Delivered with one key FOB

Yeah, I'm going to agree with a share of user error in this one. You could have easily gotten your second key three months ago if you had been even the littlest bit proactive.

My case:
- car built 1st week April
- car delivered 4th week May
- 2nd key notification in app 4th week of Nov
- called dealership Monday, Nov 27 to have them order the key and set appointment
- appt. Tuesday afternoon, Nov 28; in and out within an hour

 

Make life easy on yourself.

1. Get the Toyota app on your phone if you don't have it already.
2. Starting in March, check it every few days. You might have to scroll down a bit depending on your screen size. You'll be looking for a service campaign notification in the Health & Alerts section. (you should get the notification mid-March, give or take a week)
3. When you get the notification, call your dealership's service department - not the parts department - (it does not have to be the dealership where you bought the car) and say your car is eligible for the second key campaign. They'll need to check the VIN, so have it handy, though it will probably already be in their system. They will order the key from Toyota and set an appointment with you to have you bring your car in to have the key programmed. It should take under an hour, but plan on 1.5-2.0hrs just to be safe.
4. Show up for your appt(or drop off the car), and drive it away an hour or two later.

 

Thank you for these step-by-step instructions! I’m due to pick up my Prime SE in supersonic red later this month and it’s good to know in advance how to be proactive in getting that second fob.

Just a quick question: how does the app know that you’re in need of a second fob? Is there a way to request one in the app?

 

It knows your VIN because you have to setup a profile

 

So what's happening is that Toyota is giving out the second key fob in the order the cars were built. So owners of cars built in Nov get their fobs, then cars built in Dec, then Jan, etc.

Toyota has given dealers a rough timetable for when the second fobs should be available for all cars. If you're picking your car up in late Feb, it was probably built sometime in early to mid Jan(it takes awhile to get from the factory to the dealer). Currently, all cars built in 2024(Jan/Feb/Mar) are set to get their second fob starting in May. Since a Jan-built car is near the front of that group, I would expect earlyish May for your fob.

Toyota sends out key fob service campaigns in batches based on VIN order. I don't know how big or small the batches are and how frequently they update. Every weekday, once a week, every two weeks, once a month? In any case, eventually they'll get to your VIN group and issue a service campaign that includes your particular car. The Toyota app is linked to both your particular car(it's how you can autostart it, check your fuel level, etc,) and to Toyota's service computers for recalls and the like. So as soon as your VIN group come up, it will pop up on the app.

Toyota will also send a letter letting you know the second fob is available, but they send those only after your VIN group is up, so people are actually receiving the letters up to a month after they were already eligible. That's why we say watching the app is the better solution.

 

Mild correction to my earlier post. I was sloppy when looking at the key release chart the other day. Expect yours sometime in April, not March.

(I misread that your VIN group was going to be released just in March, when it's actually going to be released over both March and April. Since your VIN will be toward the bottom of your VIN group, it will probably happen sometime in April, not late March like I said earlier.)

 

Thank you for the detailed info; using to app receive notice of the second fob availability makes a lot more sense now. I’ll be sure to download/set up the app when I pick up the Prius Prime SE.

 

Got my 2024 with one key fob. They tell me the same thing about the shortage. Not sure what's so hard about making them.

 

Remember the great computer chip shortage of 2022? Toyota was one of its victims and couldn't get enough chips to supply 2 key fobs with every car. So, they only supplied one fob with a promise to provide the 2nd one when the shortage eased. The shortage eased, but Toyota still could not order enough chips to provide the 2nd key as promised and provide new cars with 2 fobs. So, they are still providing new cars with only 1 key. The good news is they are getting enough chips to reduce the backlog and shorten the waiting time to get a 2nd key. Until they catch up, though, there will still be a delay in getting a 2nd key.

By the way, a previous comment mentioned that you should contact a Toyota dealer's service department to set up getting the fob when you get the notice. The dealer I went through (the one closest to me, not where I bought the car) immediately switched me to the parts department to order the key. When the parts department had the fob, they switched me to the service department to schedule the required appointment to get the key programmed. Every dealership has a different procedure, but both departments are aware of the program. So, no matter who you talk to, they'll get you on track.

