axhoaxho

Sorry for off topic.

Beside of my P-cars, my wife drives our 97 Toyota 4Runner as her daily car, which we own it since new.

Last Friday, I thought it'd be a good idea to replace the 7 year old battery in the car, so I bought a $40 new battery from Costco and replaced it myself.

After the battery installation, my 4Runner's factory radio needed the security code to reactivate it. I searched all the documents that came with our car, but couldn't find the code (I thought it'd like the BMW's that has a card that with the code printed on it?)

So I called my Toyota dealer, which we serviced our 4Runner there for the last 7 years. Guess what? They told me that they'd need to charge me $55 to reactivate the radio!

Ahh... $55 is more than I paid for my new battery!

Would anyone know if there is any other way (beside of dealer) to get the code from Toyota, or to reactivate the radio?

Sorry for OT, but I just think that $55 is a bit unreasonable...

With best regards,

sharky47

For a brief time I worked at the local Western Auto store. When we changed a battery, we hooked up a 12v power pack to the batt leads to keep all the computer's memory alive. That way, all the stations stay pre-set, seat memories stay the same, etc. I know this is to late to help, but for future reference..............

diskzero

How can that price be justified? They should be ashamed. What they are doing is no different than thievery.

Redshift

Pushing a few buttons should never cost $55. In cases like this you should go straight to the service manager and ask him to reactivate it as a courtesy. Remind him that you've had your car serviced with them for the past 7 years. If they won't do it, demand the combination code. As the owner, you're legally entitled to this information.

hoffman912

i agree with redshift.

and if they dont budge, politely remind them after they refuse that they just lost a customer as you are taking your buisness else where.

Epic2112

Yeah, that's absolutely ridiculous. You can also tell them that BMW will do this for free for their cars (ask me how I know).

xsboost90

yeah, my ex g/f's lumina was the same way, her dad replaced the battery and they charged her for the reset. I did this in my eclipse over the phone, just gave them the serial number off the radio and they told me the code. I would say to shop around and see if any other dealers will give you the code .

tifosiman

Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind". Basically, it's made up of two separate words - "mank" and "ind". What do these words mean ? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.

Lumbergs Lackey....MmmmKay

They have to give it to you for free. Damn companies raping people these days!!! I had a 10 year old 535i and when my radio needed its code in the exact same situation the dealer treated me like I was the buyer of a new M5. He even came out in the freezing cold and did it so I would not screw it up. Just classless on their part and I would contact the genereal manager and give him hell.

Kevin Baker

When you call/go to the dealership, bring copies of your last 7 years worth of invoices. Remind them that you have a choice in where you do business. Then ask them to kindly reset the damn radio.

who1

Go buy an MP3 player and hand the dealer the old piece of junk.

Red 944

if you go to a shop that's local to the dealer with the serial number, someone could call for you and get you the reset code. I usually just write it on top of the radio after I get it.

peterjcb

I have a '95 Saab and when I bought the car the salesman made sure to give me the code for the radio and he wrote it down in my service manual.
I'd go back to the sales manager and complain that the salesperson was negligent in providing that information.

doyle

Hold on guys. Before you castrate the Toyota Dealership, find out what it takes to get the code.

I work for a Honda Dealer and on most of the cars we sell new, we record the code in the dealer computer system to ensure we have it for future reference. If the car was not bought brand new from us and the owner does not have the code, we must remove the radio to get the serial number from the unit itself, we then enter it into the Honda global site and it spits back the radio code. If this is the case at Toyota, then 55 dollars is not too bad for the labor to remove and re-install the radio.

We will also not give out the code over the phone without verifying the owners information. If someone calls us with the serial number and needs a code, we ask them to stop in with the car to prove that the radio is not just stolen.

In short, find out what Toyota has to do the retrieve the code and get the radio unlocked before jumping to conclusions. I would be willing to bet that it's more than just punching buttons.

doyle

Matt H

Doyle is dead on....further, the dealer doesnt have to give you anything. The world is unjust, sorry, just how it is. You should let them know you WILL go elsewhere.
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