The car owners of today are living in the future. Today’s cars can unlock themselves when you walk up to them, don’t have keyed ignitions, can be summoned to your position, and can even be controlled by the smartphone everyone has in their pockets. Modern cars are crazy intelligent and scary complex, and unfortunately, that can also hurt you. See that glorious key fob that your car uses? If you lose that on a road trip or even at home, you can be screwed big time, from being stranded for days to shelling out a shocking amount of money for such a small part.
Last week, I discovered a major downside to the smart key fobs that countless new cars in America have today. I will be telling that story as part of a multi-part series, but for now, I want to focus on the small device that, when I lost it, resulted in one of the worst 12-hour periods of my entire life. I lost a key to a brand-new 2025 Ford F-350 Super Duty dually, and I wasn’t prepared for what happened next.
What happened to me could happen to anyone, and what follows that simple mistake can lead to huge heartache. Saying it could happen to anyone is not hyperbole, either, as everything from Kias and Harley-Davidsons to Polaris Slingshots and Chevrolets use fobs and they usually suck to replace in an emergency situation.
Making Keys Smarter
Take a look at the keys on my workbench here. They represent multiple generations of a similar idea. On the left is a key to a 2025 Ford F-350 Super Duty. As you can guess, to the right of that is the key to a 2025 Polaris Slingshot. From there, you have the key to my 2007 BMW 530xi, and finally, the key to my 2008 Smart Fortwo.
I will start with the key on the farthest right. That’s an old-style key fob where the key is physically attached to the remote and is required to slide into a keyed ignition. The common term for a setup like this is “keyless entry” and it’s been around for decades. As Car and Driver notes, the 1987 Cadillac Allanté used an early example of this technology. The car had physical keys for the ignition, but also came with a separate radio-based remote control that locked and unlocked the vehicle’s doors without keys.
This basic sort of setup has evolved over the years. Remotes became integrated into keys, and then some of these keys got really fancy by adopting a clean style where the key wasn’t exposed until you hit a button, exposing the key like a switchblade. Check out the keys to one of my Volkswagens above.
An interesting evolution of this idea is what you see with my BMW’s key. This looks like the remote to a newer car, and sure enough, there isn’t an exposed key. This key is almost a bridge between the simpler technology I just mentioned and the smart key. This key works like my Volkswagen’s key in that I still hit buttons to lock and unlock. But then things get weird when you get into the vehicle because you have to insert the fob into a slot before the start button will work. So, it’s not a physical key, sort of, but it still functions like one.
Then you have the key for the Polaris Slingshot, which is another radio-based key fob. There’s no ignition switch, but it won’t “unlock” as you walk up to it. Instead, you get into the vehicle, hit the unlock button to disable the vehicle’s immobilizer, hit the start button, and you’re off to the races.
How Smart Keys Work
The Ford key is what is known as a “smart key.” The invention of this technology for the mass market is often credited to Siemens. In the 1990s, Siemens created a plastic card that works as a transponder. Here’s a bit from Automotive News:
The technology worked by emitting a low-frequency signal as the driver approached the vehicle. The signal also could configure seats, steering wheel and mirror positions, along with audio presets and temperature settings according to the user’s preferences. As the driver pulled the door handle, the identification card and the car’s security system communicated on a two-way basis, granting permission to unlock the door. With the card still in the driver’s pocket or purse, the vehicle could then be started with the touch of a button.
Depending on the model, the vehicle could be locked by pressing a point on a door handle or simply walking away. Overrides built into the system could identify the driver even if two people with Keyless Go cards approached the vehicle. To ensure security, the keyless device had 4 billion possible security codes that changed randomly each time the vehicle was entered.
Siemens also included an safety attribute that proved attractive to vehicle owners. The Keyless Go device had to be inside the vehicle to start it. At the same time, it also prevented the door from locking if the card was inside but the driver was not.
Mercedes-Benz introduced this technology as an optional upgrade for the 1998 W220 S-Class under the trade name of Keyless Go. Enthusiasts from benzworld.org say that this is how it works in a W220:
The inductive antennae in the doors, in the rear, in the luggage compartment and in the rear bumper are actuated by the Keyless Go control unit.
Their electromagnetic fields cause the transmitter key to transmit its authorization code via radio to the right antenna amplifier module. The transmitter key used last is interrogated first. In addition via these antennae it is established whether transmitter card is outside or inside the vehicle. The body sheet metal attenuates the antenna fields in the outer area limiting the range in a defined manner. The range of the antennae outside the vehicle is approx. 1 – 1.5 m. As a result the transmitter card outside the vehicle can always only be reached by the antennae on one side of the vehicle.
