2009 Lexus RX
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in San Diego

2009 Lexus RX Remote Head Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

A homeowner in North Park called on a Saturday morning. He was parked inside a gated HOA complex and his remote head key had gone completely dead. The fob would not respond, the car would not start, and when I asked if he had a spare he went quiet for a second. No spare. He had been meaning to get one made for two years.

The tow company he called first ran into the HOA gate approval process. Commercial vehicles needed advance notice, and a flatbed on a weekend was not getting cleared same-day. So his RX was just sitting there.

I called ahead to the gate, explained I was a mobile locksmith coming in a personal vehicle, and they let me through. Parked right behind his RX in the lot.

When I looked at the key, the battery was a CR2032, not the CR2016 this key takes. Someone had swapped it months ago thinking it was close enough. It was making intermittent contact at best, which explained why the key had been getting flaky for weeks before it quit entirely. Corrected the battery first just to see where we stood.

The fob came back partially, enough to show the remote functions were still intact. But the programming had dropped, likely from the bad contact causing the chip to lose its enrollment. So I pulled my programmer, enrolled a fresh key to the vehicle, confirmed the immobilizer accepted it, and tested every function including the physical blade in the door cylinder.

He asked about getting a spare made while I was already there. Done. Two working keys, both enrolled, both tested, before noon on a Saturday. His car never left the complex. The dealer would have required a tow, an appointment, and a weekday.

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