I was owed a second key fob by the dealer for my Prius Prime and I finally went in to get one programmed for the car. I'm glad I don't have to pay because they said it would have cost $500! That's more than my feature filled smartphone, and I can watch Netflix movies and take selfies with my smartphone. They also said it would take two hours! I'm waiting as I type this. Maybe one of those hours is trying to find the manual on how to program a key fob.
The dealer lost one of the fobs. They promised me the second one, but never responded to my calls/emails about getting the replacement. I admit to not really pressing them hard about it. I finally just walked around asking everyone while waiting for my 1 year service and finally someone said they'd handle it.
A local locksmith told me that he can supply and program one for about half the cost of the dealership.
Not sure about the Prime SKS, but with my other vehicles (German) lost keys need to be removed from the cars programming by the dealer so as to remove possibility of theft. Would a non-dealer be able to accomplish that, or have access to existing SKS data to determine which data set to eliminate? It would really bite to have the missing key turn up and be used nefariously... hey, could happen!
Most independent repair shops can as well. They need to get an authorization from Toyota, which they can do through their software tools.
Maybe time to check out other dealerships. Might be out of the pan and into the fire, but who knows. Anyone could do better than that, lol.
I attached a small luggage tag with my phone number. As long as someone reasonably responsible finds it, you'll get it back. But yeah a Tile is good, my son's got that. Taping phone number to your locking lug nut socket is a good idea too.
I know you can get fobs on Amazon for Gen IIs way cheaper than from Toyota and then do some really stupid "dances" to program them (assumes you have the other fob). I don't know if they exist for Gen IVs or Primes though.
Just in case I lose my fobs, I went ahead and bought a refurbished but virginized PRIME fob online for ~$90, but I don't have a working Techstream to program it DIY. A local locksmith or dealer can do the programming for $$$ but they do not guarantee their work since the fob was not purchased from them,
My younger daughter needs one of those ... on her primary fob which she can't find. Has to be in the car or house somewhere since she got home 3 days ago and couldn't have driven the car without it. Actually, it can't be in the car or she wouldn't be able to lock it at work. Where are you finding 4 for that price? Those that I see on Amazon are substantially more expensive.
It was a good deal for a while at Best Buy. I bought these on Feb 1, 2019. These are the Mates, not the super fancy long-range Tiles (Pro), but they aren't the models with non-replaceable batteries.
How long to the batteries last? Seems it might be cheaper in the long run to get one with replaceable batteries.
This model has replaceable batteries. It takes a CR 1632 3V cell, which I would estimate will last a year.
