New Prius (2005) owner needs help with programming key fob :)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ham-n-cheese @ Aug 22 2007, 11:44 PM) [snapback]500816[/snapback]</div>

Shop around to a few other dealers. That seems a bit high to me.

 

Get a silver-logo smart key fob! SKS is wonderful and addictive. If you keep the black fob and pay to program it, you will kick yourself and never use it. With the silver-logo fob, you reach for the door and it unlocks, you press the power button and the car starts. With the black fob, you have to get the fob out of your pocket and press the lock-unlock button, you have to stick the fob in the dash slot before you start the car. It may seem trivial until you have used the SKS a while, but you get so used to it you wonder why all locks aren’t SKS.

Congratulations on your new car and welcome to PriusChat, ham-n-cheese!

 

My recommendation is to keep the black logo keyfob, but go out and get another silver logo keyfob. I figure you need a keyfob per driver, plus a backup silver logo keyfob kept in your house, plus a black logo (or batteryless silver logo) keyfob that you hide inside the car. Then make as many mechanical key copies as you figure might be useful. At $2 each, you can have a mechanical key for your wallet, one for your exercise outfit, one for the gym bag, etc.

When I go running, I only carry a mechanical key. The keyfob is just too big and expensive to risk losing it on the trail. I leave a batteryless keyfob hidden in the car, and plug it into the keyslot to operate the car. The mechanical key locks/unlocks the driver side door.

The dealer charge for adding two keyfobs shouldn't be much more than adding one.

Actually, I managed to program my batteryless keyfob without a visit to the dealer. Only the keyslot function works, but that's adequate for backup usage.

 

[attachmentid=10883]I've attached a copy of the instructions I used to program my 2006 keyfob. There are at least 3 copies of these instructions that I found in various places on the net. The origin seems to be a post by Victor on PriusOnline. He translated them from the German service manual. They are apparently designed for the European 2004 Prius Executive. The general opinion is that they don't work with a US Prius. I found one report that the instructions work to program the remote buttons, but not the keyslot or SKS. My experience is that I got the keyslot function to work, but nothing else.

It took me several afternoons of fiddling before I had any success. It may well be that I did something not described in the instructions that actually made it work. For a start, I'd remove the batteries from both working and new keyfobs, and disable the SKS switch under the steering wheel. Don't have any other keyfobs within 10 feet of the car. Then just keep trying the programming sequence. It took me a number of tries before I actually did everything in the right sequence while meeting the timeout requirements.

There were other sets of instructions that I tried as well, including several that were clearly designed for the classic Prius. At one point I tried adding a classic Prius key, and the car responded that the key was present but unacceptable. So the keyslot appears to use a transponder that is quite similar to the one used in the classic Prius. I suspect that the only problem with the classic Prius transponder key was that its serial number was out of range.

Enjoy, but don't get your hopes up too high...

 

My UK keyfob has a black logo on the back but only 2 buttons on the front - it doesnt have the red button
Will the three button ones work in my Prius?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(prius2go @ Oct 3 2007, 03:55 PM) [snapback]520869[/snapback]</div>

My guess is yes. But the only way to really find out is to try it.

The next question is what happens when you press the red button? The US model sounds the horn until you press the unlock key.

Since the instructions referenced above are designed for a German Prius, they may well work with the UK version. Nobody really knows, or at least those who do aren't talking. Let us know about any results you get, good or bad.

 

just tried plugging in and unplugging my keyfob 6 times and the blinking car symbol does what it did before
i..e stops blinking
it should be on

 

anyone tried plugging the black logo fob 6 times to see if it goes into test mode
dont worry it reverts to untest mode later

I'm wondering if the instructions are valid

 

I am an entrepreneur and I believe in the spirit of the free enterprise system, but in this case it's an expensive lesson with less than anticipated results.
I bought a silver logo, number matching fob (SKS),on line, to replace a lost fob . I took it to a dealer who was only able to program it to start the car (as long as the fob was in the fob slot). I took the blank key to my local hardware store, that advertises that it can duplicate auto keys. They tried my blank key and one of their blanks, but neither worked. I ended up buying a key ($9.00) from a dealer. They don't duplicate it from your original key, but from a Toyota code for my car (VIN number). At first it didn't work, so make sure they de-burr well. After that it worked- with a little persuasion. It should work easier each time it is used.

 

Find another dealer. Many dealers can reprogram your car to allow the use of a used fob. It requires them to call Toyota and get a new "seed" code, reset the ECU with the new seed, and add in all of your fobs (not just the new one). Obviously this takes a longer, so it costs more. Some dealers don't know about it; some don't want to bother.

The mechanical key (metal key) in the Gen II fob is a standard Toyota blank, without the fat end grip. It can be duplicated onto a normal Toyota key. Any decent locksmith can do this for you without having to resort to code cutting the key. Your hardware store isn't very adept in cutting keys. That's why a real locksmith is often a better choice.

This story is about incompetent or indifferent service, not poor design.

Tom