I'm a newbie; have only owned my used 05 Prius for 36 hours! In reading the owner's manual, I notice that the new cars come with 2 fobs and a metal tag with a number on it which is used to program a new fob if one of the existing ones is lost/broken. Although my car came with 2 fobs (one needed a new battery to work), there is no metal tag with numbers on it, nor is this mandatory programming number written down anywhere that I can find. Does anyone know if this number is absolutely necessary to replace a lost key? I haven't lost one yet, but it makes me nervous to think that the two I have are so irreplaceable!
The aluminum key tag has the code for your emergency key, which allows the dealer or locksmith to originate a key from air - duplicating a key requires having one in possession to copy from. As long as you have at least one emergency key, you'll be ok. In any event, I believe that Toyota can look-up your key code from your VIN. The tag has nothing to do with the fobs, which require different means to program the car to accept them. Since you have a Gen2, you should be able to program a third fob using the 'chicken dance'.