On the other hand, these range sectors overlap in the interior. This defined range limitation allows the Keyless Go control unit to decide whether the transmitter key is located inside or outside the vehicle.
Present-day smart fobs work similarly to this, relying on antennae in the vehicle and a radio pulse generator in the fob for communications. Depending on the model, the vehicle may also have touch capacitive surfaces, such as on the door handles, which will lock or unlock the vehicle so long as the fob is present.
Smart keys have some great advantages. You never actually need to brandish the fob to drive your vehicle. You just walk up, watch as the doors automatically unlock, watch as the vehicle adjusts the seat and mirrors to your settings, hop in, and drive away with only a push of the start button. Vehicles with smart keys are also a little harder to steal than ones with old-school keyed ignitions. You also don’t need to worry about the ignition wearing out or your heavy jailmaster key set shutting down your ignition.
Perhaps the best part of a smart key is the fact that you cannot lock it in the vehicle. So long as the vehicle detects the fob, it won’t allow you to lock the fob in the vehicle! That’s brilliant. I’m sure everyone has a story about locking a key in a car and having to call a locksmith to pop a door open.
Modern Problems With Modern Solutions
The risks are also bigger with fobs. Let’s talk about road trips. In the past, losing your vehicle’s key during a road trip was a headache, but not the end of the world. Because ignitions utilized physical keys, losing your key meant that your car was already parked somewhere. In this road trip scenario, this allowed you to check the immediate area for where you left the key.
If you were unlucky in finding the key, you might have lucked out by just calling out a locksmith or the dealership. Sometimes, you got back on the road with nothing more than giving the dealership your VIN. They’d then cut you a new key, which might have cost you up to a couple of hundred bucks if it was a chip key.
Back in the day, automakers also sometimes made only a handful of key permutations. Because of this, it was perhaps rare, but entirely possible that the key that started your old Ford Ranger also started your Econoline. I remember a time when my mom accidentally “stole” a Ford Windstar because her key worked in a Windstar of a slightly different color. It also meant that locksmiths and shops were able to keep a master key set around to cut new keys from.
Unfortunately, or I suppose fortunately in some cases, modern keys do not permit the shenanigans of the past.
Let’s look at my Smart Fortwo’s key. This is an old-style deal that isn’t as intelligent as Ford’s key. Yet, replacing it can be a major pain. If you lose your Smart Fortwo’s key and happen to have the second key on you, that’s not a big deal, as a locksmith or hardware store can just clone that key. You might pay a few hundred dollars, and everything will be fine.
However, if you lose that key while on a road trip, or lose all keys, now you’re screwed. The Mercedes-Benz dealership will demand that you have the vehicle towed in so that the dealer’s techs can replace both keys and the computer on which the keys are stored. This will cost you well over $1,000 in parts and labor at dealership prices. This comes from my personal experience being in the Smart community for nearly two decades.
The alternative would be to remove the Signal Acquisition Module from your Smart and ship it to SOS Diagnostics in Oregon. They can pair new keys to your existing computer for half the price of the dealer. But there’s the rub. You have to ship it to Oregon, wait for the company to work its magic, and then wait for the computer and keys to get back to you. That’s no help at all if you lost your key on a road trip.
Losing A Smart Fob Can Be A Nightmare
The process with smart keys is somehow worse. Until now, I’ve described situations where a lost key leaves you stranded wherever you last parked your car. However, the main benefit of a smart key is also its weakness.
Say you put your smart key on the roof of your car while you’re putting your baby in the backseat. Now, because you’re a stressed-out and tired parent, you hop in the car, forgetting you put the fob on the roof. However, because the fob is within range to permit vehicle operation, your car allows you to start it up and drive off. Your key then slides off the roof, never to be seen again.
Something I’ve noticed is that not all cars will warn you about this right away. In my case, with the F-350, the truck didn’t warn me about the missing key until I came to a complete stop and put it in park. If your key is lost on a highway, that could be several miles before you’re even made aware of the key’s disappearance, reducing your chances of ever finding it.
Our secret designer, the Bishop, told me his neighbor’s story. His neighbor had a Chevy Tahoe with a smart key. They then drove this SUV almost to Saint Louis, Missouri, from northeast Illinois. It wasn’t until his neighbor got to a rest stop at the western end of Illinois that they noticed that they didn’t have their key. Yep, the SUV let them a few hundred miles without a key. How did this happen? The key was hanging in the laundry room and had just enough range to convince the engine to start, even though it wasn’t in the vehicle.
