What is an Engine Immobilizer?

               There are a lot of features that go into keeping your vehicle safe, and not just on the road, either. Even after you turn your vehicle off, there are multiple features that continue to work to secure your vehicle, one of which is your Toyota’s engine immobilizer. Here at New Rochelle Toyota, we’ll teach you what an engine immobilizer is and what it does to keep your vehicle safe.

Inside your vehicle, its engine immobilizer is a high-tech anti-theft system that works to prevent break-ins and auto theft. It functions using your Toyota’s key or your Smart Key fob, so when you insert your key into the ignition or come within range with your fob, it transmits an electronic code to your vehicle, which reads the code to see if it matches the code in the vehicle’s engine.

[Read more: Using your Toyota Smart Key]

The only way your Toyota will start is if the code transmitted by your key’s transponder chip matches the code in your engine immobilizer.

Say that you have a 2016 Toyota RAV4. Thanks to your vehicle’s engine immobilizer, your vehicle won’t work with just any Toyota RAV4 key, even though they have the same shape, but with only the one that came with your vehicle.

What if you lost your key or fob?

Because the code in your key is unique only to your vehicle, it can be a bit pricey to replace a lost Toyota key or Smart Key fob. If you’ve lost your key and are absolutely sure that you won’t find it, don’t worry, it’s still possible to have it replaced. Our staff here at New Rochelle Toyota will be happy to help. Simply contact us and we’ll be sure to help you get a new key.

If you stop by our dealership, we can give you your Toyota’s key code when you present proof of ownership of the vehicle as well as a form of photo identification. We will also need your vehicle’s VIN number, so if you can’t bring the vehicle itself to the dealership, be sure to write it down and bring it in. The number can usually be found in your owner’s manual, on your proof of ownership certificate or be seen on the dashboard through the windshield.

[More Toyota safety features: Hill Start Assist]

With all of that, we’re able to use our scan tool to program your vehicle’s immobilizer system to authorize a new key, which will then work with your engine.

If you need help with your vehicle’s engine immobilizer, feel free tocontact us here at New Rochelle Toyota – we’ll be happy to help!