Lost transponder key

[LakewoodLC100]

Hello- I lost the transponder key to my 2000LC- actually my 9 year old son lost it-anyway, the only other key I have is a copy I had made at Home Depot to unlock the doors in case I locked the keys in. After a week of tearing apart the house and tearing out my hair, I've conceded that I must get one made....I've contacted a few locksmiths and a few Toyota dealers but keep getting different answers as to what's possible / necessary. any ideas? thanks in advance

 

[ogsuv]

I was always under the impression you needed a new ecu if you didn't have any programmed keys. I saw on eBay 1 person selling an ecu with key for $800 and one claimed they could re flash your ecu and give you 2 keys for $185. It must be possible I just don't have any recommendations on reputable places to go

 

[stopbreakindown]

From my understanding you have a couple of options.

1) New ECU from dealer, some have had success with toyota picking up the tab on the ecu, but you are required to pay for install and two key FOBs for +/-$600

2) Pull your ECU and send it to the locksmith in PHX that others have had success with on this board, programming + how ever many keys you want shipping to/from +/- $250 ( I think this is the guy Locksmith Charley's TOYOTA Transponder information page )

3) Call a place that does remote starts as some of those modules have a transponder override, YMMV

Best of luck

 

[jLB]

Quite a few years ago, I nearly went through this on a older Lexus that I had. Once I got an estimate from the Lexus dealer for replacing the ECU and programming the keys, I got highly motivated to find the key that my wife had lost.

The official line from the Lexus/Toyota dealer is that "you have to replace the ECU".

It is my understanding that someone has come up with an "unofficial" way to erase and reflash (reprogram) the ECU. There should be at least one locksmith in your area that is capable of doing this.

Either route probably won't be cheap, but I suspect the "unofficial" method will be considerably less expensive (only ridiculous instead of the dealer's ludicrous option).

With the modern transponder keys "two is one, one is none". After my experience, I'm in panic if I have <2 "master" keys for any of our vehicles. Whether it's a hardware store "clone" of your master key, the Camry key (w/o a remote) programmed as a master, or the broken head (remote) on a keyring with a old style brass key, find a way to have a backup master key in a good safe place.

 

[LakewoodLC100]

Quite a few years ago, I nearly went through this on a older Lexus that I had. Once I got an estimate from the Lexus dealer for replacing the ECU and programming the keys, I got highly motivated to find the key that my wife had lost.

The official line from the Lexus/Toyota dealer is that "you have to replace the ECU".

It is my understanding that someone has come up with an "unofficial" way to erase and reflash (reprogram) the ECU. There should be at least one locksmith in your area that is capable of doing this.

Either route probably won't be cheap, but I suspect the "unofficial" method will be considerably less expensive (only ridiculous instead of the dealer's ludicrous option).

With the modern transponder keys "two is one, one is none". After my experience, I'm in panic if I have <2 "master" keys for any of our vehicles. Whether it's a hardware store "clone" of your master key, the Camry key (w/o a remote) programmed as a master, or the broken head (remote) on a keyring with a old style brass key, find a way to have a backup master key in a good safe place.

Thank you for the input. I found a local locksmith who instilled confidence and says the ECU must be reflashed but he'll come to the house, reset it and program two keys for $300- Toyota ball parked $800 once I had the car towed to them.

Expensive lesson learned