Making a new key fob?

Maybe. Probably.
Or some other way to keep only the RFID function without the buttons or batteries.
A locksmith who REALLY understands how it all works might be able to help.
Forget talking to a Toyota shop.

This should make for an interesting discussion here.

My honest first reactions was:
Not worth wasting your time and money to find out.
Both could be much better spent on other really important things.

 

wow, why did they have to use such large case? more backward engineering from toyota.

maybe you could slip it into a small vinyl pouch like a credit card holder or something.

 

It should work and I think it is a good idea--the FOB is a pretty bulky thing all the car companies are making us carry around.

The only problem I see is where to put the emergency mechanical key that is hidden in the FOB. Maybe it can go on your keychain as a separate key.

 

a few years ago, someone figured out how to make a lexus credit card fob work with prius.

 

Following =)

 

I think the reality is that they're much the same size as most on the market.

It's got to be a balance of - big enough to not lose easily, big enough to be robust enough for tradespeople etc, big enough to be able to dismantle easily without a magnifying glass, big enough to hold a reasonable sized battery - and small enough to be reasonably portable. People lose Smart Phones!! A coin sized FOB - the manufacturers would love them because they'd be selling replacements much more often.

I don't doubt they could be made smaller - but if it's going to have to be mounted on a key-ring, it's small enough.

 

actually, it's much bigger than the past two generations, which seems odd, and less comfortable in the pocket. whereas lexus has a credit card type.

 

Oh - mine is about the same as the FORD I had last. Better than a fixed key with a FOB built in like in the olden days - remember them ?

The PRIUS has got 3 buttons as well as a built-in key, more than some, though now I think about it, the FORD had 3 buttons - one for the boot, but no emergency button.

 

Toyota’s answer is the Smart Key Box, but I have no idea how you’d get one without being a large fleet customer.

I don’t think so. The RFID reader is in the power switch, but the allow/deny decision isn’t made there; the keys don’t have to be registered again if the switch is replaced. Instead, as Toyota explains in New Car Features (more info), the switch “Receives the ID code and transmits it to the certification ECU (smart key ECU assembly) when the key battery is too weak to respond to the tuner based on the signals from the room antennas.”

 

mine has 4 buttons with the remote a/c

 

Another solution would be to hang the key around your neck on a lanyard.

 

I'm looking - but can only see 3 - but it's 1) early morning; and 2) a Public Holiday:


Oh - wait, there's more. There's a button to remove the REAL Key underneath.

 

i have a 2012 plug in prius

 

Ahh - so they've downsized for Gen 4 - maybe weight reduction? Mine is 37 grams.

 

upsized. mine is about 2/3 the size of yours. that's why i made the original comment

 

Like this ?

Remote by kithmo posted Oct 7, 2019 at 12:39 PM