The saddest part is what happens next. When your vehicle finally gets around to notifying you about your screw up, it may intentionally brick itself the second you put it in park. Then, you’ll be stuck wherever you are. The engine will not start, and in the case of my Ford loaner, even accessory power gets locked out. That means if you have the windows up on a hot day or the windows down on a rainy day, there’s nothing you can do about it.
Now, some manufacturers do offer a backup. According to my conversations with Ford, the FordPass phone app can allow for emergency use of the vehicle ignition without a fob. However, the vehicle can be paired with only one person at a time. If you are not the person who originally registered the vehicle, as would be the case with a press vehicle, a rental, a secondhand vehicle that hasn’t had its data wiped, or borrowing someone else’s vehicle, you’re screwed again. You’re also boned if your phone dies.
The pain continues when you replace the key. When I lost the key to the Ford F-350 in Maryland, I did not have the second key. Motor City Solutions had the second key in Detroit. Unfortunately, since the second key was not with me, the dealership couldn’t just clone the key. Of course, if I had the second key, I wouldn’t have been stranded in the first place, so that’s pretty much a paradox.
Instead, the Ford dealer said that I had to tow the vehicle in. Then, they would access the truck’s systems. But there was a twist. I was informed that due to how the immobilizer system is programmed, the existing surviving key would need to be present to add a single new one. Otherwise, they would need to start with two new blank keys and program both. The original second key, which would have been in Detroit, would be deleted from the truck and no longer work.
In other words, many dealerships treat the loss of a single smart fob during a road trip as being the same thing as losing both fobs. I’ve called around to different Ford dealerships, and it seems the going rate is about $400 to $500 per key, including labor. Since both keys are required here, that means $800 to $1,000 to get back on the road again, though sometimes I’ve heard even higher quotes of closer to $1,300.
Of course, things get even more expensive if you have to tow your vehicle off the side of a highway. I was also lucky enough to have this issue happen on a weekday. Lose a key on a weekend or a holiday, and you can be stuck for days.
Not All Bad
Thankfully, there are ways around these high prices. If you have just lost one of your keys, you can buy a spare online for cheaper than dealership prices and either pair it to your vehicle through DIY or a locksmith. The problem is losing the key during a road trip. In this situation, you don’t really have the luxury of buying a cheaper key online and then shopping around for the cheapest way to get it programmed. You’re sort of just stuck with whoever is willing to help you.
In my case, I was given two choices: I could either pay the dealer big money to replace both keys to the Super Duty, or have Motor City Solutions send out a driver with the spare key in hand. I chose the second option, which took about 9 hours. Of course, my situation was special since it was a press truck.
All of this is to say that losing your modern smart key is just a huge headache. Your vehicle may allow you to drive a surprisingly long distance before effectively bricking itself. Then, you might have to pay some huge dollars to fix your mistake. That being said, there are still lots of great things about smart keys, so I still like them. But I would definitely recommend guarding your smart key like it’s a kid, or maybe even use an AirTag. Don’t let it out of your sight!
As for my story of misery, stay tuned, because it’s going to be a wild and stupid ride.
I know this is a different conversation, but what about Fob Range for remote start and such? Tried flashing my car’s headlights from the very top of Met Life stadium, to the car parked way way out there. They flashed. Being very excited, I showed a security guard -he was not impressed.
This dealership was looking to get PAID based off of your situation. I program these Fords all the time. The programming tool does not care if you have a key with you or not, as long as you can access the OBD port you can program the new key. And the existing keys will still work with the truck.
This is not necessarily true of all brands and fobs, but for this Ford specifically it is.
It definitely makes my life better 99% of the time. Could I do without it? Of course, just like I could do without Bluetooth or navigation or seat position memory or heated seats or remote start or (continue listing convenience/comfort features). It’s probably less of a deal by yourself, but with kids and associated gear/groceries it’s really nice. Also I have locked my key in zero times because it won’t let me (can’t say that about physical keys). My wife left her keyfob in Canada recently, so I had to pick her up from the airport and now I have to figure out how to program a new one. I would have had to pick her up with a physical key, so programming a new key is the only issue here.
The keyfob on our 2021 BMW 330e apparently stores the mileage, vin, vehicle health data, and any check engine codes. The dealership scans it when you bring it in for service, instead of looking at the odometer.
You can imagine my concern when one of our fobs went through a wash/dry cycle in the laundry. Amazingly, it was OK.
At least I can use my phone as a key, as well as a proximity wallet card. So there are other options if I lose a fob. I wish more of my cars let me use my phone. It’s so darn convenient when I’m working outside or in the garage and need to move that car. I don’t have to go inside and grab keys.
This has nothing to do with the inherent technology of keyless ignition, and is solely because Ford got lazy and doesn’t make the key not detected message pop-up right away. The brand I work for beeps and yells at you almost immediately, and it’s obnoxious when we’re just moving cars across the lot ot move them for the snowplow. You have to be an idiot to leave without keys.
