Replacing a RAV 4 Key in Central America

One of our cars is a 2004 RAV 4 that has a key with the auto lock and unlock feature. The key was dropped and stepped on or something so it broke and now we only have 1 key. With my forgetful track record I figured one key is not a safe idea as its only a matter of time before we lose it or something happens.

So I sent the key and the VIN number with Gene to the states but the Toyota dealers there could not help.

So I took the keys (good and bad) to the Toyota dealership in San Pedro Sula on the mainland of Honduras where the car was originally purchased. They said great we can get you a replacement key from the Tegucigalpa dealership in a few days its $240. That was a lot but what are you going to do. I said ok order it. He said bring me your car next week and we can program the key. I said my car is on Roatan and I do not want to pay to ship it over here etc can't you just program the key and send it to me. He said no we need the car.

So he said the toyota rent a car place in Roatan should be able to do it. We called them and they said they do not have the computer but they need to make a bunch of copies for rental cars and some other suckers like me on the island. He said he could borrow the computer from the dealership in La Ceiba since they need to make multiple keys but he will have to charge me another 1200 lps ($60 USD).

So the key is being ordered from Tegus to San Pedro where he will cut the key to match mine (he has my broken one) and shipped to Roatan where if the guy gets the computer and I take him my car he can program the door lock to work all for the reasonable price of $310 + about 1.5 hrs of my time so far before taking it to the place in Roatan.

If I described this to most people they would laugh or cry but on Roatan people just shrug and say Typical.