Dog Destroyed my 2007 Fob

Welcome to PriusChat!!

Look for a new FOB case online, they usually cost around $10. Then Switch over all of the parts, including the antenna etc.

 

If you pop open the fob cover and the electronics inside are damaged, then you pretty much have 3 choces:
1. Repair.
2. Replace at the dealership.
3. Call a locksmith.

I would use option 1, but I know how to use a soldering iron, and @SFO brought up an excellent point about ordering a replacement case off of eBay.

If the electronics are beyond repair, I would see if there is a locksmith in the LA area that can reprogram a Toyota "smart" key and get some quotes.
Prius "smart" keys are not emerging technology.
They've been around long enough for many locksmiths to be able to reprogram a used fob to your car.
Sometimes it's quite cheap.
Other times it's a little more expensive because....well it's expensive for locksmiths to live in SoCal too.

Shop around.

Last option.
Talk with a Toyota sales person.
Ask to see the keyfob for a brand-new 2019 Prius.
Stare and compare.
Then?
Ask them how much it would be to get a new fob for one of their new cars.

Remind them that your car is 12 years old and you might want/need to buy a replacement car soon.
Tell them that a retired Navy Chief that you know just make a copy of the "smart key" for his GM that set him back..............$26, and that if Toyota is still doinking people for hundreds of dollars for the same old, tired, key bob that they've been using for a decade and a half that it might be time for you to consider seeing other people......

They might give you a price break.
They might not.

CAUTION!!!
Do not drive your 07 onto the lot.
That can lead to a $30,000 keyfob replacement......with the same type of fob!!!

 

uh-huh, sure she did.

 

.....and here I thought they only ate homework.

 

To get a proper working fob, you'll need to buy new/used fob and do a reseed of the car programming. This will not be a cheap option and that dog is now in the doghouse

If you still have all the chewed up parts, there is a RFID chip in there that can be transferred into a new case that will enable you to start the car, but the lock and unlock buttons won't work. This is only about a $10-$20 option

 

Serious question. Is it a good idea to have an extra mechanical key on my key ring? Someone mentioned getting one made at Lowes.

 

Yes, it's only $2

 

Thanks. At least I will have some shelter while waiting for the taxi to get there. I hope I never lose that dang FOB.

I thought I saw a thread about hiding an extra FOB in the car? Do any of you hide a spare FOB in your Prius? Battery removed, of course. (and you better hope the battery is not dead, when needed.)

 

Ok, have a good laugh at this. The FOB is in that little leather zip-case. (No need to take it out.) It sits securely in my pocket, and the other end of thIs "contraption" clips to my belt loop. You never see it because my shirt covers it.

 

LOL

 

I have a de-batteried spare fob inside the car and a metal key tie-wrapped to the exterior.
You can start the car without a battery in the fob.....at least on the G3s.

#smartkey isn't

 

You should always have a 2nd working smart key. Just in case you lose one.

 

It’s designed that way so you can start the car if the battery in the fob is dead. Seems smart to me. I usually put the key in the slot when I drive. Saves on the battery in the fob.

 

I am sorry for the mishap.

But be kind to Cujo. He didn't mean it. He thought it was tastier. LOL
Let us know how it goes.

 

That's sounds like a good idea.

My Prius doesn't have a slot. Doesn the dead Fob need to be close to the Power Button after starting it?

Well, it's good to know that I can always open the door with the mechanical key on my key ring. And the dead FOB hidden in the car will start it.

 

All gen 2 Prius cars have the slot to my knowledge.

 

There's nothing 'smart' about a keyfob that represents a single point of failure for your vehicle AND costs hundreds of dollars to replace if your purse gets stolen......you drop your keys down a storm drain, or.........your dog eats your homework.
I've been here since 2010, and I've seen HUNDREDS of stories about (mostly G3 and above) "smart-key" failures ranging from the infamous airport drop-off: fail, to SKS swapping rf with the car in the garage (seen it) to people accidentally locking their fob in the car when the battery gets juuuuuuuuust weak enough to be non detectable to the car when you get out (seen that) or if an owner buys some kinda goofy faraday-purse to keep skimmers from getting their credit card info.....(seen that too!)

Our company still has some Priuses, and there have been numerous complaints about technicians and "smart-key" fails.
Me?
I neither planned to fail nor failed to plan.
As soon as the limitations of the "smart" key made themselves clear to me I "lost" my spare......meaning my company had to purchase another "spare" for the folks in the garage that we underpay to swing wrenches on our cars.
I'm thinking that they worked a deal with the local thieves at the Yota delaership to do it at "cost" which means that it probably "only" cost my beloved company a few hundred bucks to get a third fob - but that's not my lookout.
I can tell you that one time during the last 8 years I've had to deploy the emergency fob, and this saved my beloved company much more than the money they spent in getting the spare.
As I said earlier.....I took the battery out of the spare fob and hid it inside the car.
I then put the metal keylet in a clever exterior location that I can access "fairly" quickly in case I'm 75 miles from my home office and an office badge-reader failure leaves me locked out of a building that my tool pouch is locked inside of (seen that one too!)

My 2006 "dumb" car (SUV) has an RFID chip'd key and a proper, rolling code rf transmitter to unlock the door and disable the alarm.
I have a backup key physically located on the car's exterior that will both physically unlock the car AND start the car.
There's an almost ZERO percent chance that I will have to call AL the tow-truck dude if I lose my "dumb" key and there's FULLY a zero-percent chance that some sleazy dealership will tell me that I have to replace the ECU to copy my "smart" key.....and, yeah.
I've seen that in this forum too!

Smart?
YMMV.

 

So you do have a second key then. You just choose to keep it in the car.