2014 Toyota Highlander
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in Ventura County

2014 Toyota Highlander Smart Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

A woman out in the East End called me on a Tuesday. She had her 2014 Highlander sitting in a parking lot near the Ojai Costco, fob in hand, getting a key-not-detected warning every time she approached the driver door. Touch unlock on the handle was dead. She had already pulled the fob apart, confirmed a fresh CR1632 was in there, and put it back together. Still nothing.

When I pulled up, she handed me the fob before I even asked.

The battery was new. The contacts looked clean at a glance. But when I put light on them, one contact had a slight outward bow, just enough that the CR1632 was making intermittent contact instead of solid contact. Whoever had opened it previously had pried at the wrong point and bent the clip out by maybe half a millimeter. That is all it takes.

I straightened the clip, reseated the battery, and snapped the fob closed correctly. Touch unlock on the driver door came back immediately. Passenger door, same. Start button read the key without hesitation. I walked every function across all four buttons and checked both front handles before I called it done.

She mentioned the dealer had told her she probably needed a new fob programmed, which would have meant a tow since she could not drive the car to them without the key working. I did not have the heart to do the math out loud on what that would have run her.

Thirty minutes from the time I parked. She drove out of the lot while I was still packing my bag.

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