So as usual, this is automakers cheaping out on the tech and then price gouging you when you go to replace it.
Also, they keys stay in your pocket/purse. That’s the whole damn point. Don’t put them weird places.
I intentionally avoided start/stop buttons as long as I could, but got stuck with one for the latest car.
It is the most useless ‘feature’ I have ever run into, and introduces many more problems than it solves.
In any other car, I put the key into the ignition (hot and fresh out the kitchen). When I arrive at the destination, I remove the key. If I forget to take the key, the car beeps at me.
Early versions of these ridiculous ‘keys’ had a slot in the dash or console where you either had to put the key before pressing the start button or a slot that you could put the key into if you chose.
Now I get in the car, and then have to find a non-designated key spot to put my key ring, which often holds three real car keys and this one stupid fob thing.
Did I put it in the center console? Glove box? Floor of the back seat?
Did I leave it on the unoccupied passenger seat, which could mean it is now under the passenger seat, in the footwell, in the passenger door bin, somehow under the passenger floor mat?
Is it in my backpack, pants pocket, pocket of the jacket I wore to the car but took off and tossed on the rear seat?
Did I put anything in the hatchback? Is the key back there?
Every f-ing time I get out of that car I’m searching for my keys like someone at a toll booth digging for change in the 90s (tolls used to be paid by throwing change into a weird basket thing).
What was made better with these ‘keys?’ I never turned a key and thought, “Wow, there really needs to be an easier way. This is so much work.”
This is just tech sprawl, where companies have no innovative ideas so they jam some licensed tech thing in because it is new, not because it is useful. I am disappointed in humanity (impressive because I have a really low bar for that group) for the proliferation of this nonsense.
I just keep the fob thingy in my pocket when traveling and never take it out. So it’s always on my person. When in the house, it’s stored out of range of the vehicle.
Here’s an idea, don’t put it in a dozen different places every time you get in. Keep it on your person and not in an article of clothing you might take off, the same place every time. That’s the whole damn point. You don’t have to take the keys out. That’s what was made better.
I never have to think about my keys after I put them in my pocket when I leave the house.
“They don’t have a designated spot to put them” then you pick one, be your own person. Take some responsibility for yourself, you leaving your keys in weird places you can’t remember is not the techs fault.
We have one car with this stupid ‘feature,’ and I don’t often drive it.
I also never keep my keys in my pocket, because from the time I started driving until last year, driving with my keys in my pocket would not have been possible.
And, yes, it absolutely is the technology’s fault. We had a technology that provided a secure place to hold the key during travel and replaced it with something else that no longer offers this. It still requires a ‘key’ but does not offer a designated place for it.
It’s almost like the world changes and we change with it or become very grumpy “get off my lawn” people. Who knew.
I’ve always been that guy, I’ve just finally aged into it being appropriate.
Speak!
The designated spot is in your pocket. You not being able to get over the habit of pulling the keys out every time (and apparently yeeting them randomly about the car) instead is entirely your fault.
Get a label maker and print out “put keys here” and stick it on the cupholder if you must take them out of your pocket. Stick a 3M hook on the side of your steering column. Why do you need to be told where to put it?
Agreed! I love regular keys- they are interesting and are not inconvenient.
Speaking of tolls, this is a hilarious video of a grandpa yelling at a toll booth
https://youtu.be/cSlXjOQ7cC0?si=XPUvjXWh0dL8arQh
When I travel now, I bring both keys with me. Avoids a situation (long story) when I accidentally took my wife’s key when we were up at our house in Vermont. It was in in her Camelbak and I was “being helpful”.
Yeah, we both bring our keys when we travel. Neither of us wants to be a thousand miles from home without one.
This reminds me that I have to replace the spare fob to my van.
Somehow a few months back, it went missing. We’re not even sure who lost it, which probably means that it’s somewhere in our house, but we basically ripped the place apart looking for it.
We have a trip coming up (from NY to NC) and I get pretty paranoid about not having both keys in the event that something happens to the last remaining key. So uhhhhh, thanks for the reminder.
Just more evidence of why I love my old turd vehicles.
It can get worse – on Saabs going back to the ’90s, if you lost ALL the keys you were pretty well screwed. You needed a working key to get the computer to accept a new key. No way to get a key pre-programmed from the factory. So you go to buy the keys AND a new anti-theft computer plus programming to the tune of lots and lots and lots of money. My boss managed to do this twice back in the day. Oops.
