Water Sports and Key Fobs

RobH · 04-17-2008, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neon tetra

Wait a min... are you saying that someone else's Prius keyfob could start my car?

No. Only that the Prius can be programmed to accept any specific keyfob.

But if, for example, you have two Prius, then you could program each car to accept the other car's keyfob in the keyslot. Programming the button/proximity functions would be dicey, but no problem with the transponders.

RobH · 04-18-2008, 02:51 AM

For the hard core, here's a link to pictures of the inside of a keyfob. The transponder is the only part that is used for the keyslot function. http://priuschat.com/forums/care-mai...tml#post513097

ilusnforc · 11-03-2008, 05:49 PM

A lot of sports/outdoors prius people have the Curt or Coastal hitch, if you have a hitch then you could use one of these:

http://www.hitchsafe.com/

It's a little combination lock box that slides and locks into your receiver hitch. It only fits a 2" hitch so you'd have to have the Coastal 2" hitch or a 2" adapter for a Curt hitch (meaning it would stick out a little further) but would probably hide pretty well under the car and be virtually unnoticeable, it even has a big rubber "dust cover" that makes it look inconspicuous. It's supposed to be big enough to fit credit cards, drivers licences, keys, etc... All of this presuming that you don't have your bike rack or other accessory loaded on the hitch.

Aside from that, without having to spend any money I'd just hide the FOB in the car... or even smarter, maybe pop the hood and hide it in the air filter box or something, nobody would ever find it there, and just carry the manual key on you to open the drivers door.

ScubaGypsy · 12-07-2008, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ilusnforc

A lot of sports/outdoors prius people have the Curt or Coastal hitch, if you have a hitch then you could use one of these:

HitchSafe for trailer hitches hitch receivers, trailer Hitch Cover, key safe, Hitch Accessory, Automotive Key Safe, truck accessory, suv accessory

It's a little combination lock box that slides and locks into your receiver hitch. It only fits a 2" hitch so you'd have to have the Coastal 2" hitch or a 2" adapter for a Curt hitch (meaning it would stick out a little further) but would probably hide pretty well under the car and be virtually unnoticeable, it even has a big rubber "dust cover" that makes it look inconspicuous. It's supposed to be big enough to fit credit cards, drivers licences, keys, etc... All of this presuming that you don't have your bike rack or other accessory loaded on the hitch.

This is exactly what I have done on my 2003 and will be doing on my 2009 as I have the Coastal 2" receiver hitches but have never used them for towing or racks. This "safe" is very unobtrusive with the rubber cap on such that it does not call attention to itself. I have used this feature often when I go shore diving as I've heard of other divers who "hid" their keys but found their vehicle had been entered and ransacked or even stolen in one case.

mp7 · 08-06-2009, 09:17 PM

Hi everyone, I have a new 2010 prius where apparently you cannot disable the smart key. I have tried foil, and the master key lock together( putting the fob inside the master lock without foil does not stop the fob from working despite the fact that it seems to be a metal casing inside) but the fob barely fits in, and when I add foil, the lock barely opened twice, I needed to use another key as a lever to open the master lock. So, fob wrapped in foil foil inside the master lock seems sketchy.

anyone have any other ideas to be able to leave my fob inside the car while I surf? thanks.

RobH · 08-07-2009, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mp7

Hi everyone, I have a new 2010 prius where apparently you cannot disable the smart key. I have tried foil, and the master key lock together( putting the fob inside the master lock without foil does not stop the fob from working despite the fact that it seems to be a metal casing inside) but the fob barely fits in, and when I add foil, the lock barely opened twice, I needed to use another key as a lever to open the master lock. So, fob wrapped in foil inside the master lock seems sketchy.

Wow. Double wrapping a Gen2 keyfob in aluminum foil works. But the 2010 keyfob has 3 times the range of a Gen2. Either the 2010 keyfob puts out 3X the signal, or the receiver on the car is a lot more sensitive, or both. In any case, doesn't look like aluminum foil does the job for the 2010.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mp7

anyone have any other ideas to be able to leave my fob inside the car while I surf? thanks.

You could take the battery out of a keyfob. That will kill the SKS and button functions. The mechanical key will lock/unlock the doors. The transponder in the keyfob will still unlock the Power button when held next to it.

Take the mechanical key (or better yet, a copy) with you in the surf. The disabled keyfob can be left anywhere you want in the car, preferably some place that isn't that obvious.

As an experiment, you might want to see if a Gen2 keyfob transponder can be paired with a 2010 vehicle. A $50 used one off eBay is the goal, but you could experiment with someone else's (careful who you choose, because if it works then they have a key to your Power button...). Try the first procedure in Finally! How to program a non-SKS key/fob. Detailed!

Or you could pay a dealer to try it with a scantool. Expensive, and you'll probably run into a brick wall before they ever try it. Oh, I see you're in the Bay Area (SF?). In that case go to either Luscious Garage in SF, or Art's in Berkeley. They both would probably like to try the experiment themselves, and the price would be about $50. Call them both - maybe they've already done the experiment.

mp7 · 08-08-2009, 12:03 AM

Thanks Rob H on several accounts. The other posts were about the earlier models, and I was not sure how your ideas would work because there is no key slot in the 2010. I will try luscious garage and see what they say.

So if I use the garage do I need to buy the fob first, or do they do it with the scan tool whatever that is?

BTW, it does work (stop functioning) with foil inside the master lock, but that seems like a big hassle with he frequency I surf, and what if the foil develops a tear if I reuse it etc.

