Electronic car keys
#1
BE Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2010
Location: Palermo Sicily
Posts: 375
Electronic car keys
I lost/had stolen 2 car keys and was left with just one non-remote key for my 6-year old car. According to Toyota they cannot simply replace this type of key for my type of car as part of the electronic control unit has to be replaced. They gave me a quote of €715! After a chat with a friend I took the key to a small shop in a run down part of Palermo. There they stuck the key in a box connected to a computer, programmed a new key and then cut the key part all for €45 in 3 minutes. The key works perfectly. Why can't Toyota do that? Ok there may be a small security risk but the key is half-mechanical and the shop has been in business for many years so Im not particularly worried
#2
Re: Electronic car keys
On Ebay you can get a blank Toyota key with transponder for under £10 so your shop made quite a decent profit for 3 minutes work. Who knows how Toyota come up with the figure of Euro700.
Last edited by philat98; Jul 22nd 2019 at 11:52 am.
#3
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Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2010
Location: Palermo Sicily
Posts: 375
Re: Electronic car keys
Good to know Phil although I would still have needed a machine to read the code on my key and reprogram the Ebay key and another machine to cut the key so I am happy with the price I paid. Toyota said that the high price was due to the fact that I only had the valet key. They do replacements at about €100 if you have the master key.
#4
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Joined: May 2012
Location: Cayman Islands
Posts: 4,976
Re: Electronic car keys
Gosh! It sure pays for lurkers to check out what's being talked about in other forums, once in a while. I'm nowhere near Italy, but I do have an old Toyota (well, two of them, actually, both 1997 models) and have in the past needed to cut another key. I think it cost me abut $75 (75 pounds, more or less), after an initial quote from the local Toyota dealer of ten times that - if I recall correctly! Also, it's wise to look for second-hand parts. Both my cars needed new rack-and-pinions; second-hand they were $150 each time (again, 150 pounds). New would have been horrendously expensive.