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My dealer in Round Rock Tx charged me $59 just to try to program it. Here's the letter I wrote to Toyota about my experience. Before I got a reply, I found my key. Enjoy the letter.
September 11, 2010
Fletcher V. Davidson
Group Vice President and General Manager, Toyota Customer Services
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
19001 South Western Ave.
Dept. WC11
Torrance, CA 90501
Dear Mr. Davidson:
I am writing to you to voice my sincere displeasure over an item which should be very trivial, but instead is a financial burden to many Toyota owners like myself.
I bought a new 2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid in December of 2007. As a family, so far we have enjoyed the car. One of the car’s unique features has been the Smart Key. However, as I told my wife today “if I knew then what I know now, I may have opted to not buy this car simply because of the financial headache this key has caused my family and I”.
About 4 months ago, somehow one of my Smart Keys went missing. At the time, I did not realize how serious a situation that is. In the past, whenever I have bought a new or used car, one of the first things I would do is go get two spare keys as a safety precaution in the event I would lose a key. In this case I did not even investigate this option, because I was not quite sure how I would get spare keys made. Looking back, if I would have gone to Toyota and requested spares I would have realized 2 keys would have cost me $800; which of course would not have been a viable option.
About a month ago, I began trying to replace my lost key by contacting my local Toyota dealer in Round Rock, TX to find out what the cost would be. I was informed a new key would cost me approximately $400. At this point, I began looking on the internet to educate myself a bit on what some more affordable options would be.
It was then I began to realize what a major problem lost Smart Keys are for many Toyota owners out there. I read amazing stories about how valuable these keys are. I came to the realization a whole market has sprung up to fill the needs of desperate Toyota owners with missing keys. I’ll never forget one website where a Prius owner stated his dealership only would give him one Smart Key with his Prius purchase; a second key would cost him an additional $380. Another person speculated over the insanity of a dealer having essentially $80,000 in keys for each 100 cars in stock. Is it even imaginable dealers actually can have hundreds of thousands of dollars in keys at a single dealership? It’s almost to the point that if smart thief broke into a dealership, they would be wise to fill their pockets with keys versus a single car.
It is hard to believe Toyota’s MSRP on Smart Key replacement even come close to Toyota’s cost. At the current Smart Key MSRP, Toyota must have over a 300% gross margin on these keys.
I bought my first car for $1,200 (3 Smart Keys). My Camry car payment to Toyota Financial is $400 per month for 60 months. This means that after five years, I will have fully paid for my Camry for the price of 60 Smart Keys. Today my Camry is worth around $15,000 or 37 Smart Keys. But the ironic thing is that although my Toyota Camry’s value declines your Smart Keys do not. A Smart Key actually holds its value better than a car in that a new Smart Key made several years ago can still sell for the same price without degradation in value.
In order to replace my Smart Key, I took a gamble with what I felt I could afford and bought a used one on EBay for $49. Today I brought it to the Round Rock dealership along with the car to get the two linked. I was advised that the charge for trying to link the key to the car was $59, whether it worked or not. When I dropped the car off, the service advisor told me he has had many people who have tried the same as I was attempting to do and have been sorely disappointed. At this juncture, I felt I had to take a chance since this was my only affordable option, sort of like buying a $108 lottery ticket. I hoped I was going to be the lucky winner of a $108 Smart Key; never in my wildest dreams had I ever imagined I would ecstatically pay $108 for ONE key.
As you probably imagined, the dealer could not link the key with my car. I lost $59 to Toyota Service Department in the attempt and am now trying to get the $49 back from the EBay seller to mitigate my losses. Now I have to determine how I will go about replacing my lost key.
Has Toyota ever considered another option where potentially Toyota could help owners find a key? At the current replacement charge for a key, it would be worth offering a portable RF detector which could talk to lost Smart Keys to help them find their owners. This would seemingly be a win/win situation for both owners and Toyota where Toyota for a nominal fee could help people as a sustainable corporate citizen in situations such as these. Such a program would fall more in line with Toyota’s Environmental Program, than the cost and materials associated with replacing a $400 key. Of course it may not be as financially advantageous to Toyota, but it would be the respectable thing to do.
My purpose behind this letter is to invoke a sense of duty in Toyota’s service policy to offer its owners a more reasonable option than they have today when a Smart Key is lost. Here are some examples as to how Toyota could help it owners:
1. Reconsider your Smart Key pricing/gross margin to make the replacement of this essential item affordable.
2. Offer a portable RF Smart Key detector service owners could use to find their lost keys.
3. Make Smart Keys an option owners can choose at their discretion as an upgrade.
4. If Toyota Service tries to link a key and it does not work, do not charge the owners for something it only takes a few minutes to try.
Please pass this letter along to other Toyota Corporate Executives so they can understand how outrageous the Smart Key controversy is. With all of the bad press Toyota has received as of late regarding quality, and the money spent on advertising to regain an eroding market share, it would be wise of Toyota to not take advantage of its owners like this. Toyota owners such as myself expect to be helped in tough situations like these, not gouged.
If you have an affordable and reasonable solution for me to replace or find my Smart Key, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Dean W. Arnold
Cc Pete Reinhardt, Round Rock Toyota, Service Manager
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