BMW keys of that era are weird, in that they have two different systems with keys that look completely identical, but aren’t. You have the “regular” key that you have to push the buttons to lock/unlock and stick it in the slot to start the car. My 2011 128i convertible has the same – and the weird part is that the key doesn’t have a replaceable battery, but a rechargeable one that is wirelessly charged in the slot. So rotate your keys, assuming you have two. Though weirdly an electric toothbrush charger will charge them too. The other system is “Comfort Access” where you can just touch the door handle with your key in your pocket, jump in the car and press the start button. Those keys do have the usual coin cell battery you need to replace every five years or so. I ordered that option on my 2011 wagon. $500 IIRC, and worth every penny. If the CA isn’t working or the battery is dead you can still stick the key in the slot and start the car. At this point, I am so used to the 128i that I force of habit stick the key to the 328i in the slot half the time. And real fun was the summer I had both cars in Maine – countless times I had the wrong key in the car. I had to get a wildly different key fob for one, as normally they both had the one BMW gives you for doing Euro Delivery.
The cost of keys themselves has really gotten egregious, particularly for Euro cars as they keep them on serious lock down. I need one for my Mercedes. Physically, it’s same key as a billion Chrysler products, except with a three-pointed star instead of a five-pointed one or a Dodge or RAM logo. But for Mercedes, you can ONLY get them from the mothership, pre-programmed to your car, and the dealer STILL has to tell your car to accept the damned thing before it will actually start the car. Best price I have found reasonably locally is $660 + tax. But at least you can replace the last key without it being THAT big of a deal. One for my ’01 Volvo V70 that the Merc replaced was nearly as bad, but I had to get that one as my only key with a working remote disintegrated. Crappy Volvo switchblade keys. Hot tip – you can get the older-style separate key and remote and it will work just fine in the newer P2ss – but the dealers generally don’t know that and will say it won’t work.
My comfort access has stopped working, and to make matters worse, the car won’t lock through the fob. So I do have the latter, and treat it as the former, and lock manually. My mechanic said both fobs work as intended and send the signal, so the problem is with the car. “I can chase it….” he said “but it’ll be an adventure.” I know too well what he means by that. So we’re just rolling with it.
Have always loved switchblade Audi / VW keys, miss them.
Probably the antenna. If you happen to have a wagon, the wiring to the hatch has likely broken, the antenna is under the hatch spoiler.
I like the VW keys, at least until they open in your pocket and stab you, LOL. And there was the fun of immediately after 9/11 when a few pre-TSA idiots at the airports decided they could be used as weapons. Yeah, I had to check a bag because of my car key a couple times. The don’t fall apart though.
That’s HYSTERICAL. And thanks for the tip… will look into it!
EDIT: that’s totally it. Symptom onset checks out. Related radio problems also check out. Thanks!
Happy to help! If it’s the hatch wiring it’s a bit of a PITA to fix but there are lots of tutorials on the ‘net. You’ll probably start getting rear wiper and hatch light issues too. There are a LOT of wires running back there.
I currently have three volvos, p2, p3 and SEA so I’m getting my crash course in Volvo keys.
The p2 is the easiest to deal with so far from a hardware perspective. I’ve had the keyfob itself fall apart after it was dropped; case cracked, switchblade key wouldn’t come out anymore. You can buy cheapo key “cases” from ebay and just use the shell, spring and everything else inside to fix the fob. It just doesn’t come with a circuit board inside, so they’re like $10.
Thankfully, I have only had to do minor repairs on the keys for the P3. When I bought it, one of the keys would not stay closed, so the emergency keyblade that lives inside of the fob shell would separate from the keyfob itself (since the ring is attached to it). I took it apart and used an old pen spring to repair the little slider that is supposed to release the emergency key.
The S90 has a wildly complex key and a similar issue with the keyblade inside coming loose. More fun with springs and they key stays inside the handle now.
Sadly, for all three of them, you would need to go to Volvo to get a new key programmed. Either that or take a short-term use of VIDA, make sure you have the right OBDII to USB hardware as well as a laptop running the VIDA software. I think it’s like $80 for a day of VIDA access and another $80 (each) to program keys. You’d still need to have the blades cut, but most places can still cut their funky keys, so that’s not a huge deal.
Overall, it’s an expensive pain in the ass to get it all done. I have three keys for the P2 wagon only because it came with a valet key (no fob). I’m considering the pain of having the P3 and S90 get a spare key made. Sadly, those two turkeys cannot use an old-school bladed key in the ignition, so there’s no cheap way out like the p2.
