Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru Module Cost (2026)

What Asian-make module programming costs in 2026

As of October 2026, mail-in module work for Honda, Acura, Nissan, Infiniti, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru and Mazda at Auto Module Lab runs from $199 to $399 per job. A remote programming session, where we run the factory software over a J2534 interface plugged into your car, runs $150 to $195 and involves no shipping at all. Return shipping on mail-in jobs is chosen and paid at checkout: standard $29.95, UPS 2-day $54.95 or UPS overnight $94.95.

Those numbers are national. You order online, we email a prepaid inbound label, you send the module to our workshop in Arlington, Texas, and the car stays wherever it is. The price is the same from Maine to California.

This guide puts every job we price for these six makes into one table, explains the three variables that actually move the number, and spends real time on the cases where the right answer is not a module. Toyota and Lexus have enough jobs of their own that they get a separate page, the Toyota and Lexus module programming cost guide.

Why these makes share one page

Japanese and Korean cars are grouped here for a practical reason, not a marketing one. Their engine computers are mostly built by a small set of suppliers, Denso, Keihin, Hitachi, Continental, Bosch, Delphi and Kefico among them, and the bench methods for reading them overlap heavily. A Hyundai SIM2K unit and a Nissan engine computer are different animals, but the workflow is the same shape: read the original, confirm the donor matches, write the identity across, verify on the bench.

They also share a volume problem. These brands sell enormous numbers of cars in the United States. Hyundai Motor America reported roughly 801,000 sales in 2023 according to Hyundai News, Kia America reported roughly 782,000 for the same year according to Kia Media, and Subaru of America reported roughly 632,000 according to Subaru Media. American Honda, Nissan and Mazda all add hundreds of thousands more each year through their own newsrooms. Those cars do not leave the road quickly. The average light vehicle in the United States was about 12.6 years old in 2024 according to S&P Global Mobility, which puts a 2010 Civic, a 2012 Altima or a 2013 Sonata squarely in the age where an engine computer, a body module or a transmission controller fails as a normal repair.

Asian-make module cost by job (October 2026)

Every price below is the flat bench fee from the live service page it links to. Mail-in jobs add return shipping at checkout. Remote sessions have no shipping because nothing ships.

Two things are deliberately missing from that table. There is no on-car immobilizer reset for Nissan, Infiniti, Hyundai or Kia, and there is no Toyota row, because Toyota and Lexus have their own page.

The three variables that move the price

1. Clone, remove, supply or reflash

Most of the spread in the table comes from what kind of job it is, not which brand the car is.

A clone copies the complete data of your original module, immobilizer relationship included, onto a used donor of the same part number. Afterwards the donor is your module as far as the car can tell. Your keys keep working and nothing has to be re-married on the vehicle. That is $250 on Honda, Nissan and Hyundai or Kia engine computers.

An immobilizer-off is a different decision. On Honda and Acura engine computers from 1998 to 2017, it permanently disables the immobilizer chain at the ECU so the engine runs without key pairing. It is $199, and it is the right call in a narrow set of legitimate cases: an engine swap, an orphaned car whose original keys and records are gone, or a repair where no dealer tool is reachable. It is never an emissions edit and never a way around proof of ownership.

A supplied module is the one job where you send nothing. On Honda and Acura, for $399, we source the correct engine computer for your VIN, prepare it to work with your immobilizer and ship it ready to install. Many Hondas still need a short immobilizer key relearn after installation with two keys present, and we tell you exactly what yours needs before you order.

A reflash happens over the internet. Your shop plugs a J2534 interface into the car, we run the factory software from our side, and the module is programmed in the bay. That is the cheapest path when the module is healthy but needs a calibration update or a replacement unit needs setup.

2. Whether your original still reads

Cloning needs a source. If your original engine computer is water-damaged, burnt or completely silent, there is nothing to copy, and the clone price does not apply. That is when one of two things happens. On Honda and Acura, the supplied replacement becomes the sensible route. On other makes, a bench evaluation tells you whether the original can be read at all, and our advanced module recovery service handles the units that have stopped communicating but still hold their data on the memory chip.

This is also why we ask for a photo of the module label before you ship. The label tells us the family, the hardware version and, often, whether a readable recovery is realistic.

3. Whether the car needs a module at all

The cheapest module job is the one you do not buy. Before you ship anything, read our checklist on how to know which module failed before you ship it. On these makes, a long list of no-starts looks like a dead engine computer and is not one: a weak battery, a failed fuel pump, a crank sensor, a corroded ground, a key with a dead transponder. A flashing green key light on a Honda, for example, points at the immobilizer conversation, and that conversation can fail at the key or the antenna ring rather than the ECU. Our guide to the Honda and Acura green key light no-start walks that tree in order.

