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My son locked his only key in the trunk with doors locked, valet lock engaged. 100 miles from dealer.
After two days of my life wasted there was a simple solution. There is no pass through on this model to the trunk so don't bother removing rear seat as the gas tank is behind a steel plate.
Steps taken
Of course had to get pop a lock to unlock the door, which activated alarm which also disengages the inside trunk latch even if the valet lock is not engaged.
First take your battery loose to disengage the alarm.
Pull up the drivers door step plate gently simply pull upward you will see the wiring harness.
Now remove the driver side kick plate usually one plastic nut, then pull backward toward rear of the car to clear the stud and push toward middle of car.(I didn't fully remove mine just enough to see the wiring and wiring connector). It's a little tight but electric plug can be disconnected then on the plug going to the rear of the car look at the plug and look for a blue wire (3rd from the side of plug) take a jumper tool to apply 12 volt to that connector for the blue wire. I did not have a special tool to apply the 12 v juice so I took a small guage wire stuck in the connector to the blue wire. Had my son touch end of the wire to positive terminal and amazingly it overrode the alarm sent juice to the trunk solenoid and popped it immediately. **Tips Courtesy of Lexus Service manager in Lexington KY A big THANKS!**
He also said on the older models you can remove the dash cover to expose the actual trunk latch plug pull it out of latch then jumper across it and it will open the trunks as well but not on 2001 + models
One more little trick I found on you tube if the valet gets locked and no key, there is a bronze looking clip that goes around the back of the lock cylinder, pop it off easily with a screw driver then take the screwdriver where the clip was and push in on a little button with screw driver that was covered by the clip and it will unlock the valet lock with no key. You can do this from behind the lock without removing it. Just about six or so screws to remove the lower dash panels.
Hope this helps someone save two days of their life!
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Can someone with an 01+ chime in on no access to the trunk through the back seat? i could have swore I went through the back seat to open the trunk on an 02'. Just had to remove the metal brace.
First, Welcome to the forum.
Second, A few days a go another member made some similar thread. Take a look, this one have pictures. But thanks for your information.
Can someone with an 01+ chime in on no access to the trunk through the back seat? i could have swore I went through the back seat to open the trunk on an 02'. Just had to remove the metal brace.
this is the easiest way, took me 5 mins to pull out back seat, luckly my keys were toward the rear and I did not have to take off the steal brace.
I may be wrong about a pass through on this model but I spoke to the Lexus dealer in Lexington Service manager who stated he worked on them when they were new and I also called corporate Lexus and they pulled the books and was told by both you couldn't access this model's trunk through the back seat because of the gas tank. Many models you can. I had another key made (which the dealer had to order with VIN because they said it was laser cut they had blanks in stock but could not cut it)
I probably won't need to do it again since I have a new key but to run the jumper from electrical plug (blue wire) to 12 volt as I explained would be a 10-15 minute job if I knew in advance. Also if you pop the valet lock on this model the alarm system deactivates the lever even if the valet is unlocked. There is no need to to even unlock the valet lock when using this method, I just added this for others reference in case their valet was locked and alarm wasn't activated..
I searched the forum and never found a solution and missed the valet lock procedure but it wouldn't have helped with the alarm activated.on my model.
ps When I did this it was a couple weeks ago so that post may not of been posted yet and in my situation would not have allowed the trunk to open because alarm was activated. I tried the valet unlock first before I called Lexus. Just remembered I should share what I found to save someone else the time and headache I went through.
Great forum!
Last edited by aj01gs300; 08-26-16 at 04:05 PM.
Reason: add info
It's all good. Not trying to bash your thread just wanted to make sure the info was accurate. I locked my keys in the trunk 2 weeks after I got my car and had to wait for the dealer to get me a new one also. Since then I made sure to have multiple keys and this site helped me program them.
It's all good. Not trying to bash your thread just wanted to make sure the info was accurate. I locked my keys in the trunk 2 weeks after I got my car and had to wait for the dealer to get me a new one also. Since then I made sure to have multiple keys and this site helped me program them.
Not a problem I didn't take it that way just relaying what the Lexus dealer and corporate told me and how I resolved it. They had pity on me because of how far I was away from the nearest dealer and helped me out. It really surprised me though how good corporate and the dealer was in trying to help me with a 15 year old car. I am not a Lexus expert by any means, learning the hard way This forum is very helpful. After two days of trying and having such a simple fix I was both happy and ticked that it took that long for me to resolve. Lesson learned extra keys are a must!
for the record YOU CAN 100% get to the trunk through the back seat. I personally did this.
Yea I also just did this. I probably didn't need to remove the bar if I would have just used something long enough to hit the release lever on the trunk lid.
My release latch isnt working a my keys are locked in my trunk plz help . Any way to open it Manuelly
Do you mean the latch up in front under the steering wheel? Is the button there with the key pusher In or out. Either way just take the back seat out and get in the trunk
I know this thread is hella old already but I just wanted to give a huge THANK YOU to the post originator cuz you helped me out in a pinch. I did the exact same thing and was having a nightmare of a time trying to gain access to the trunk. I couldn’t have done it without this write up. I literally searched for hours and this is the only post that helped. So again, THANK YOU! 🤙🏼
ps- to further help anyone out who ever encounters this problem. I’ve included pictures to what the originator was talking about. The all blue wire in the 3rd slot on the blue connector. Supply 12v to it and voila, trunk open. Just paying it forward. Hope this helps someone one day 🙏🏼