New key costs $935

we have never lost a key in three hybrids in 7 years. that being said, YOU ARE BEING RIPPED OFF BIG TIME! RUN AWAY! FAR, FAR AWAY!

 

It should cost less than $300. Next time try carrying the fob in a front pocket.

 

Why do you need 2 keys? The "laser cut keys" are likely for the mechanical key used to open the door if the fob battery dies.

Even on cars that don't use a smart key (smart keys aren't Toyota specific nor is the high price), many cars now use a chip in the key and have a transponder near the lock so that you can't just start the car w/a $4 key. Replacements for these are usually at least $100+.

I've had my Prius since 1/06 and have been driving since 1991. I've never lost a key. The labor sounds way too high. Look for another dealer.

I wouldn't put them in my back pocket either. You might break the key via pressure or bending. I always put them in the side/front pockets of my jeans which is where I've always placed my keys.

 

First of all, the price of these fobs from Toyota are so high it's beyond ridiculous and into disgusting. But these are bad prices even for them. The fob cost is par for the course, but the labour is very high. If it's not too late, check prices elsewhere.

 

Woah, woah, woah.

Did you only have one key? Did you loose both the keys the car came with? Why are you buying two? Were you carrying both?

The labor is very high...the smart key price is not terrible.

With advanced technology comes increased cost. The $4 key from the hardware store couldn't unlock and start the car without taking it out of your pocket, it didn't have remote buttons to unlock and lock the car from afar, it didn't have any anti-theft measures.

But, I would say you should be able to get a new key for $300 all set up and cut...

How did you keep from loosing other keys? Don't you carry a keychain? Just put the fob on a keychain and carry the keys in your pocket.

 

u got robbed. we replaced a key and it was $230.

 

FWIW---A transponder key (uncut) for my GMC is $12...and a locksmith can cut the key. I will however, warn the many people who ask me about this car about the propensity of some dealerships to charge stratospheric prices for the fobs.
I just looked on eBay and there are several auctions for the "smart key fobs" for the '10 Prius for varying prices, but nowhere near the brutal prices that your dealer is charging. Some have units with uncut metal keys (the more expensive auctions) for less than $100. I'm sure that if you shop around, a Toyota dealership would be willing to cut a key for you for a more reasonable price.

What I would do is to find a place on the outside of the vehicle to stow the metal key portion of the "smart" key. My company actually has a "key safe" built into the rear quarter panel of the car - but you're probably not going to want to go with that option. Gas cap safes are popular, or you can use the old biker trick of putting the spare key inside a side or rear lamp---whatever. Then when you loose your next set of transponders, all you need is a screwdriver to get the key. I chose to tie-wrap a transponder key beneath my truck for just such an emergency. Since my Prius has the aforementioned key safe, I'm safe from this contingency, but I might still employ one of the previous measures to keep from having to pop a flare over my bosses head if I loose my transponder(and key) one dark and stormy night.
EDIT!! I just discovered that the metal key only gets you into the car (what a goofy design! ) So I guess you'll have to have an additional fob hidden somewhere inside the car to be completely safe from "Eddie" the tow-truck driver!)

I'll leave the dealer bashing to the more eloquent members of this body. If you're willing to pay those prices for replacement fobs/keys, and a dealer's conscience is OK with charging you this amount....hey, who am I to throw stones???

But seriously! You have other options, and for the money that your dealer is charging, you should at least be getting red-carpet service!! (sounds like you're not!) I'd fire them if at all possible!

GOOD LUCK!


Good Luck!!

 

Its not a goofy design, its the reality of the new technology we're talking about. How can a little metal key start the car using the SKS system? It can't.

I've had a car with SKS for almost 7 years...and now both our cars are SKS. Somehow we have both gone those 7 years and have never lost a key, never needed a key hidden on the vehicle somewhere for when we don't have a key. Its just a non issue. My wife keeps her keys in her purse...and when she walks out to the car...she takes her purse. Its automatic. I put the SKS fobs for both cars on my keychain with my house keys, mailbox keys, office keys, etc...and carry it in my pocket...just like I always did when I had non-SKS cars. The difference is I don't have to get my keys out which is great.