Honda and Acura: four ways to solve the same no-start

Honda gives you more choices than any other make on this page, because we offer a clone, an immobilizer-off, a supplied module and a remote session.

The clone fits the owner who already bought a used ECU and found out the hard way that it will not start the car. If your original still reads and the donor carries the same part number, $250 makes the donor yours. Read more about the Honda and Acura ECU clone process.

The immobilizer-off fits the swap builder or the owner of an orphaned car. It is $199, it covers 1998 to 2017 Honda and Acura gas and most hybrid models, and it is a permanent change. Our Honda and Acura immo-off guide covers when it is the right call and when it is not.

The supplied module fits the owner whose original is gone. At $399 it costs more than a clone, but it removes the donor hunt and the risk of buying the wrong part number.

The remote session fits a shop with the car on a lift and a module that only needs reprogramming. At $150 it covers 2007 and later ECU reprogramming, calibration updates and replacement-module setup. Immobilizer and security work on that session is quoted separately.

Nissan and Infiniti: cloning, and a clear boundary

On Nissan and Infiniti we do one mail-in job, and we say plainly what it is. The $250 ECM clone copies your original's complete data, including its immobilizer relationship, onto a matched donor so it drops in and starts. Common Altima, Sentra, Maxima, Rogue and Titan engine computers are covered, along with their Infiniti equivalents.

What we do not do is an on-car NATS immobilizer reset or key registration. That is on-car work, and cloning makes it unnecessary for the engine computer, because the donor arrives already married to your car. If your original ECM is completely dead and unreadable, cloning cannot help, and we will tell you that before you ship.

The Nissan and Infiniti remote session, at $150, covers ECM, TCM and BCM programming, calibration updates and the idle-air volume relearn on CONSULT III plus vehicles. It is flash and programming only, with no on-car NATS or key work. Newer models that need CONSULT 4 over DoIP are not available over a remote session yet. More detail is on our Nissan and Infiniti used ECM clone guide and the Nissan and Infiniti remote programming page.

Hyundai and Kia: boot-mode cloning and an all-in reflash price

Hyundai and Kia follow the same rule as Nissan. The $250 ECU clone is a bench job: the original is read in boot mode, its data and immobilizer relationship are written to a matched donor, and the donor drops in. Coverage spans the Continental SIM2K families, SIM2K-141 and 341 and SIM2K-240, 241 and 251, the ME17.9.1 and MEDG17.9.8 units, Delphi MT86, and Kefico engine computers, across the Elantra, Sonata, Tucson, Santa Fe, Optima, Sorento, Soul, Cadenza, Genesis and Equus and more. Our Hyundai and Kia SIM2K and Kefico clone guide explains how to read the label.

We do not perform Hyundai or Kia immobilizer, PIN or smart-key resets on the vehicle. That is on-car work, and it is not part of this service.

The remote sessions are worth a note on price. The Hyundai and Genesis session is $195 because it includes Hyundai's $75 fee for each factory reflash file, so there is no surprise charge passed through afterwards. The Kia session is $150, and for vehicles that require a security code, Kia's own $14 fee is added at cost when it applies.

Subaru: the body module is the immobilizer

On roughly 2012 to 2017 blade-key Subarus with a G-chip key, the immobilizer is not one box. The key, the BIU under the dash, the combination meter and the engine computer share a matched security identity. That is why an all-keys-lost job cannot be done through the diagnostic port and becomes a bench job on the BIU's memory.

Two pages cover it. The Subaru BIU key programming service is the all-keys-lost job at $350: you send the BIU, we program a fresh key at the memory level and return the module ready to reinstall. The Subaru BIU clone service is $250 and copies your original BIU onto a donor so a replacement drops in without touching the ECM or the meter. Both ask for a clear photo of the BIU label before you ship, smart-key trims and newer years are confirmed case by case, and both require proof of ownership. The Subaru BIU key programming guide explains the matched-set problem in more depth.

Mazda: transmission repair and a remote session

Mazda's mail-in job on this page is a repair, not a clone. When the transmission control module on a Mazda 3 or Mazda 5 fails, the car shifts harshly, locks into limp mode or stops answering the scan tool. We repair the module at board level for $329.95, keep your existing configuration, verify it on the bench and send your original back. Typical bench time is three to five business days.

The honest caveat is important. Transmission complaints on high-mileage cars are frequently mechanical: worn clutches, a failing solenoid, a valve-body fault or old fluid. Read our guide to Mazda 3 and Mazda 5 harsh shifting and TCM failure before you pull anything.

