We bought our first Prius, a new C-3, yestersday. It has the keyless ignition, and came with two fobs. I like having a 3rd key for all of my vehicles to keep in my safe as a spare, but when I called the dealership to ask about having a 3rd key and fob made, they quoted me $489. Any suggestions for more affordable options?
Maybe if you tell them that you want to return the car and get your money back because Prius' have always come with three sets of keys and if they can't provide that you'll find a dealer who will?
None that I am aware of. The other question I have is do you get any warning before the battery in the FOB gives up the ghost?
I dont know. This is our first ever Prius and it is only one day old. The fob does have a small key inside of it that will allow the lock to be opened manually, and there is some sort of magnetic transponder in the fob that will allow the keyless ignition to operate even if the battery is dead. You just have to hold the fob right up against the power button. How many keys and fobs did you get when you bought your car?
Never read on Prius chat about people getting less than 3 keys when buying new... And all us used Prius buyers by default have expensive Prius spare key replacement problems. (we do lots of reading on the subject). I could be wrong, but, this isn't the first time I noticed a new Prius buyer didn't get three sets of keys...
I only rec'd 2 sets for my C4, and I'll bet that's all you get with the C models with smart key functions.
Congrats on the new car, I got a C3 as well. Out here in Cali, I too only received 2 keys. My last car only had 1 key, so I was pleased with 2.
Mine came with two...but it's a plain old G3. Yeah, it's a bummer, huh? All that money that you're about to save in Gas? Toyota wants some of it back!!! I think I'd pop a flare over my dealer over this if the car is only one day old...find out who the owner is and fuss at them a little. No....I don't think that they should give you another fob for free...but $500??? You know what P.T. Barnum says? OK....so maybe things aren't as bad as you may think. Fobs are re-programmable for the G2's and the G3's. No...you don't need to replace the ECU, you just have to find the right locksmith, and buy a used fob. I'm thinking that if you're out there on the left coast, there might be one or both near you. I'm also thinking that there isn't a huge difference between the keyless systems for a G3 and the trial-size Prius, although I'd be looking into this before I spent a new i-thing's worth of money only to find out that a little research would have saved me 80-percent of that money. A few years ago, there were (and today there still may be) Toyota dealerships that charged people hundreds of dollars for a fob and told them that this is the only way on the planet that you can get one for "this new car." I have no problem with the first part. I'm reluctant to become a Toyota owner because of things like the second. Good luck with the new car!!!
Yeah you will get a warning on the info display. Refer to the thread below. Key battery low on info display?!? | PriusChat
if you have smart keys (i.e. C3 or C4).. you should only get two of them. for the C1 and C2.. two masters with the remote.. and a plain valet key.