2003 Toyota Highlander
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in San Diego

2003 Toyota Highlander Remote Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

Out in Fanita Ranch, Santee, a guy called me from the side of the road with half a key in his hand. The other half was still in the ignition cylinder of his 2003 Toyota Highlander. He had already called one other locksmith who went straight to quoting him a full ignition replacement, drilling included.

I told him to sit tight.

When I pulled up, I could see the break was clean, right at the shoulder of the blade. That is actually the better scenario. I used a blade extraction tool sized for Toyota's keyway, working carefully around the wafer stack to get purchase on the broken fragment without disturbing the tumblers. It took a few minutes of patience. The fragment came out intact.

From there I decoded the lock from the wafer positions, cut a fresh key blade to match, and enrolled the new transponder chip through the OBD port so the immobilizer would recognize it. The fob on his keyring was untouched and still working fine since the remote is its own separate unit on this generation.

No drilling. No cylinder swap. His original lock worked with the new key just the same as it always had. The other locksmith's plan would have cost him significantly more and left him with a replaced ignition that had no reason to be replaced. He saved a good chunk going the non-destructive route.

That job is a good reminder: the first quote you get over the phone is not always the right call.

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