The Mazda remote session, at $150, runs through Mazda's MDARS or M-MDS software and covers module programming, calibration updates, key add and BCM coding.

Dealer, used part, or mail-in: how the numbers compare

The comparison most owners make is against the dealer. A new engine computer from a franchise parts counter is rarely inexpensive, and the car usually has to be towed in and kept for the duration. Hourly labor at dealers and independent shops is commonly reported in the low to mid hundreds of dollars per hour by outlets such as Kelley Blue Book and RepairPal, and programming time is billed on top of the part.

The cheapest-looking option, a used module bought online, is only cheap if it works. On every make in this guide, a raw used engine computer carries the donor car's identity and immobilizer data. It cranks and does not start. That is the gap a clone closes for $250. Our comparison of used ECU swaps against cloning lays out why plug-and-play claims fail.

Remote programming changes the comparison again for shops. Pass-thru programming is built on the SAE J2534 interface standard, and the service-information rules published by the Environmental Protection Agency are a large part of why independent shops have factory-level access at all. If you already own a compatible interface, a $150 session is frequently the least expensive route for a healthy module that only needs software.

What to send, and what not to send

For any clone, send the original module and the donor together, packed separately in anti-static bags, with no brackets and no harness. For the Subaru jobs, send the BIU. For the Mazda repair, send the TCM. Do not send keys unless a technician asks for them, and do not send the whole vehicle harness.

Before anything ships, text us a photo of the label and the VIN. A technician confirms the family, the part-number match and whether the job is realistic. If it is not, you hear that before you spend money on shipping. Our what to ship with your module guide has a packing list by job type, and how it works covers the order flow.

"With these makes, most of the money people lose is spent before they ever call us, on the second used ECU, after the first one would not start. One label photo would have told them the first one could have been cloned." — Independent import-car driveability technician, 19 years in the trade (anonymized)

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to clone a used ECU for a Honda, Nissan, Hyundai or Kia?

A bench clone onto a used donor is a flat $250 on Honda and Acura PGM-FI engine computers, Nissan and Infiniti engine computers, and Hyundai and Kia engine computers, as of October 2026. Return shipping is added at checkout from $29.95. You supply a donor with the same part number, and your original has to be readable so its data and immobilizer relationship can be copied across.

Can you reset the immobilizer on my Nissan or Hyundai so a used ECU works?

No, not on the car. For Nissan, Infiniti, Hyundai and Kia we clone on the bench and do not perform on-car immobilizer, NATS, PIN or smart-key resets. Cloning makes the reset unnecessary for the engine computer, because the donor arrives carrying your original's identity and drops in without any re-marriage on the vehicle.

My Honda's original ECU is dead. What is my cheapest option?

If the original cannot be read, a clone is off the table, and the $399 supplied engine computer is usually the cleanest route. We source the correct unit for your VIN, prepare it for your immobilizer and ship it ready to install. Many Hondas need a short key relearn afterwards with two keys present, and we confirm that before you order.

Why is the Hyundai remote session more expensive than the Kia session?

The Hyundai and Genesis session is $195 because it includes Hyundai's $75 fee for each factory reflash file, so nothing is passed through afterwards as a surprise. The Kia session is $150. Kia vehicles that require a security code add Kia's own $14 fee at cost, only when it applies to that VIN.

Do I need to send keys with a Subaru BIU?

Usually not. For the all-keys-lost job we program a fresh key at the memory level of the BIU, and for a clone we copy your original BIU onto a donor. Send a clear photo of the BIU label first so we can confirm coverage. Proof of ownership is required, and smart-key trims are confirmed by VIN before you ship.

Is the Mazda 3 transmission problem always the TCM?

No, and it often is not. Harsh shifting and limp mode on a high-mileage Mazda 3 or Mazda 5 are frequently caused by worn clutches, failing solenoids, valve-body faults or old fluid. The $329.95 board-level repair fixes a genuinely failed module. Rule out the mechanical causes first, and text us the codes if you are unsure.

The bottom line

For Honda, Acura, Nissan, Infiniti, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru and Mazda, mail-in module work costs $199 to $399 as of October 2026, with remote sessions at $150 to $195 and return shipping from $29.95. The most common job, cloning a used engine computer so it starts your car, is a flat $250 on Honda, Nissan and Hyundai or Kia.

Spend the first ten minutes confirming the module is really the fault, then text us the label photo and the VIN before anything ships. If it is a clone, a supply job, a Subaru BIU or a Mazda TCM, the price is on the page and it does not change with your ZIP code.