Has anyone bought an extra fob?

[Godiva]

I do NOT have the SmartKey system, just the plain old package 1.

I'm looking at buying another remote/fob for my parents. I know it won't be cheap.

Has anyone bought one and if so, how much was it?

Could you program it yourself or did the dealer have to do it? If so, how much?

I'm currently looking at a remote at www.keylessride.com for $148 which includes directions to program. Is that a fair price?

I imagine I could get the key cut at any key place using my existing key.

[seasalsa]

There is a factory fob on eBay now and the bidding is up to $152 with 3 days to go. I don't know about programming but there are several Prius tech's that post regularly that can probably answer that question.

[DanMan32]

I don't think the non-sks fob costs that much!

If memory serves me right, I think you might be able to program the wireless remote without the scan tool but not the immobilizer.

[Godiva]

I can get a fob from anythingtoyota.com for $131 plus $7 shipping. That seems to be the lowest price I can find. And I'll have to get it programmed by the service department. They need the new fob, my current fob, the car and tools they have. This according to both anythingtoyota and the dealership. It will cost $47 to program. If I buy the fob at the dealership it will cost $178 and I'll still have to pay the extra $47 to program it. So it's cheaper to buy from anythingtoyota.

Anythingtoyota can cut the key for free with the code, which I believe is the little silver tag. Or I can have any locksmith do it.

All in all a very expensive proposition but I'll pay it because I don't want to give my parents my only spare key. I also doubt the price is going to come down significantly over the next year or two. I will caution them how expensive it is so they don't do anything careless with it.

[Godiva]

Okay. I paid the money and finally got the extra fob programmed.

It will drive the car.

It won't lock and unlock the doors.

Is this right? Only the original two fobs can lock and unlock the doors? I thought I read somewhere here that you can have up to five fobs for a car. Are you telling me that only the first two drivers can lock and unlock the car using the fob and all additional drivers need to use the key? For $230?

I need to know asap before I call the Service Dept. tomorrow and complain again. I want to have some sort of document or knowledge base to quote to tell them that a third fob can be added to the first two and it can do everything, not only drive the car but also lock and unlock the doors.

I am getting pretty tired of spending my days driving to the dealership every day to get this fob thing done.

And I want to make sure I'm right before I bring some BBQ'd crow for them to eat for lunch. :x

[DanMan32]

Fobs actually have 2 functions with 2 separate programming steps. The immobilizer RFID function, and the wireless key function. The dealer apparently forgot the latter.
There is a dance for you to do it, since you have non SKS, I had outlined this on PriusOnline. It's easier for the dealer to do it with the scan tool though.

[Godiva]

Thanks, Dan.

I was right and they flat out admitted it.

I paid my $47 for them to program it so I took it back for them to do the doors. Took five min.

And the customer service rep gave me coupons for two free oil changes for my trouble. She knows me quite well by now. So that's a year's worth of free oil changes.

I'm not sure if I trust them to change my oil or not. We'll see. But if I do, I will sure talk to whoever is doing the changing so he'll know I'm not some dumb old lady but an informed Prius owner. And I'll be checking their work after they're done. Better not be 4 quarts in that car.

I want to thank everyone on this forum for their posts. I know more about my Prius than any of the three cars I've previously owned. And I feel good about that.

[DanMan32]

In all honesty, I can see the dealer missing the fob programming. Took me quite a while to realize they were separate programming steps, though the manual does direct you from one section to the other. This is probably the only car Toyota has so far that doesn't have an ignition key, though it seems the Lexus might have a similar concept. Since the immobilizer in other cars is part of the key, it is obvious that key and fob are two different steps. In ours, key and fob are one in the same.