Quick Help Please! How much for new key? Dealer screwing me?

Antman

Antman

Elite Member
Guys-

I will explain more later- HORRIBLE day but long story short I lost my 4Runner key overboard today and have no spares. I had to get truck towed to dealer $120 and now they want to charge me $581 for a new key!!!

My boat is at the dealer, my truck is at the dealer and I feel like I'm getting screwed because they know they got me by the balls...

What have you guys paid? [MENTION=66389]BlackWorksInc[/MENTION] any insight here?
 
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You don't have a spare key? If so they should be able to copy it and that's a lot cheaper. You can also use a good lock smith who has a programmer to copy it and that's usually cheaper.

If you lost all keys your kinda screwed paying the dealer. They have to cut it from your VIN number and program the immobilizer from scratch.
 
I have been calling since starting this thread- I got a lowest price of $435 so far...I'm going to try to negotiate with current dealer.

If I had another key I wouldn't be starting this thread would I?

They say they need to Email Toyota for permission and then reboot the entire computer system- 2-3 hrs labor.

F me.
 
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*edit* there fixed it, sorry for the image re-direct
 
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Antman said:
I have been calling since starting this thread- I got a lowest price of $435 so far...I'm going to try to negotiate with current dealer.

If I had another key I wouldn't be starting this thread would I?

They say they need to Email Toyota for permission and then reboot the entire computer system- 2-3 hrs labor.

F me.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately that's about right. Sorry man.
 
Labor to wait while a system reboots? :usa2:

Anyways, that seems to be about double the rate for getting a spare key cut. Others on the forum were reporting $230-$280. With some buying a spare Fob online for around $35-50 and then getting it cut at a shop (obviously wont work for you as you need it programmed) I would ask the dealer/ other dealers who don't know your in a bind how much it is for a spare key and ask them why its so much for the new key. Sounds like you already have your answer and they are trying to charge you labor to "reboot a computer system".....
 
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Antman said:
I have been calling since starting this thread- I got a lowest price of $435 so far...I'm going to try to negotiate with current dealer.

If I had another key I wouldn't be starting this thread would I?

They say they need to Email Toyota for permission and then reboot the entire computer system- 2-3 hrs labor.

F me.
Click to expand...

:wtf::wtf::wtf:

Are they changing you labor for the time it's rebooting.....? :jaw:

Oh........I bet that's for 1 key too!
 
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Engineer said:
Labor to wait while a system reboots? :usa2:

Anyways, that seems to be about double the rate for getting a spare key cut. Others on the forum were reporting $230-$280. With some buying a spare Fob online for around $35-50 and then getting it cut at a shop (obviously wont work for you as you need it programmed) I would ask the dealer/ other dealers who don't know your in a bind how much it is for a spare key and ask them why its so much for the new key. Sounds like you already have your answer and they are trying to charge you labor to "reboot a computer system".....
Click to expand...

If you go to a dealer (which you have to do) and get a new key and fob and programming it is about $450 bucks. Honda charges around the same for theirs too. Regardless of what they say they need to do it is around that price.
 
You need a key plus the cut (from the VIN) plus the programming. From what I remember the programming is more complicated because you're not simply adding a new key to the existing programming; you have to reset the security system to square one and add the new key(s). That's the cost of doing business with chipped keys with built-in remotes unfortunately. I'm not saying the price is fair but it is a more involved process than the olden days where they just had to grind some metal to match.
 
Unfortunately that sounds about right. I have a friend that's provided me with some Toyota information in the past - like resetting my radio when I forgot the password. The code was easy enough to find on the internet - the sequence of events to do so was not. They used to have to swap out part of the computer and physically mail it to a toyota service location to reset for new keys. It was around $2000. So I guess that's maybe a silver lining that it can be done in house now?

Stealing the keys from the cars during inspection at the auto auction lots is very common. They're normally zip tied to the steering wheel. Some shitheads will cut them off and either hide them or keep them. Then they have a big advantage as a bidder. Pisses me off when I see the images with keys on the wheel and then inspect on site to find the keys missing.
 
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I provide metal detecting services and get quite a few calls regarding chip keys because they are so expensive.


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So, if you have to pay big $ for one new key, would a spare (done at the same time) cost much more? Perhaps a float for the new key would be a good idea. I used to have one years ago when I spent a lot of time on the water. Sorry to hear this.
 
[MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION]

What do you mean by "rebooting?" It sounds like they are charging you for a key AND recoding the Immobilizer. If that's the case, they are charging you labor to get authorization and reset codes for the immobilizer from Toyota and that's a bit of a lengthy process in terms of time.
 
Dealers will ALWAYS charge for the fob and then you bring all your keys in with you and they will reprogram all the keys together.


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[MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION] I must have missed the part where you lost the other keys.

What you have is a more expensive job than just adding another key to the Immobilizer.

What they are going to have to do is reset the immobilizer, erase all the existing keys, and get a authorization code from Toyota to program a new master key (the system will not let you do this without an original, programmed master key) This is more complicated and troublesome than simply adding a second key to the immobilizer (which requires at least 1 master key with a different ID than the key you are trying to register.)

I would call your insurance and see if they will cover the cost though as this is basically the same as having all your keys stolen.
 
BlackWorksInc said:
[MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION] I must have missed the part where you lost the other keys.

What you have is a more expensive job than just adding another key to the Immobilizer.

What they are going to have to do is reset the immobilizer, erase all the existing keys, and get a authorization code from Toyota to program a new master key (the system will not let you do this without an original, programmed master key) This is more complicated and troublesome than simply adding a second key to the immobilizer (which requires at least 1 master key with a different ID than the key you are trying to register.)

I would call your insurance and see if they will cover the cost though as this is basically the same as having all your keys stolen.
Click to expand...

YOU are awesome! I will call the insurance and check. Thanks-:thumb3:

I'm putting a post together now to explain everything and hopefully save some people some serious cash....
 
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