'12 Ford Focus wont recognize key

Here's how I got the story from my sister who is non-automotive and lives about an hour away from me...  

She took here '12 Focus hatch w/ 130k to Midas Muffler for an oil change.  After the oil change they tell her the car wont start.  It seem the dashboard is telling them "key not recognized."  

Midas muffler shop suggest she go home to get spare key and she does...still not recognized. 
They change batteries in fobs...still not recognized.

Their final suggestion is have AAA tow it to local Ford Dealer where it is going this evening.  

Do we see a reason that the car and key would be fine and then after oil change would not be fine?   

My sister tells me she has a real metal key that you have to turn..

John Welsh said:

Do we see a reason that the car and key would be fine and then after oil change would not be fine?   

It's the Midas touch.

My niece had the same issue one day while driving home- although it did start the car.  Change the battery, and all set.

But what in the world did Midas do???  

Thinking about it- the tech that reset the oil life may have messed with the keyless entry?  Maybe?  Accidentally?

Put the key in the door, lock and unlock the car a few times with the key. 

That shouldn't have happened unless midas did something they shouldn't have done. Chip keys are generally not battery powered, it's just a little RFID chip after all. It's been a while since I've done one, but certain fords of that era were self program. It's *possible* that they somehow did something colossally stupid and wiped it- but if it's not a self program car that should be impossible without the proper tools. 

My E46 had issues with the chip key (yes, it was a metal insert-here key) when the main 12v car battery got old and fell slightly off voltage.

I didn't think that you could clear PATS without something like Forscan.  I know that my Excursion has gone into f-you-and-your-fake-key mode before due to a loose connection on the GEM behind the dash.  I don't know what an oil change would have to do with that, though.

At one point in time, I seem to recall that they got a personalized key feature.  I think you could do things like set a speed limiter on one key but not the other.  Does it have that system?  Maybe that got convoluted somehow?

Battery voltage is a solid suggestion.

Very odd. My wife has had a '12 and '14 Focus, both with real metal keys, and I never ran into that issue. But I do my own oil changes.

FYI, the oil life reset procedure on these cars is car off, feet full down on both gas and brake pedals, rotate key to "ON" position (not start, engine not running), message pops up on gage cluster (oil life reset in progress, or something like that), ~30 seconds later another message pops up on gage cluster (oil life reset), turn off key, done.

Update.  Via text my sister sent over these exact words... 

When putting in air cabin filter appears they broke connector where wire harness connects to body control module. 3 in country. Part $282.03 4-5 business days. Total cost out door part, tax labor $1382.

I then spoke to her about getting Midas to foot the bill and she replied... 

Midas manager said he had to check with his district manager and they had the estimate sent over. I have a copy too. Do ya wanna look at it? If so send me your email address.  [I have not gotten a copy yet]

And... 

Just talked to Midas. District manager is going to Ford Dealer tomorrow to look at car to see if it was their error and will get with me tomorrow about coverage and possible rental car. 

This leads me to wonder the process for filter replacement...short video but lots of nearby wiring!  Video does mention tight working area.  

This is on Midas, 100%. If I drove it there, then a part got broken where you were working, that's your problem not mine. I wonder if they'll try to say it's not their error?

That happened to our CRV, battery in the fob was near death.  Just a coinkidink that it happened at Midas.

I now have the Ford email.  Its words, in its entirety are: 

Repair estimate attached to correct broken connector at body control module to main dash harness. The connector / pigtail is not serviced separate from the harness as shown by the parts notes. The part is obsolete and there are currently 3 available in the country.

It's notable attachments are:

That's a helluva oil change. 

In reply to Mndsm :

I'm sure there was some hefty price mark-up on the cabin filter!  But yeah, ham fisted oil change.  I suspect I should look at the oil drain plug too to see not "if " it is stripped but rather how badly it is stripped!  

In reply to John Welsh :

Midas. Home of the maximum ugga dugga. 

Midas operator "should" have insurance for errors like this. Obviously it should come out of pocket to avoid having that policy canceled. Unless the franchisee wants to get into trouble with corporate, I don't think I would have said a thing to the DM, unless there is something written specifically towards this issue. Plus the store manager clearly illustrates that you can't put any mouthbreather into a managerial position, much less in automotive one. JMO.

PS- absentee franchise owners are something that shouldn't be allowed.

In reply to Ranger50 :

Certainly this place might be different, but when I (or a guy that worked for me) boned something up or gave someone the impression that they boned something up, I pretty much immediately take that up the chain.  The last thing I want is for my manager to have to find out about that from someone else.  When they've already heard about it from me, they're not blindsided so they don't wind up looking stupid and I get to set the table a bit.  And if my boss's boss hears about it, I can always say "hey, I told my manager about it already!".

"Harry, look at me.  You're trying to tell me you berkeleyed up without sounding stupid and that's hard to do!"

In reply to wae :

I'm not saying to not say something. The previous posts makes it sound like I need to talk to someone else to make that decision. I'd be more inclined to say yup it happened, customer car is fixed and they're happy. I've talked to the tech, is there retraining for them or??? I mean it's a rabbit hole of possibilities and solutions.... but what if it was a "ma and pas service station" in podunk USA vs a/the franchise? Would that change anything?

PS- it also sounds like the franchisee is attempting to still get out cheaper and take longer than it should if they just fixed it through the dealer.

To avoid future problems I would tell your sister to make an appointment with you to change her oil from now on, if you only live an hour away. 

I currently live in Seattle but my mom lives in San Diego, I was planning on visiting for Mother's day and she said "I have a dead headlamp and need an oil change, who would you recommend me to go to?" and I literally packed all the stuff necessary for an oil change (ratchet set, filter cup for Lexus filters, torque wrench) in my carry-on bag to bring back home. I used to work at a Jiffy Lube so I know what goes on there...

Story time aside, assuming that Midas doesn't pick up the bill, would you be able to junkyard find a plug and service it yourself? Or perhaps bring to an independent mechanic to service (still with junkyard part).

How broken is it?  Just the locking tabs?

As irritating as it would be, I might prefer to have it zip-tied in then have a tech trying to beat book time splicing in a dozen wires (which  'connector plus pig tail' suggests to me).

EDIT: found a pin-out for the connector (I think).  26 pins, 15 used.  https://f01.justanswer.com/dcraig1000/e837c78e-2b3f-4e53-867c-a50b0caf023b_eee.pdf

My theory is that Mr. Ham Fist didn't realize there is a retaining screw as shown in this video.  So, application of extra brute force or tools of brute force were used.  I'll bet the long handled straight screw driver he used as pry bar was balanced right along the BCM connector.  

hunter47 said:

... assuming that Midas doesn't pick up the bill, would you be able to junkyard find a plug and service it yourself? Or perhaps bring to an independent mechanic to service (still with junkyard part).

I like zip ties and that is something that I would do/fix.    But, without this being my f-up or a cheaply bought car that I could "fix" with a zip tie, I'm gonna stay out of this one.  Mostly for reasons of "future problems."  Let those be the dealer's future problems.  

Sister just sent via text... 

Midas told Dealer to order the part  and they are working on a rental. 

Sister notified me that she picked up a provided rental car tonight.  Its a 2022 Camry that she really likes.  

Oh, here it comes, some hate toward the 10 year old Focus and the desire for a new car.  She's not in a position for a big car payment, but history proves that wont quite stop her.