Toyota Locksmith in Atlanta, GA: Chip Keys and Smart Keys, Made at Your Car

Every Toyota blade key does two jobs. The metal is cut on Toyota's TOY43-family edge-cut profile, which carries the Ilco blanks TOY43AT4, TOY44D-PT and TOY44H-PT, and that cut turns the locks. The transponder chip in the plastic head answers the immobilizer, and the engine runs only for a chip the car has registered. Toyota's blade keys have carried four chip generations, and from the second one on, a mark on the blade itself names the chip.

The first generation is a Texas Instruments 4C chip with a fixed code. STRATTEC's 2008 transponder guide lists its blank for the Camry LE from 1998 to 2005, the Camry XLE from 1998 to 2003, the Camry CE from 2002 to 2005, the 4Runner from 1999 to 2002, the Highlander from 2001 to 2003 and the Sequoia in 2001 and 2002, with an on-board programming procedure and a cloneable alternative blank for the same cars. On 1998 to 2001 models, STRATTEC's procedure OBP-4 lets a key be added while a working master key is in hand.

The dot key came next. A dot on the blade marks a Texas Crypto 4D chip at 40 bits, and STRATTEC's 2020 catalog lists that blank for the Camry 2004 to 2010, Corolla 2005 to 2010, Highlander 2004 to 2010, Sequoia 2004 to 2010, Tacoma 2005 to 2010 and Tundra 2007 to 2010. The same catalog files the 2004 to 2006 Camry under the 4C blank and the dot blank alike, and the catalogs disagree on the chip of the 2006 to 2009 RAV4, which is why the key in your hand outranks the model year.

A letter G on the blade marks the 80-bit chip. One key vendor's fitment list gives it to the 4Runner 2010 to 2019, the Camry and Corolla 2010 to 2014, the Highlander 2010 to 2013, the RAV4 2010 to 2012, the Sequoia and Tundra 2010 to 2017 and the Tacoma 2011 to 2015, and warns that some 2010, 2011 and 2014 vehicles carry a dot or H key instead. A letter H marks the 128-bit AES chip (Texas "8A"): 4Runner 2020 and 2021, Camry 2014 to 2017, Corolla and Highlander 2014 to 2019, RAV4 2013 to 2018 and Tacoma 2016 to 2023, while some 2014 Camrys and Corollas kept the G chip. The H generation was also sold as a four-button remote-head key for turn-key Camrys (2014 to 2017) and US-built Corollas (2014 to 2019), and its vendor states that it will not work on a push-button car.

Push-button Toyotas use the Smart Key: a proximity fob the car senses in a pocket, with a mechanical emergency blade inside its shell. Transponder catalogs list North American smart key rows for the Camry (2007 to 2010, 2012 to 2017 and 2018 to 2024), the RAV4 from 2013, the Highlander from 2014, the Tacoma from 2016, the Corolla from 2018 and the 4Runner from 2020, on the trims built with a start button. A new Smart Key is paired to the car with programming equipment, and its emergency blade is cut to the door lock.

When every master key is gone, Toyota's dealer route is bulletin T-SB-0057-18, the Immobilizer and Smart Key Reset. It exists to let new keys be registered when all master keys are lost. The dealer's Techstream or GTS+ software produces a seed number, Toyota's TIS answers with a passcode, and dealer management approves each request; every attempt creates a new pair. Once the reset runs, every key registered before is erased. The bulletin covers the Camry 1998 to 2023, Corolla 2005 to 2019, 4Runner 1999 to 2021, Highlander 2001 to 2020, RAV4 2004 to 2018, Sequoia 2001 to 2021, Tacoma 2005 to 2023 and Tundra 2007 to 2021, notes that not every 1998 to 2004 Camry, 4Runner and Highlander applies, and warns that some early ECM-based immobilizers cannot be reset with GTS+. That is Toyota's own procedure. 4Keys Locksmith reaches dealer-level security access under its NASTF VSP authorization, keeps its own subscription to GTS+ (Global Techstream Plus), Toyota's dealer software, and cuts and codes original (OEM) Toyota keys, and the dispatcher confirms on the first call which route your year takes.

Recalls are short on Toyota keys. A scan of NHTSA's recall records for these models found no ignition-key or immobilizer defect recall. The one ignition-related campaign, 98V-278, covered a dealer-installed aftermarket theft-deterrent harness plugged into the ignition switch of 1998 RAV4s distributed by Southeast Toyota in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Lexus shares Toyota's parts family but files its own key bulletins, so its rules are set out on the Lexus locksmith page.

There is no counter to drive to: the key machine and the programming equipment travel in the van, the way a fully mobile locksmith works. The technician meets the Toyota in a driveway, an apartment lot, a parking deck or a workplace lot, and a Tacoma or Tundra on a job site. Vans leave Brookhaven, and the dispatcher gives you the arrival time on the call.

Several Georgia pages go deeper into the locksmith side of a Toyota visit. The Brookhaven page explains the transponder chip and the immobilizer, the Atlanta metropolitan area page walks through a key made when all are lost, West End covers making the copy before the last key goes, and Lithia Springs deals with keeping fleet keys under control.

Dispatch handles calls in English and in Spanish, and Spanish-speaking technicians are on the 4Keys team. The ALOA training behind the work is described on ALOA training and certification, and the documents your case requires are requested on the call, before anything is programmed. A household with a Honda beside the Toyota will find Honda's own chip letters on the Honda locksmith page.