Bonus fun with the s90: if the battery totally dies, you’re going to have a bad day. Yes, you can use the bladed key to get into the passenger compartment, but the battery is in the trunk. The trunk only opens with a power release. You can get from the passenger compartment to the trunk via the back seats, but that also has a power release (why?!). There are jump posts under the hood, but if you keep a jump pack or cables in the trunk, you can’t get them. You’ll have to rely on the kindness of strangers and the hope that they either still have cables or a jump pack on them. I put a jump pack in the glove box as I’m not terribly confident that anyone carries cables anymore and presume not many people have jump packs on them.
Luxury at it’s finest!
I went the eBay route to rebuild the key, twice. They still fell apart. I tried epoxy and CA. I gave up on the damned thing, sucked it up, and bought the replacement. As I said, the trick is get the older separate key and fob – those will probably outlast me. I rebuilt the switchblade key one more time and told the new owner to only use it as a spare.
Expensive pain in the ass sums up that car in general, with the coup de grace being the CEM crapping out very expensively, and taking XEMODEX two tries to rebuild it. I drove it from FL to ME with the first rebuild flaking out – that was nerve-wracking fun. Overall, the V70 was a HUGE disappointment. It was JUST as expensive to run (really more so, it’s far more tied to the mothership and parts are more expensive, and I have the full VIDA setup) than the Germans for nothing like the driving enjoyment even after going through the thing from stem to stern with all new everything. I was not sad at all to see it go. My 14th and almost certainly last Volvo. The juice isn’t worth the squeeze with the newer ones.
That’s such a frustrating situation to be in. I’ve had the no fob situation a handful of times while dropping my wife at a store while driving her car. She gets out walks in the store and then the car gets pissed off at me while she’s the one at fault for taking the key. But I am happy to report that our Toyota and Lexus are both very picky and alert very quickly when a key isn’t detected. I once had to drive it to get a replacement fob battery with it warning me off and on for the entire trip to the store. Annoying, but I appreciate it protecting me from myself.
I accidentally washed one of the keys to my Nissan Leaf. Was going to replace it, but the dealer quoted a few hundred dollars to program both keys. Solo driver, so I stuck to one key for a year or two, then I sold the car.
I miss the days when any locksmith could make a copy of your car key.
If you lost all your keys to an old car, there was usually a ‘key code’ sticker inside the glove box. Go to the dealer with that number and they’d hand you a brand new key. I used this option a few times rather than have a shop make a copy of an old worn key.
Smart keys, or passive entry as it’s known here is a nightmare. Thieves here have figured out how to hijack the signal so they no longer need to break in to steal the car keys.The first thing I did when I got my old Range Rover Sport was turn the fucking passive entry off.
Newer cars with better technology actually measure time of flight to determine how close the key is to the car, which should prevent relay attacks.
The other option is to store you key in something that blocks the signal, or is deep enough inside your house that a thief couldn’t read it.
Some brands have the keys go to sleep after a set amount of time being stationary.
I actaully don’t like passive entry from a UX point of view either. I think there’s a lot to be said for having to take a physical action to unlock and lock the car.
I understand your point, but I generally disagree. As long as my car is locked when I want it to be, and unlocked when I want it to be, I’d prefer to not have to do it myself. My previous car had it, and I never thought it was that big of a deal. It took a bit of time to trust that it achieved what it was supposed to do, but it did and I never had a problem with it. Now, my current daily driver doesn’t have it and I miss it dearly.
I completely disagree. Having now had several cars with passive entry, it annoys me to not have it. They physical action is grabbing the key and stuffing it in my pocket. That’s enough.
And ultimately, electronics are more reliable as a rule than mechanical bits with tiny plungers and whatnot. I have had to replace a number of physical ignition switches, and it is never much fun. Most recently my Spitfire’s – though after almost 50 years having to take it apart and clean and relubricate it is quite justifiable, if not exactly much fun.
We do not own a smart phone, so apps are not in our scope. We specifically ordered our 2024 Trax LS in order to get a vehicle with an actual key that has to be inserted into the ignition and turned to start the vehicle.
On a recent road trip, we made sure to bring both keys with us and each of us kept a key with us just in case.
My ma’s in the same boat – still has a flip phone, and specifically chose a base ’24 Impreza because she didn’t want to pay extra for things she didn’t want in the first place, and keyless start was very much on that “no thanks” list. I don’t blame her one bit – there’s no way she can misplace/forget her key and start driving, the way my grandfather once did in his previous Forester. Thankfully, I was with him and noticed the light…
I envy you, no joke.
So get rid of yours. If you don’t travel, it’s tolerable.
My colleague does not own a cell phone. Let that sink in for a second.
I’m on the weird end of the spectrum with phones – all I’ve ever used are work-provided flip phones, even now – but that would just be a pain in the ass. But to some degree, those people are simple sadists, making life more difficult for everyone around them while taking pleasure in it.
