1999 Toyota Land Cruiser
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in San Diego

1999 Toyota Land Cruiser Remote Head Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

A guy parked at the airport economy lot in Escondido, grabbed his bags from the cargo area, and headed to his terminal. One week later he walked back out and the fob did nothing. No lock chirp, no lights, nothing.

He dug out the key blade and got the door open manually, but then he started second-guessing everything. The car sat a week, he figured the 12V battery might be low, and now he was wondering if the whole key had somehow lost its programming while he was gone.

He called the dealer first. They could fit him Thursday. It was Tuesday afternoon. A tow from the lot was going to cost him more than a decent car payment. He found me instead.

I drove out to the lot in Downtown Escondido. He was standing next to the Land Cruiser looking like a man who had already done three mental laps around every bad option. I pulled the fob apart right there on the hood. The CR1616 inside was so far gone it read almost nothing on my meter. Swapped it, reseated everything, closed the housing up.

He hit the lock button and the Land Cruiser chirped. He actually laughed a little, that kind of laugh that is mostly relief.

I plugged into the OBD port anyway and confirmed the key registration was untouched. The immobilizer had never lost his key data. It was just a battery. The car started on the first crank and he was pulling out of that lot before the tow truck he had almost called would have even arrived.

The dealer visit would have been two days away and a fraction of that was actual work time. He saved a good chunk and more importantly he did not spend Tuesday night stranded with a week's worth of luggage and no options.

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