2012 Lexus GS
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in Ventura County

2012 Lexus GS Smart Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

I got a call on a weekday evening from a woman in Woodcreek. She had walked out to her 2012 Lexus GS and the push-button start just sat there doing nothing. No crank, no response, a key-not-detected warning on the dash. She tried resting the fob on the start button the way the owner's manual suggests when the battery is low. Nothing.

She had already called the Lexus dealer in the area. They told her they could get her in the following afternoon, and that if the car needed to be towed to them, that was on her to arrange. She was not happy about either part.

I pulled up to her driveway in Woodcreek about forty minutes after she called. First thing I did was pop the fob open and check the battery. It was not the problem, but I check it every time because a weak cell can mimic a deeper failure and I would rather know before I connect anything. The cell was fine.

Plugged into the OBD port, ran a read on the vehicle security system, and confirmed the fob ID stored in the module was mismatched. Something had corrupted the pairing, probably after a battery swap someone had done a few weeks prior. She mentioned it as an aside, almost like it was unrelated. It was related.

Cleared the stored key data, re-enrolled her existing fob, registered a second one as a spare since she was already standing there and the equipment was already connected. Tested push-button start, door handle unlock, and the emergency blade on the door cylinder. Everything came back clean.

She asked what the dealer would have charged. I told her to call and ask them. She laughed.

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