2003 Lexus ES
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in Ventura County

2003 Lexus ES Remote Head Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

A parent near the Oxnard Performing Arts Center called me on a Monday after the dealer told her Thursday at the earliest. Her 2003 Lexus ES300 had one working key left, the remote buttons were dead, and she wanted a spare before the original gave out completely.

Two kids in after-school activities. No second car. Three days without the Lexus was not going to work.

I was in her parking lot that same afternoon. Popped the key open on the hood, and the CR1616 inside was so corroded it left green dust on the battery clip. That explained the dead remote. But she still needed a second key, which was the real reason for the call.

I cut a new TOY43 blade to match, dropped in a fresh 4D-68 transponder chip, and connected my programmer to the OBD-II port to register it to her immobilizer ECU. The 2003 ES300 uses the same 93C56 EEPROM setup as the Camry, so the add-key procedure is clean when you already have a working master. About 25 minutes, start to finish.

Tested both keys. Starts, remote lock, remote unlock, trunk release. She watched the whole thing from the sidewalk, half-expecting me to say something else was broken. Nothing else was broken.

Monday call, Monday fix. She kept the old key as her backup once I swapped its battery and cleaned the contacts.

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