Is It Possible to Change the Key Code of My Prius (Attempted Theft)?

Triangular window in the rear door? $90 list price for the one on the right, left one shown as no longer available (which doesn't necessarily mean that no dealer anywhere has one).

But there are always recycled parts, and glass parts are usually pretty well covered in the aftermarket.

Door window replacements are usually good DIY projects; not hard to do, saves paying somebody labor.

You can change the registered electronic codes for the keys, the physical cut of the keys, or both, if you want.

As long as you have one master key in your possession (one that makes the red security LED go out immediately when put in the slot, not a couple seconds later), you can use the various programming procedures like "forget all programmed keys except this one", and the ones to register new keys. Any new key you register, you can choose to register as a master (whoever has it can use it to register other keys) or as a sub (works as a key, but not to register others).

From the factory, Toyota programs the ones with black overmolds to be masters, and the one with the gray overmold as a sub. (The gray one is also cut differently, and won't open the trunk; it's a "valet key".)

When you are programming your own, you can add any key as a master or as a sub, regardless of its color or cut. So really, the way to check whether some key you have is programmed as a master is to stick it in the slot and see what the security LED does, and the way to see if it's a valet cut is to try opening the trunk with it.

The easy, no-locksmith way of changing the physical cut was probably to buy a new "lock cylinder set", which would have a new set of keys and the four cylinders you'd need to replace (both doors, trunk, ignition), but those seem to be no longer available. Locksmiths may be able to take out the ones you have and re-bit them to fit a different key cut.

 

I think........
You are indeed being needlessly paranoid about this.
And your money would be better spent being sure you have good insurance.

 

I discovered a puzzling break-in one very cold morning, where again only the smallest possible window had been broken and nothing seemed missing, but everything on my back seat had been moved to the floor.

I stopped for breakfast at a diner I frequented, and griped about it to the server. Turned out the same thing had happened to her, but in her case it seemed the visitor got spooked and fled, leaving a pillow behind.

 

A place they didn't freeze to death that night.

 

Bastiges!

It looks like they messed up your lock cylinder (89709-47030) and pried off the antenna for reading the key chip (the black donut thing that used to go around where you put the key in, 89782-47010). Don't know if they took that donut with them or if you'll find it in the car somewhere.

I'm guessing the red and blue wires are what connect the control unit (89780-47010) to the donut. They aren't in my wiring diagram; you can see in the parts drawing, the computer just seems to have its own little stub cable that runs down to where the donut goes.

It's intriguing what the bastiges might have been doing with those two wires. The donut is just an antenna that carries the code from your key up to the computer, so it's not like they could just, you know, short those two wires together like in the movies and start the car up. They would have to simulate a signal that the antenna would have picked up from the chip in your key.

Maybe they have some kind of box that generates lots of key codes, and they hooked the antenna wires to that.

Looks like you'll need the lock cylinder, and the antenna donut if you can't find it in the car. Dealers still have the cylinder but they show the donut as NLA. Might get one from salvage.

The drawing shows a bunch of all-in-one kits that used to be available (one with a new computer, set of keys, and all four lock cylinders for the car; one with a new computer, pair of keys, and just the ignition cylinder) but not everything is still available for the 21 year old car.

Then ways of thwarting the attempts. A kill switch somewhere. Glass breakage alarm. Security cam. Um, blob of epoxy on the new connections to the antenna donut.

Hmm, get a spare key that's cut wrong and won't turn the lock. Leave it in the ignition and modify the shifter-in-Park interlock so it can't be pulled out. Have your neighborhood metal fabricator give it a big mushroom head.

The idea is that no single obstacle is guaranteed to stop the determined thief, but enough obstacles make them wonder why they're wasting their time on your car.

 

Hopefully your insurance will pay for the ignition repair.
IF......you had a good battery in place, just the built-in alarm might have chased them away.
Sometimes you are your own worst enemy.

 

I think so, probably, maybe depending on the locksmith.

 

My guess is with the lock cylinder out of the way, they could just stick a screwdriver into the switch slot and turn it to ON and to START.

But they would still somehow need to send signals that looked like your key code coming from the antenna.

 

I suspect, first time they fitted and hide recorder to the antenna circuit so it could record code of original key. Also probably they cut the wire to alarm horn in engine compartment.

 

They didn't knew you have kill switch, I'm just guessing they cut the wire as precaution to make sure it don't wake up everyone when they break in. Just check alarm and normal horn if they both are functional.

 

Install GPS tracker and let them steal it.

 

What on earth is making them so hot to have a twenty-one-year-old Prius?