I just plain don't see the issue...

 

Why does anyone ever put anything in their back pocket? you sit on it, and it's at high risk of falling out into the toilet, and it's really easy to steal. Why? Why do back pockets even exist??

 

I've often wondered the same thing. I use a little credit card case with a money clip, carry that in my right hand front pocket and my keys in the left hand pocket, I hate putting anything in the back pocket...especially keys!

 

To quote from George H. L. Mallory: "Because it's there."

 

Actually, from an engineering standpoint, I can respectfully disagree. Another car's SKS (I think it was Nissan's - but my memory fails me) has a system somewhat similar to the Toyota SKS, only the little metal keylet can also be placed into a slot inside the car in order to actually....wait for it....start the car, instead of just being able to just gain access to its interior.
If you're going to go through the security gymnastics of requiring some kind of gucci laser-cut keylet to gain access to the car in case of a fob failure (or loss), why not spend an extra $20 and a few feet of wire and enable the customer to actually START the car?
That would combine "technology" with convenience without sacrificing security. I put technology in quotes because SKS's (Smart keys---not the Chinese main battle rifle!) have been around for like, a decade now.
JMHO...and I know I'm going to be flame-thrower fodder for actually implying that this little car may be les than 100-percent perfectly engineered... Just the price I happily pay for being me....

 

Of course its not perfectly engineered, but I personally have never seen a smart-key type system that works that way...

 

Congratulations on being so good as to never loose a key - way to go!

Out of curiosity - you really can't imagine that others would lose a key at some point????????

Do you really not see the issue - or are you patting yourself on the back for not losing a key over 7 years????

 

Tony; thank you for bringing us all back to reality and i for one, did not make or insinuate any thing negative concerning the OP's character.

oh i did say i thought he got ripped off on the price he paid for his keys, but at $230 for the one i bought, i felt i was ripped off too!!

 

he was looking for a better solution, and i think we gave him several. in the future, he will keep his key in his front pocket (my father taught me not to keep anything in my back pocket 40 years ago) and if he needs another one in the future, he now has several much less expensive solutions. and one further suggestion for him, tell us who the dealer is so NO ONE EVER GOES THERE AGAIN. they should be tried for grand theft robbery.

 

You miss the point of what I was saying. I wasn't admonishing him for loosing a key, people loose keys, it happens. What I was commenting on was this idea that seems to go around that somehow, the system is flawed in that its components don't cost $4 and somehow the fact that the key doesn't get stuck in a keyhole on the dash makes it impossible to hold onto.

I just don't see how the SKS system makes it any more or less likely for you to loose your keys. It seems like people just carry the fobs around loose and not attached to a keychain, or apparently carry BOTH fobs at all times. Thats the issue...not the system itself.

My goal wasn't to jump on the OP, but "a key" didn't cost him $935. Two keys did. These are expensive pieces of technology. You get two...if you don't need two...one should be stored in your home or elsewhere in a safe place, they shouldn't be carried together. They shouldn't stay in your jeans when you get home and moved from jeans to jeans...they should be on your keychain and when you get home, kept in a safe place. Does nobody have key hooks in their homes anymore? Or valets on dressers or anything like that?

Your smart key is like anything else of value you may carry with you...your wallet...your watch...jewlery...whatever. You gotta watch over it...its not the manufacturer's responsibility to make them cheap, or to make them impossible to loose...

One thing, Lexus has an optional credit card smart key. Its the size of a credit card, its thicker obviously, maybe the thickness of the metal keyblade. They're like $250, maybe they could be programmed to the Prius? Might me an option for folks that just can't carry the smart keys on a keychain?

Here is the part for my ES350:

http://lexus.sewellparts.com/accessories-catalog/Keys/ES350-2010/2694.html

That doesn't include the little keyblade, thats another $80 but you wouldn't be able to cut it for the Prius anyways...

 

I assume you are excluding your mind, since this was worded in the future tense?

Tom