the valet key. Sounds like the dealer really really screwed up.

Sounds like the dealer has some explaining to do, and they need to at least pay for the Ford dealer to reset the PATS system and give her two working keys.

Just one valet key is unacceptable. Even more so if the rig is new, because it means a key was stolen, as newer Ford PATS systems will not work unless they have at least two keys programmed in.

It's brand new, just got off the line less than 2 weeks ago.

This is the key. The dealership has now asked her to email a pic of the entire key ring to see if perhaps they were using the wrong key.

This key above is clearly not a chipped key.

The thing that no one realizes until they buy ANY motor home
is the fact that it is made up of a number of off the shelf products
that are put together by a RV manufacturer and sold by an independent
contractor - the dealer. It is not even close to the experience of buying
an auto or truck and having all service done by the dealer.

Almost none of the RV sales center sell one product exclusively or are owned by the manufacturer. There are few exceptions. Even the manufacturer of the motor home, regardless of size only assembles what others have made on a chassis that they buy from someone else. The walls and coach may be made in-house, everything else comes from other venders.

None that I know of or have heard of have "factory trained technicians"
for the chassis they (the manufacturer) bought.

If their RV is on an Ford E450 chassis, like mine, NO RV facility can do Ford warranty work, that I have ever heard of. They need a Ford dealer. Same with Chevy, Cummings, Fright liner, etc.

Other than the Ford Owners Manual, that is in the glove box, the RV dealer knows nothing about the chassis. Their mission is to sell the assembled product and give general repair/replacement assistance to the individual components.
The chassis even carries a separate warranty, in this case by Ford.

When we bought ours they supplied the Ford Dealer check sheet where everything
was checked. They did nothing in house with a chassis.

The one stop auto buying and service is totally different from the RV buying and service experience.

Unfortunately their advice to see the Ford Dealer was correct.
Sounds there was a mix-up in the keys issued. The dealer get keys
from the Chassis manufacturer when the chassis is delivered.

Spleenstomper wrote:
This key above is clearly not a chipped key.

Maybe so, but they've been driving it. Got them to the soccer field.

I've run into one such dealer but way up in Anchorage AK. Great Alaskan Adventures sells Winnebago and Itasca. That's interesting as they RENT Winnebago Chalet Class C's. If you want a Class C from them it's Itasca. A class A, I believe, can be either. Anyhow, they're a Ford Fleet shop as well as same for ONAN.

New Ford system must be different from what I'm familiar with. Our Toyota, for example, needs BOTH non-valet keys to duplicate a key from. But the Valet Key IS chipped and WILL run the car. How else could Valet move it? But it won't open Glove Box or Trunk.

Ok. Yes, they have a Ford chasis (E450 sounds right, but I can't be sure). I'm glad she has been pointed to the right facility to help her, but seems the dealer should care (haha) about what happened to make sure it doesn't happen again.

(The valet key is designed to only work a handful of times before triggering anti-theft).

I'll keep you all posted about how this shakes out. (And for it to go in archives to help future owners to be sure they have chipped keys!)