I am also tempted to just buy the coastal hitch, and use the little secret box for the key fob.

RobH · 08-08-2009, 03:52 AM

Take a look at 2007 Prius Smart Key Programming? , particularly my post #34. There is a possibility that a transponder key designed for another Toyota may be usable to unlock the Power button on a 2010 Prius. It's just an idea at this point, but it would be worth floating it with the folks at Luscious Garage.

As for buying a new keyfob, the cheapest place is probably Auto Parts - Parts.com, For Every Part of Your Life . You'll have to talk to them about a 2010 keyfob, as their database only went up to 2009 the last time I checked.

The advantage of buying a new keyfob from the people who program it is that you don't pay until it works. If you come in with a keyfob that you purchased elsewhere and it doesn't work, you're at least out the programming charge. If a dealer tech can't make a new keyfob work, he'll just return it to the parts department and try another one. I'd buy the cheapest one I could find, and take the risk. But that's just my style. If you want a solid guarantee, then you'll have to pay the higher price.

I'm hoping that Luscious will be able to make a Toyota transponder key type 4D work with the 2010. Let us know how it goes.

04-18-2008, 02:51 AM	#12
RobH Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Sunnyvale, California Posts: 678 My Car: 2006 Prius Model: Package: #8 Thanks: 23 Thanked 46 Times in 29 Posts Friends: 0	Re: Water Sports and Key Fobs For the hard core, here's a link to pictures of the inside of a keyfob. The transponder is the only part that is used for the keyslot function. http://priuschat.com/forums/care-mai...tml#post513097

11-03-2008, 05:49 PM	#13
ilusnforc Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 375 My Car: 2006 Prius Model: Package: #8 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Friends: 0	Re: Water Sports and Key Fobs A lot of sports/outdoors prius people have the Curt or Coastal hitch, if you have a hitch then you could use one of these: http://www.hitchsafe.com/ It's a little combination lock box that slides and locks into your receiver hitch. It only fits a 2" hitch so you'd have to have the Coastal 2" hitch or a 2" adapter for a Curt hitch (meaning it would stick out a little further) but would probably hide pretty well under the car and be virtually unnoticeable, it even has a big rubber "dust cover" that makes it look inconspicuous. It's supposed to be big enough to fit credit cards, drivers licences, keys, etc... All of this presuming that you don't have your bike rack or other accessory loaded on the hitch. Aside from that, without having to spend any money I'd just hide the FOB in the car... or even smarter, maybe pop the hood and hide it in the air filter box or something, nobody would ever find it there, and just carry the manual key on you to open the drivers door. __________________ 2006 Magnetic Grey Pkg. #8, OEM EV Button, 5.1 Nav DVD, All Weather Floor Mats, Cargo Nets, Window Tint. Last edited by ilusnforc; 11-03-2008 at 06:21 PM.

08-06-2009, 09:17 PM	#15
mp7 Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: bay area Posts: 3 My Car: 2010 Prius Model: III Package: #3 Touring Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 0	Re: Water Sports and Key Fobs Hi everyone, I have a new 2010 prius where apparently you cannot disable the smart key. I have tried foil, and the master key lock together( putting the fob inside the master lock without foil does not stop the fob from working despite the fact that it seems to be a metal casing inside) but the fob barely fits in, and when I add foil, the lock barely opened twice, I needed to use another key as a lever to open the master lock. So, fob wrapped in foil foil inside the master lock seems sketchy. anyone have any other ideas to be able to leave my fob inside the car while I surf? thanks.

08-08-2009, 12:03 AM	#17
mp7 Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: bay area Posts: 3 My Car: 2010 Prius Model: III Package: #3 Touring Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 0	Re: Water Sports and Key Fobs Thanks Rob H on several accounts. The other posts were about the earlier models, and I was not sure how your ideas would work because there is no key slot in the 2010. I will try luscious garage and see what they say. So if I use the garage do I need to buy the fob first, or do they do it with the scan tool whatever that is? BTW, it does work (stop functioning) with foil inside the master lock, but that seems like a big hassle with he frequency I surf, and what if the foil develops a tear if I reuse it etc. I am also tempted to just buy the coastal hitch, and use the little secret box for the key fob.

08-08-2009, 03:52 AM	#18
RobH Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Sunnyvale, California Posts: 678 My Car: 2006 Prius Model: Package: #8 Thanks: 23 Thanked 46 Times in 29 Posts Friends: 0	Re: Water Sports and Key Fobs Take a look at 2007 Prius Smart Key Programming? , particularly my post #34. There is a possibility that a transponder key designed for another Toyota may be usable to unlock the Power button on a 2010 Prius. It's just an idea at this point, but it would be worth floating it with the folks at Luscious Garage. As for buying a new keyfob, the cheapest place is probably Auto Parts - Parts.com, For Every Part of Your Life . You'll have to talk to them about a 2010 keyfob, as their database only went up to 2009 the last time I checked. The advantage of buying a new keyfob from the people who program it is that you don't pay until it works. If you come in with a keyfob that you purchased elsewhere and it doesn't work, you're at least out the programming charge. If a dealer tech can't make a new keyfob work, he'll just return it to the parts department and try another one. I'd buy the cheapest one I could find, and take the risk. But that's just my style. If you want a solid guarantee, then you'll have to pay the higher price. I'm hoping that Luscious will be able to make a Toyota transponder key type 4D work with the 2010. Let us know how it goes.