Key cut at home depot

I do not know...we still have the orig fobs.
But I would expect you might be able to copy the key, but all that does is open the door, right?
Still need the fob to start vehicle.

 

He said he's going to program another Fob, and hide it somewhere. I'm enjoying my Prius, it's great. But the one thing that is so ridiculous, is the price of that darn little fob. 300 or 400 bucks?! I could do without the pushbutton start. I'm fine with just using a key in the ignition.

 

If the car can sense the hidden fob there will be a drain on the 12v battery.

 

He says he's going to hide the fob without the battery in it. (I hope I never lose that magical fob.) If it has no battery, can it still drain the 12V?

 

No.

 

@Bluesman78 , please let us know if that blank works for the physical key dupl. I don't know if HD will have any problems because of a lack of handle on the short original.

The fob in the car would not need a live battery to start the car as the RFID chip (once mated to the car) should work with the smart key in the ignition slot. (You wouldn't have remote unlock and other smart key functions, but at that point you are in the car.)

Another point that folks have raised is to lubricate and occasionally use the physical key locks on the vehicle. Since many smart key users never use their key, the cylinders can degrade over time and become non-functional. That has surprised a few folks when they have needed them.

Good luck!

 

Yeah that's the first thing I did was get the mecahanical key cut and hid it in a magnetic box under the car,
You can get in the car but not much else but you never know......

So yes that mechanical is is very common key blank found at lowes and Home Depot.
Tell the key guy u want to try it before u pay as they don't do a great job doing this.

 

Call me paranoid but I would never leave a key under the car anywhere. I would put the complete fob at least in the trunk or inside one of the panels. (battery out)

It is no problem for a locksmith to pry open your car door in couple minutes to unlock the car so i would just eat that expense.

 

The key in a Prius is pretty useless car wont start without fob. And yes you are paranoid.

 

Yep i always tell drivethru people that i want to try the food before i pay for it. Not sure why i always get strange looks.

 

I usually tie wrap a mechanical key underneath the vehicle - and my company car is thusly equipped.
If somebody is dedicated enough to crawl underneath the car to look for the key, and then find the spare fob inside the car?
They can have the car!

I won a bet a while back from one of my techs who said that it was stupid to tie wrap a spare key underneath the vehicle.
I handed him a flashlight and told him that I would buy him lunch if he could find the key.....

Magnetic key vaults, like house door locks, just keep the honest people out.
An old motorcycle trick is to take off one of the turn signal lamp covers and put the key inside.....but then you need a screwdriver to get it out.
If the key is tie wrapped deep underneath the vehicle, then you just need to be "stuck enough" to want to crawl under the car to twist it free (use a SMALL tie wrap, or you will need side cutters!)
Of course.......you will be all dressed up for a meeting or a date at the time.....
.....and it will be raining.

Until I got married, I never locked the doors on my house because I figured that it would be very disconcerting to a potential home invader to twist the door handle only to find that it's unlocked.....and I live in a town that's a little less safe to break into dwellings, AND I have the BEST home security that money cannot buy!!!!
A nosy retired couple with a little ankle-biter yappy dog for a neighbor!

Good Luck!!!

SOLID plan about putting a battery-less fob inside the car!

 

They sell a cheap magnetized key box used specifically to store a spare key under a car at every key cut center I have ever seen.I use them on all my cars for over 45 years they never ever fall off.
And if you want to roll around under my car looking for it good luck. You won't find it.

Tie wrap is pretty useless unless you carry around some wire cutters.....oh yeah....there in the locked car.

And yes I do ask the key cut place can I try the key before I pay. Never been refused...if so I would leave my license. Success rate over the years has been poor on cutting car keys at Home Depot or lowes.

 

Very true but thats another trip. I can walk out to my car and check it. But really Home Depot and Lowes are not key experts by any stretch.
there's a couple of good locksmiths in the next town over I can go to but its a drive.

 

The Gen2 (2004-2009) keyfobs have both a circuit board (with battery) and a transponder chip. The transponder chip is the active element when the keyfob is inserted into the dash slot.

You can take apart a keyfob and remove just the transponder (1/8" x 1/2" chip), and use that as an ignition key. The transponder is detected on the bottom of the slot, about 1/2" from all the way in. You also have to press the back of the slot to tell it to look for the transponder.

One way to mount the transponder is to replace the transponder in a transponder key with the one from a keyfob. Then just insert the key backwards into the slot. Hold the key in the slot with one hand while pressing the Power button to start. Then remove the key.

Since an isolated transponder, or a mechanical key with the transponder from a keyfob, doesn't look like the thing that starts a Prius, you can just leave it anywhere inside the car without having to hide it.

When you turn the car off, be sure to press the back of the slot again to reset the slot locking mechanism.