Do they love to tell everyone they don’t own a cell phone, too?
I know the kind of person you are talking about, and funny enough…. I had that colleague too!!! Flip phone, no internet at home. This often meant terrible inconvenience for the rest of us. But they were pretty, um, willful about it. This is the same colleague who bought a fourth gen Prius (the hideous one), dubbed it the Pious, and proceeded to never exceed the speed limit on I-90 for the mileage…. carnage behind be damned.
The no cell colleague is a blast from the past. They are incredibly committed to their job, it’s kind of their entire identity. (In thier defense, my line of work is one of the few left where you can do that due to tenure). Because they work ALL the time, lack of cellphone is not a problem. It fits their lifestyle, which sounds strange, but is true.
I wouldn’t say I love to tell people that I don’t own a phone. Usually only when asked for a mobile number. We only own my wife’s flip-phone for making calls while travelling since payphones have gone the way of the dodo.
Since we were forced to upgrade to a 4G phone a few years back, requiring a number change, we have not received a single call on it. We only turn it on if we need to make a call, and then turn it back off afterwards. We pay about $6 a month for it, so it’s like carrying our own pre-paid pay phone with us.
We do have a land-line with 4 rotary phones at home, but we also have laptops, a tablet, and high-speed fiber optic Internet, too.
I do not feel that my wife and I are sadists, nor do I feel we make life difficult for others. We’re just not phone people.
wife and i rented car for a road trip – they gave us two keys…joined by cable permanently cinched shut.
our first stop was home depot to cut wire cable (with bolt cutters on display) and get a coupla key rings so each of us had our own key.
I think the idea with a fob is, once it’s in your pocket/purse it goes with you wherever YOU are or the purse is. Yes most modern vehicles are hooked up to your phone and you can control them with multiple users. At a pre-owned car dealership we have a mobile key guy come and cut 10-20 keys at a time on the spot for inventory, at cost of $200-$400 for modern fobs.
Back In The Day, when Dad owned a repossession agency (1982-1995), many of the cars that came in to the lot didn’t come with keys. Sometimes we recovered them with the doors unlocked, but most times we didn’t. The lenders did provide us with key codes for each of their vehicles. We had a key cutting suite set up in the basement, and Mom got to be an expert at making them. However, the lessees often re-keyed their cars to defeat this, or installed aftermarket ignition locks.
I got to be proficient at picking door locks, both with a SlimJim (mostly domestic and cheaper Japanese imports) and picks (lower-level European makes) because it’s a pain to drag a car around an impound lot if the doors and the wheel are locked. Mercedes, Porsche, and other high-falutin’ makes had special keys only a dealer could cut, so we typically just left them locked and let the bank figure out what they wanted done with the car. Usually they’d just put them on a flatbed and haul them away.
Fun fact: we had a special kit called the Try-Keys. Three numbered boxes with every permutation of GM keys available from about 1970 to 1990. The theory went: you could try each individual key in the door of a Chevy or Cadillac and eventually one of them would open it. I spent many hours doing this very thing, and with only one or two exceptions, it worked as advertised.
Since there’s two of us on a road trip, each of us carries one of the two fobs for just this reason.
Used to be easy to buy and program your own fobs. I had a 1999 Escort that I only had one fob for. I bought a second one off Amazon for like $10, and programmed it in my car by flipping the ignition to on a bunch of times. (There were a few more steps, but you get the idea.)
You got lucky, the Escort was the only Ford that allowed you to add a key without two programmed keys present, and then that was only for a few years.
I tried to get a new key for my ’03 Ford Focus – spent five hours while the local dealer tried to program it; they eventually gave up. I made a copy which allows me to at least open the door (but not start the engine), because this car loves to lock its doors at random.
“Back in the day, automakers also sometimes made only a handful of key permutations.”
In the late 80’s, I had a friend with a beige, Olds Delta 88 sedan. One day, he was downtown, angle parked at some business.
When he came out, he walked to a beige, Olds Delta 88 sedan, unlocked the door, and got in. As soon as he sat down, he thought “I don’t remember that pattern in the upholstery.” But since the door key worked he figured this HAD to be his car.
He stuck his key in the ignition, and it fired right up! He thought “Well, it MUST be my car.” He backed out of the space and started driving.
He got about a block away and realized the mirrors were all out of whack. Combining that with the upholstery, he pulled over and went through the contents of the glove box.
Not his car.
He turned around and immediately parked the car where it came from. Turned out his car was just a few slots down behind a Suburban.