 

We picked up our car July 6,2023 and are still waiting for a second key fob. (Our daughter-in-law bought a RAV 4 before we bought our Prius and finally received her second key fob recently.)

 

Still a problem late December 2023 and not received second fob by early February 2024.

 

If you paid attention to your app, you'd know that you were eligible for a second key over a month ago, maybe two. Call your dealer's service department, give them your VIN, get the fob ordered, and make an appointment to have the car programmed.

 

Expect it sometime next month(if you check your app).

 

We bought a hycam back in August. It came with two keys, apparently those chips must not have experienced a shortage

 

They did, but that shortage was resolved quicker. The Camrys currently use the older Type 2 key fobs(introduced in 2015). They'll likely switch to the newer Type 3/4 fobs(introduced in 2019) next year with the 2025 9th gen Camry*. It's the Type 3/4 that are still giving Toyota problems getting caught up.

The last Camrys to only get one fob on delivery were built over a year ago in Jan 2023. And those last cars were part of Phase 2 of 2nd key delivery(we just started Phase 6 at the start of this month).



*assuming there isn't about to be a switch to a Type 5/6 fob soon; we are about due for an update as the Type 3/4 design is now about six years old

**I'm probably wrong, but I think the Type 3/Type 4 difference is that one comes with two buttons(lock/unlock) while the other has a third button for a rear hatch/trunk/door.

 

I picked up a Prius Prime XSE early in February. I managed to snag one in Colorado. Toyota is not allocating ANY Prius Primes in Utah where I live (cause Utah is not a CARB state). The Prime was built in December. I was only given one fob, nothing else. The Colorado dealer arraigned my second fob to be delivered to my local Toyota dealer. I went in yesterday to see when I could expect my second fob. Because of the backlog for Prius Prime fobs and the fact that my Prime was only built last December, I was told that they can’t even inquire about delivery until late March. The dealer at that point estimated it’s likely to be six months before delivery.

 

Wrong. If the car really was built in December, then you'll be eligible for the second key sometime this month or next.

Do you have the Toyota app installed on your phone? If not, do so and link your car to the app.

Now open the app and make sure your new car is selected(if you only have one Toyota, you can disregard this). Tap the Health button. Look at the bottom of the screen for Service Campaigns. If it says "No service campaigns", then you're not eligible for the second key yet. If it says there is a service campaign, then you're eligible. Just check the app once a week or so to stay updated until you get the notification.

Once the app says you've got the service campaign, call your Toyota dealer's service department and tell them. Doesn't matter at all what dealer you call; any dealership can do this. Tell the service department you're eligible for the second key service campaign. Have your VIN handy in case they ask for it. They may transfer you to their parts department, or they may do everything themselves; it varies from dealership to dealership. If they do transfer you to parts, repeat that this is about a second key service campaign when you start talking to them.

In either case, the dealership will order a key for you. It should take a day or three depending on how close the nearest Toyota warehouse is(I'm betting it will be SLC). They may also be willing to schedule the key programming service appointment right away, or they may want to wait until the key has arrived. Again, it varies from dealership to dealership. If you plan to wait at the dealership during the reprogramming, I'd budget two hours just to be safe. It only takes 15-30 minutes to do the actual programming, but that's assuming the tech assigned to the job isn't running behind from previous repairs that day, or that there aren't any other snafus.

Again, if your car was really built in December, you're going to be eligible for your key fairly soon. Toyota just released an updated service campaign letter today, and the timelines for Phase 6 didn't change. Cars built in Nov and Dec of 2023 are still scheduled to start getting their second keys starting right about now. Absolute worst case would be second half of April.

 

I bought my Prime on August 31st last year. Got my notification that a 2nd key is available a month ago, getting it tomorrow.

 

Notified via app or by mail?

 

@Hammersmith , Thanks for posting that pdf. My Prime has a build date of 11/23. Hope to get the 2nd fob soon