Yes, they really spelled it Replacment and not Replacement.
This is a review and critique of the the product called “Toyota Prius Key Fob Cover Case Shell Replacment [sic] with Blank Key 2004-2009” sold on Amazon.com at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015KEW8QO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I ordered two of these things. While assembling the first one, I managed to break a little piece of metal. In the picture below, notice the missing metal “tooth” from the cover on the right. That’s what I broke off.
So why did I go and break the tooth off? Because of a manufacturing defect, that’s why.
That metal tooth slides left and compresses a spring. While the tooth is left and the spring is compressed, you can slide the cover over the rest of the fob. When the spring is released, the tooth slides back to the right, where it grabs a plastic nub on the other part of the fob, holding it closed.
But the tooth and the plastic nub cannot work together as shipped. The plastic nub is too wide and the tooth can not slide far enough to get around it. If you force it, you will break off the tooth.
In this picture, with the two parts of the shell lined up and with the tooth pushed as far left as it will go, you can see that the tooth and the nub overlap by a little bit. (The nub is the small rectangle of plastic whose left edge is where the red arrow points down. The right edge of the tooth is where the green arrow points up.) The shell cannot be closed all the way.
On the second shell I ordered, I manually cut part of the plastic nub with a sharp utility knife. Eventually I was able to make the parts fit together.
Why post here and not on Amazon?
Because Amazon won’t let me post a review. I guess I haven’t spent enough money on their web site this year to be allowed to post a review:
So up yours, Amazon. And you are welcome for the feedback, Hello Auto.
