2009 Toyota Highlander
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in San Diego

2009 Toyota Highlander Smart Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

I was parked at a shopping center off the main stretch in the Millenia area of Chula Vista when the call came in. A woman had her 2009 Highlander sitting in a parking structure and the fob had just gone flat on her mid-errand.

Not dead dead, just unreliable enough that the touch unlock on the door handles had stopped responding and she was getting a key-not-detected warning every time she walked up to it.

She had already called the dealer. They told her to tow it in, that they would need to inspect the fob and possibly reprogram the system, and quoted her a figure that covered the programming labor, a new fob from the parts counter, and cutting the emergency blade separately. The tow was on her. She was not happy about any of that.

I was there in under twenty minutes. Popped the fob case right on the hood of her car, swapped in a fresh CR1632, seated it correctly and checked that the contacts had a good clean connection. Ran through all four buttons. Touch unlock on both front handles came right back. The vehicle stopped throwing the warning. The emergency insert blade was already cut, so she had a working backup regardless.

That was it. No tow, no drop-off, no waiting three days for a parts order.

She mentioned she had been putting off getting a spare key cut because she figured it would be expensive and complicated. We talked about it for a few minutes while I packed up. Getting ahead of a lost-key situation on this generation is always cheaper than the alternative.

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