I recently bought a 2005 with only one master key. I purchased a second key which I have had cut and now need to program its transponder. The problem is that I have had no success in getting my current master to facilitate getting the ignition into programming mode so I cannot even try to program the new key's transponder.

I have done the 5 accelerator pumps and the 6 brake pumps to no avail. The ignition refuses to enter programming mode.

So I cannot blame the new key.

Any suggestions?

Thanks...

 

Welcome to Club Lexus vanbis. The key would need to be programed using Toyota Techstream software. Your best bet is a locksmith who does car keys. It would cost less than the dealership.

 

^what he said. You need TIS Techstream to program new keys to the engine immobilizer. You can find sketchy copies of it for sale online, but I don't know if it will work or not as I haven't tried it. But IIRC, I think the option to do that was available from the screenshots I have seen on other forums. You might want to try googling and see what you can find.

 

In the end, the "steps" that enable ignition programming did not work, at least not on my car. Consequently I had to have the key programmed by a locksmith.

Total cost in CAD:
Un-programmed key $60.00
cutting key 40.00
programming key 100.00
_______
Total cost $200.00

Apparently there are no short-cuts...

 

I live in Chicago suburb area and own 2008 RX350 AWD (there are 2WD models I was told) and with 198,000 miles on it. Bought it used from dealer at 74,000 in 2012.
What a wonderful SUV except for the not rotating of key from locked position and no start once in a while.
Key not turning is definitely a design problem.
Mine got stuck this morning (25degF) and I was not able to get it unstuck in ~30 minutes.
First time it got stuck was at around 140,000 miles in 2017 and it took ~ 2 hours of fooling with it to get it unstuck after a lot of WD-40 application.
Second time was around a month later and it took 10 minutes of fooling with it and more WD-40.
Between 150,000 to 180,000 miles it got stuck around seven more times and averaged 15 minutes of fooling with it to get unstuck.
All nine times the stuck it was at temperature of ~80degF and the latest was the only one in the winter time of 25degF so the temperature had nothing to do with failure.
So the 9th time it got stuck was two years ago at around 180,000 miles and it took the longest of 40 minutes with a lot of WD-40 at 100degF temperature!
For one reason or another, I thought I was safe from key-not-turning problem problem because it hadn't happened for 2 years and 19,000 miles, it happened again this morning.
I don't know what I'll do.
===================
about 48 hours after I posted this my steering wheel (lock tumbler, actually) locked up again for the 11th time.
It took me ~ 2 minutes to unlock and I used the light tapping with hammer method.
Since then, it hadn't happened again but I am ready.
Co-incidentally, I found this 3-minute YouTube video that documents my problem very well.