My wife broke the plastic case on her 2002 ES300 Key--I bought a replacement case and key blank on Ebay, but now I'm having problems finding someone to "cut" the key. No local locksmiths can do it and the local Lexus dealer says they can't either (have to order a new key from Lexus$$$).
Anyone got any thoughts or possibible solutions to get one of the new type (center cut) keys cut?

 

Man.......i know how you feel. I just broke one of my key the other day. Luckily i had my spare. How much did lexus want to order a new key???

Is there any chance of disconnecting the originial "key" from the remote and putting it into the new remote you bought??

 

saustin, same thing for me. My wife broke her key also for the 2002 ES300. What I do for mine in every month or so, I tighten the screw. After a while of turning it into the ignition, it loosens. Luckily, while hers is still cracked on the edge, it still holds together well with the screw.

If the pricing from lexus isnt too bad, might replace.

So did anyone find out what it costs at the dealer?

 

I found a guy about 40 miles up the road that could cut the 2002 ES300 replacement key. Locksmith's call those key's "sidewinders" because they are cut on the sides instead of top and bottom. Guy says he has a "laser" that he uses to cut such keys.

He's going to charge me $25.00 and I've got $18.95 in the blank and case I ordered off Ebay. Lexus wanted just over $160.00 complete.

The Ebay case is actually made a little differently and appears to be much stroger in and around the point the "screw"goes in...it's "double re-inforced" in that area. Once I get it cut, I'll just have to transplant the "guts" of the lock/unlock/trunk module to the new case (I hope anyway).

 

i broke my plastic case by trying to use my key to open a corona . After that, i ordered one on ebay and replaced the key by heating it up and then pull it out very carefully. Now, it looks brand new

 

Who knows the program sequence to program a remote to a car? Mine came with a generic key and id like to buy a remote key from ebay and put my key in it.

 

whoa, that is creative.


any pics?

 

Hahhaa, good job man! You gutta do what you gutta do..

I'm considering replacing the plastic cases for my keys because theyre a little worn out. But, I was always a little worried about the blank keys that you can buy off ebay... I dunno, i always try to be pretty careful when i buy things off ebay, i dont wanna buy crap. lol

 

I just gave my camera away so i'm using my fone camera. The picture quality are not that great, therefore, it looks kinda dirty.

 

haha i can just barely see where you melted it.