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Key Insurance

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by sqwerty, Oct 29, 2009.

  1. sqwerty

    sqwerty Junior Member

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    I just picked up my 2010 Prius III last night. Among the myriad protection plans, extended warranties, was key insurance. For 199 dollars one would be covered for 5 years. During those 5 years, for a maximum of once per year, a the warrantee holder is entitled to one replacement key a year. The salesperson claims the smart key is upwards of 450 dollars to replace. Anybody buy this insurance? Have any experience with replacing a smart key?


    Having a soon to be driving teenage son who loses everything, it seems like a sound purchase.
     
    #1 sqwerty, Oct 29, 2009
  2. Jabber

    Jabber Chicagoland Prius Guy

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    The salesman lied about the cost. $300 tops including programming by the dealer. $200 is darn near cost. Assuming it is a reputable company providing the warranty, after the first year, go get another key anyway. That way you break even if the warranty provider goes belly up.

    FWIW, our dealerships offers this too.. and it is more than the $199 you paid.
     
    #2 Jabber, Oct 29, 2009
  3. bps

    bps Active Member

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    Unless you are someone who loses things all the time, you just bought some snake oil.

    Bryan
     
    #3 bps, Oct 29, 2009
  4. rctech

    rctech Junior Member

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    But if you get a new key, doesn't the dealer have to reprogram all the fobs at once? Making the supposedly "lost one" useless (except on ebay ;-)

    rich
     
    #4 rctech, Oct 30, 2009
  5. triumph1

    triumph1 Member

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    I agree.
     
    #5 triumph1, Oct 30, 2009
  6. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    The fobs are not programmed. The car is programmed to accept the fobs, not the other way around. When you lose a fob, that fob is removed from the list of associated fobs.

    Tom
     
    #6 qbee42, Oct 30, 2009
  7. chrisj428

    chrisj428 Active Member

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    Tom,

    On all the cars I've had to program keys to immobilizers, the customers needed to bring me all the keys they want to work -- anything not present will no longer work after the programming. Is that different with the Prius?
     
    #7 chrisj428, Oct 30, 2009
  8. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    With the Prius your program the immobilizer to the key, not the other way around. You can add a key without losing all of the others. I'm not sure of the details relating to deleting a key. I assume you can do it one at a time, as it is impossible to add a used smart key to a Prius. The Smart Key System only allows a key to be added for a limited number of presses. After that, it can't be used with a different car. This is a deliberate security measure. You can add it as a dumb key for the immobilizer, but not as a smart key for entry.

    Tom
     
    #8 qbee42, Oct 30, 2009
  9. hotbrass

    hotbrass New Member

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    Does this mean there will be no third party suppliers for smart key's?
     
    #9 hotbrass, Oct 30, 2009
  10. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    At this point, no. They require a secret code from Toyota.

    Tom
     
    #10 qbee42, Oct 30, 2009
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