I recently lost my only smart key fob to my 2008 Toyota Prius. My car is now parked in a garage and I have been told that it must be towed to a Toyota dealership to get a new key fob programmed. My current option seems to be quite pricey… My lowest quote has been the following: $100 tow fee + $250 key fob + $250 (2 hours of labor to re-seed/program the new key fob). Surprisingly, other dealers have quoted me up to $460 to re-seed/program the key fob in addition to the $250 price tag on the key fob. I have looked around for key fobs online and there seem to be some vendors selling used keys fobs at around $60. The problem is that every Toyota dealership I have spoken to has told me that there is a good chance it may not work, so I will be taking my chances. In the case that they cannot get a used key fob to work, I would be looking at additional labor charges to attempt the same labor with another key. Therefore, everyone is stating that I’m better off paying the extra amount for a new key fob rather than a used key fob. Any suggestions for alternate options would be highly appreciated.
Take the $100+$250+$250 and feel lucky that it wasn't the higher figure. What you have is a worst case scenario, and there isn't a cheap way out of it. Make sure you get two new fobs, so you don't have to do this again. Tom
