I am the new owner of a 2013 prius plugin. Picked it up about 2 weeks ago and have been reading up on here about these cars. I have a couple questions now, Is there a 2016 PiP? I noticed the forum only had gen 1 PiP. Just curious why there was no 2016 listed. My car only came with 1 key fob thats a smart key. I just picked up a second key fob (used), how can I program this? I have seen the instructions for programming the fobs that you can insert but there is nowhere to insert on my PiP. And the key I guess is to only open the doors? Or is there a way to start prius with it? Thanks for the guidance!
The generation 1 PiP ceased manufacturing in the summer of 2015. So no 2016 PiP, just the upcoming 2017 Prius Prime which is a 2nd generation PiP. As to the key fob, once programmed it should be able to start the car as well as unlock the three doors as normal. I've never tried it so I can't help, sorry. Unsupervised!
congrats on your pip! correct, the mechanical key is for emergency use if your fob or 12v battery are dead. you cannot start the car with it. if your fob battery is dead, you can hold the fob up to the power button to start the car. get your second fob programmed before losing the first, or it gets a lot more expensive. there are a ton of threads here on fob programming that might be helpful. all the best!
If you are not computer savvy and technically inclined I will suggest you to purchase a brand new FOB and have it programmed by the dealer, it will alleviate a lot of headaches and complications that going the DIY way.
I found a used key locally for $25 so I grabbed it. I'm going to take it to dealer to see if they can help me and program it. I will order the key blank and have that cut later. Fingers crossed it gets programed easily.
Took the used key fob to the dealer to program to my PiP and unfortunately I was told these key fobs can only be programmed once. Is the part that needs to be programmed to the car the actual fob or is there a chip in the actual key blade?
The dealer is giving incorrect info. A used key can be paired to the Prius, but the process is involved, and perhaps the dealer doesn't want to mess with it. It will likely be more expensive to pair the used key than to buy a new one and have it paired. The blade is simply a piece of metal cut to unlock the doors and does nothing else. New keys can be programmed yourself using TechStream and an ODBII to USB adapter. There are threads with as much info as you would want to know if you do a search. Here is one such thread.
I ordered a never-programmed fob off of Ebay, plus Techstream software and programmed it myself using instructions on one of the threads on here. The longest part was installing the software on my laptop. You can program up to 6 keys. The fob cost about 88 dollars and the software about 26 dollars. The dealer wanted $455...
I purchased a new/never programmed key fob on eBay. It is the same number as the existing fob - HYQ14ACX. I took it to the dealer but they said it is for another car (Highlander or something) and not a Prius so they can't program it. I do see my existing fob has "A/C" as the extra button whereas this fob has a trunk symbol on that button. Does anyone know if it should be possible to program this fob for my car, or if I can only use one with the same number that is for a Prius?