Ha. A friend of mine in high school almost did this with the wrong Dodge Omni. He had borrowed his mom’s blue Omni to run an errand at a store, and when he came back out, he walked up to the blue Omni parked a few spaces from the front door, unlocked the door, and got inside. He put the ignition key in the ignition, but as he was about to push the clutch in and start it up, he noticed things seemed different in there. “Hey, why aren’t the seats and mirrors where I left them? Hey, why is there an air freshener that I don’t recognize hanging from the rear view mirror? Hey, who replaced the tape deck with the factory radio? Holy crap, this is the wrong car.”
He got out and locked it back up and looked around, and realized that the correct blue Dodge Omni was actually parked a few more spaces down, which he had missed because it was obscured from view by a conversion van. So he drove that one home instead.
Sidebar question: did Dodge even make the Omni in other colors besides that light metallic sky blue? I’m racking my brain, and I honestly don’t remember seeing another color, other than black Shelby versions.
My dad had a late seventies Ford Taunus with verrrrry worn locks. One summer he locked they key in the car and managed to unlock the door with a popsicle stick. We tried to have him start it with the popsicle stick, too, but he was afraid of damaging the ignition lock cylinder.
A few years ago, I parked my Honda at Bush Intercontinental in Houston and neglected to take a picture of where I parked it. Upon my return, I had to wander around the parking garage for about 30 minutes, clicking on the fob trying to get my car to answer. Strangely, there was a Suburban that repeatedly did. And yes, I did eventually find my car.
Why are fobs still used when phone-as-key is a ten year old tech? I’m pretty sure the least stolen car uses phone-as-key.
And then your phone dies, like mine did when I forgot to take it out of my pocket and went in a pool…
That’s why the back up is a NFC card (hotel style) that’s cheaper than a fob and can be programmed to more than one car. Have 5 cars, you have your phone and one NFC card as back-up. You lose your phone, borrow someone else’s or call S.O. to have the car unlocked/started or download and log in to start then uninstall. No need to wait for locksmith.
Sounds complicated for this 70 year old, but also sounds terrific.
You’re telling me that fob would survive in a pool over a phone that’s IP68 or higher?
Unfortunately my major was history, so I don’t know the answer.
Sorry, IP is short for Ingress Protection. I think IP68 is the highest (Apple) right now.
Thanks. I’m an Android user, so I had no idea. Like anything else Apple.
Apple isn’t the best anymore! My Vivo X200 Pro is IP68 and IP69-rated. The thing is a tank. 🙂
Point exactly. For the cost of the replacement of a fob, might as well be the phone.
Alas, that’s like a lot of vestigial things in a car. All manufacturers should’ve gone Slate’s way as soon as USB-C was introduced. Useless nav screen…
Yeah I had a fob survive getting dunked, though to be fair it was only under water for a couple of seconds and I immediately opened it up and dried it.
You used to be able to do that to your phone too until the manufacturers decided that we can’t repair it. We’re too stupid, we have to give them $$$ for a new one.
The first Dodge Journey my parents bought had the ability to not only let the fob be locked inside the vehicle, but it let it be that way while the vehicle was running. This happened once at my place and I went to open the for them (I’ve done this kind of thing a surprising number of times), but The Old Man was paranoid I’d scratch the paint with the plastic wedge I planned on using in the door corner, so we hopped in my Brougham and drove 90 miles back to their place to grab the other fob.
This is the single feature from the 6 Fords my wife and/or I have owned that I miss: the driver’s door keypad entry system. I used to lock my keys in the car ON PURPOSE so I didn’t have to carry them around with me, knowing I could use the PIN to open the car and pull my keys out of the glovebox.
Yup one of the great things about Securicode, and I mean the factory installed version, not the stick on remote that is the only option on some models now.
Our Outback has something similar but not quite as fancy…you use the liftgate’s lock button to tap in a 5-digit code you’ve programmed in.
Can someone explain to me why the consumer cost of the fob is hundreds of dollars when there can’t be more than a few bucks worth of electronics and plastic in it? I mean, other than just exploitation? You can buy an actual smart phone for the cost of some of some key fobs.
That’s exactly it—they know they have you over a barrel and can screw you over. Were I more cynical, I’d think that the whole deployment of this tech was for this purpose, sold as a security and convenience feature.
They’re not. I mean, here’s the one for most newer Fords, and it’s $32 for a pair of them.
It’s the programming that is the racket. Older cars, you could program new fobs yourself. Now, the dealer makes you go to them, to use their special tools and software, where they charge whatever they can get away with.
Bingo. I can get a pair of replacement fobs for either my wife’s QX56 or my G37X for the same price (we never set out to be an Infiniti family, it just worked out that way), but getting them programmed for the car is still a $250 bill each.