My key has been getting worse and worse recently. The remote only works if you're actually on top of the car and the plastic part of the key is starting to crack and fall apart.

I've replaced the batteries for the remote but it doesn't improve it at all.

I rang up the Toyota Dealer to ask about getting a new key.

He went away to find the prices and said it will be £118 for the key and £45 to book it in to get the car reprogrammed for the new key!

WTMFJFCOMLG!!!!!!!!!

£163 for a new car key!!!

That's about par for the course Oli, I'm afraid. As it's a reliable Japanese car, you should think yourself lucky it's nothing more serious

I know a local mobile lock smith who can cut the keys and reprogram them all from the back of his van.
Might be worth giving a few lock smiths a shout for advice, rather than just forking over the wedge to the main dealer.

How about a price for an old fashioned key that doesn't have remote locking? Could you live with that?

What about the spare key? My Toyota came with two remote keys and one normal key. Even if I broke one, I'd still have the other two.

I think I may have had a spare normal key but no idea where it is now

The materials will probably cost a fraction of pound. So someone is ripping the consumer off. £45 to reprogram the car to accept the key! How many hours does that take?

I was beginning to think, I wonder if you could MAKE a remote?

I reckon it would be that hard.

You must be able to use something from the key to get the right frequency?

I had the same thing as I lost the remote key. Been using the spare as I'm not forking out £100 for a key. It would be worth more than the car!

Cars are a source of ready income for dealers, I think.

It's the electronics. We have a Vectra which has seen fit to fry its own engine management unit. Replacement part c£180. To program it to match the car, c£500. You can't just get a part off the shelf, it's got to be matched to the chassis number and security system. WTF?!? It's a ten-year-old banger!

It's a con. It's bloody annoying, too, because as it stands the car is a write-off. We can't drive it anywhere with a speed limit over 40 because the thing judders and coughs. We're currently looking to find a reasonable scrap dealer who will give us something sensible in return for it.

Bloody cars. More trouble than they're worth, if you ask me.

*mutter, mutter, grumble, mutter*

Oli,

Have a look for remote units with a blank key blade on ebay, then just take it to the dealer for cutting and reprogramming.

+1 for blank blade and cut your own.

Coding is always going to be very difficult unless you have the appropriate equipment.

As I said ^, my mobile lock smith can do most makes from the back of his van, for about £50.

What car (age too) is it?

To get a spare key cut + coded for my Accord was £20 at a local (well known) key cutting place

Heather, you might be best off selling it to a breakers if it's just the one issue, I know my Honda isn't worth much as a running car but I'm aware I would get a fair whack more in a breakers yard (as it's not common to see Hondas in local scrapyards, let alone one in decent nick) but YMMV

With my old Ford, there was a section in the handbook about reprogramming the key, can't you do it yourself? It takes about 30 seconds per key on the Ford. Mind you, if you didn't use the second remote control key for more than 6 months, you'd need to reprogrm it, because it would "go out of sync" with the car.

Yeah, I think that's what's going to happen. I'll make enquiries as the ones most likely to give a decent wedge for my scrap.