Key Issues

[Nazcelica]

Hello All, relatively new to the forum....Recently brought an X reg Celica, absolutely love the car!! Although was a toss between it and a BMW Coupe...Im glad i swayed Japanese style!!!!..

I took the car to a garage, to fit an LPG kit on it...The lads whom fitted it on, have lost the key to my car (black key with the remote on it)... Im left with 1 key, but its not the same key, its the grey one that doesnt have any buttons.. It opens the drivers and passengers door, as well as starting the car...Although the alarm does sound when i start the car using it, ive taken the alarm off (well the bit that makes the noise)...So now its fine, initially the indicators would go off, but now it doesnt unless i open the boot...

My questions are;

Should the grey key open the boot too? As the drivers side door didnt open until i sprayed half a can of wd-40 inside the key hole, im guessing/hoping the boot lock is just stiff too!

How much would it cost to get a replacement remote/fob key, i.e the black key with the buttons on it, considering i have the grey key present?

Thanks alot in advance

Naz

[halek]

The grey key is your 'valet' key which opens the doors & starts the car but doesn't do the hatch or glovebox. If I were you I'd talk to your local Toyota dealer & see what they say, it probably wont be cheap but surely the garage that lost your keys will be picking up the bill.

[Scarlett Arrow]

Loosing your only remote Key is a nightmare. I think you'll be in for a major shock when you get a written quote from Mr T for replacements. Ideally you should get the LPG Garage to pay for new locks too as you don't know if your original Key will get into the wrong hands!

[Nazcelica]

Thanks for the responses, to clear up the issue of whos picking up the bill, yep the LPG lot are, well...sort of.....Situation was; i had enough of them, as they had my car for two weeks and it was really starting to annoy me!!...so i just wanted to get it outta there....

There bill for the labour work carried out on the car came up to £300....We jointly evaluated the cost of a replacement key, he called his "associates" and i called mine (obviously dealers!)....Anyhow we mutually agreed the replacement key would cost £230, so i paid the remainder of his bill (£70).

Luckly for me, i have a "mate" who knows a few handy people. Prior to agreeing with the £230 quote i phoned him and he said that it'll cost around £120 for one, so i went ahead with accepting the quote.

His link was in the main dealers, so we paid him a visit, quoted me £155 (abit more than £120, but way off £230)....I thought id be wise this time and asked for the cost of another one, i.e 2 keys....He said it'll cost a further £39ish!!...So thats £194ish for 2 keys!!.. Im quiet content with that...well, considering!!..

Though the prices given by the chap at the main dealers, are inclusive of trade and wink-wink-sort-it-out discounts ;) !!! lol...

Although, Scarlett Arrow, you've now presented me with another issue!! The fact theres a key on the loose!...In truth, that isnt really a major issue to me, as firstly, the lads at the garage were sound, i think it was an honest mistake.. Secondly, id know where to go with a few ermmm golf clubs if the car did get stolen!! lol

The key should be done between 3-5 days, ill let you know if theres any further hiccups!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks again!!

Naz

[Scarlett Arrow]

Please do keep us informed!, I'd be very interested to know how Toyota code in a new Key without any of the old remotes as I was under the impression a new ECU was needed, and they're £800ish.

[Nazcelica]

ooooo, thats a concern!!! i read that somewhere too, im anxious to see whether they can do it now...As the guy i spoke to at the dealers, didnt seem to know too much about the keys, as i showed him my key, and asked whether it should open everything including the boot, and he said yes....Although ive read on this forum it isnt possible to do so, the boot and the glove compartment require the other key..........so im confused!!!!!!!

[sjrainsford]

Yep, it even says in the manual that the grey key doesn't open the boot and glovebox. It's designed such that you give that one to the guy servicing your car so you can lock stuff in the glovebox.

Not good about the keys though! You really need to get on to the LPG fitting station though, this is all their fault!

[Nazcelica]

HI again, an update......The dealers finally had the keys in, so i went round. Spoke to the manager at the branch, he said only the one key had come in so far! :( and that the other would come in shortly i.e tommorrow...He took my current key (grey one), went round to the back, came back 40 minutes later and apologised and stated it cant be done, said similiar to what you all have said, that it would require a new ECU etc etc, BUT two positives did come out of it all, 1) he obviously knocked down the labour charge for programming, and knocked a further 20% for inconveniences caused, so the bill for the two keys came upto about £120, which isnt too bad??? 2) He gave me a number for a local guy that can reflash my ECU, then programme the keys in at a charge of £100..

So its costing me about £220 and a painful headache from accumulative stuff relating to the car, i.e the LPG kit!! The car itself is great!! im really pleased with it drives superb!! I had a Polo GTi before it though and in truth i miss it!!!!!!!

[Scarlett Arrow]

Thanks very much for the update and I'm sorry you've had to go through this hassle. I hope you continue to keep us informed as I'm particularly interested in what "reflashing" the ECU involves.

[Nazcelica]

Hello people, another update...............I now have 2+1 keys(black with buttons & grey buttonless key)....The locksmith that had did it charged me £115, as i was sent to him via the dealers which reduced the price ....otherwise it would be £170ish!!... It all works, the only issue i have is that the keys still dont open the boot or the glove compartment, which i dont understand!!!????...anyone have any ideas??..All in all in cost me a fair bit of money (£255 for the two) ", but i made a bad move going to dealers, as they charged me £110 for 2 keys, that didnt even correspond to the car, they said the typical "your locks must have been changed"...so the locksmith had to change the keys too, which involved changing the casing of the fob, as its attached to the key..(£30 for both)..

My advice is its cheaper to get two second hand keys from eBay for £25ish (instead of £110 at dealers) and get the locksmiths to program it, haggle them down to about £140-150...so you pay £175 for two keys, instead of £255!! In truth im just glad its done, because i was concerned it may require an ecu change!!....SO ITS FINALLY RESOLVED!!!!!!!! YEPPI!!! ECU does NOT require changing!!! (unless your missing all keys loL!)...The locksmiths i used are called Duplicuts, there number is 0121 354 1449 (Incase anyone needs it!!) thanks for your help, i do appreciate it!!...Once again if anyone can enlighten me as to why my keys dont open the glove compartment and boot, id be very grateful, i understand its a safety feature, but my head cant get round the fact that; a key can open all doors, start the car and open the boot and glove compartment, yet some can only open the doors and start the car, it doesnt make sense in my head!!!!!!! Surely, if it can open one door, it can open the rest (assuming they havent been changed!)...Thanks again

[halek]

Glad to hear you've got it all resolved finally. Re your new keys not opening the glovebox & boot, it sounds to me that what's happened is as the keys ordered by MrT didn't fit the locks,your locksmith has replaced the new keys blades & used your original grey valet key to cut them so you now effectively have three valet keys (although two have remotes).

I must say though, I really wouldn't be bothered about this as you will never need them anyway, you'll always use the remote to lock/unlock the car/boot & who ever locks their glovebox?

[Steve_vvti]

It will be locks barrels and ecu's plus the tuning