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There are several threads dealing with buying keys off of ebay and programming them yourself for less than $100. Some of these threads may be in the stickies at the top of the forum page. Be sure to check these threads out for the spare keys.
I did that about 3-weeks ago for my current Lexus ES300. The guy on eBay assured me it would work. I bought it, put my buttons from my broken one in the new one, brought it to the Lexus dealership, they cut it and when I went to try it, it would only slide a third of the way into the ignition and/or the door lock.
After careful observation the eBay key was just a pinch thicker. Ended up buying one from them for $72.00 from the dealership. The guy on eBay was very nice. I took a picture of both keys and the invoice and he credited my Pay Pal account.
I did read the stickies and there is some good advice on programming, but not a lot of solid stuff on the key/key fobs themselves.
I’m tempted to buy my own key cutting machine and blanks and start a side-business here on the forum. LOL
01-05-12, 11:49 AM
