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 have the exact same Ford proximity key, and it’s a definitely a minor worry. That said, the downsides are definitely worth the convenience factor. It’s not like the classic chipped physical keys didn’t also end in an expensive trip to the dealer if you got yourself into trouble.
The real move is to carry a purse. I don’t care what gender you are, having a secure physical pouch for your wallet, keys and phone is an absolute game changer, especially for someone with ADHD like myself. Also great for pens, and saving business receipts. Proximity keys were clearly designed with purses in mind- You just leave it in there, and stop concerning yourself with where you put it. If you’re carrying a proximity key in your pants pocket, you’re doing it wrong.
My pants pocket is a pretty secure physical pouch. If someone else gets a hold of it, I have bigger problems. It’s also not often that I remove my pants and forget to put them on and it’s been decades since I had to sneak out of a window in a hurry and, even then, I never left any clothes behind.
Agreed – I can count on one hand the number of times I have made it all the way to my car only to realize I have forgotten my pants.
It is annoying when that happens, though. Unless I’m going to Walmart or a fetish club, I have to go all the way back into the house and put them on.
I tend to drive cars without pants quite frequently. :p
lol – Absolutely and as was mentioned someplace else in this thread even when you do decide to wear pants the pockets on women’s clothes basically suck!
I do a lot of our laundry since my wife worked as a retail and event florist for years and I had more weekend availability, I was shocked when checking pockets how even when there was no reason they were half the depth they should be.
The biggest advantage of a pants pocket over a purse is that you know you have your keys on your person at work. A coworker of mine had her car stolen when she left her keys in her purse, the purse in her office and went to her work station (grocery store bakery) a couple hundred feet away. Some rando wandered into the office and took them, went out and listened for the beep, and she didn’t even know the car was gone until the cops called her and asked if (one of their frequent fliers) has gotten her permission to use her car.
Not gonna talk about the GM ignitions from the 70s and 80s that, with a bit of coaxing, would let you start the vehicle with a screwdriver in the ignition?
My ’77 Malibu didn’t even need the screwdriver, just a little jiggle-wiggle with that flat spot that stuck out from the ignition cylinder and it was off to the races.
My parents had a Ford from the ’90s where anything might work – popsicle stick, sturdy twig, fingernail.
Everyone says you can’t lock your keys in the car with smart fobs but I beg to differ. If the fob battery is just the right amount of discharged it will let you into the car, you can toss the keys and your bag on the passenger seat, start the car, drive to a Dunkin’ on your way to work, shut off the car, lock the doors, go into Dunkin’, get your coffee, come back to the car, spend way longer than reasonable trying to figure out why the doors won’t unlock because you haven’t actually had any coffee yet, see the keys on the seat, curse your life, call for roadside assistance, wait an hour for a guy with a $13 blood pressure cuff and coat-hanger kit to come tell you your keys are on the seat and let you into your car.
You know just like as a hypothetical situation that could happen to someone.
Strangely specific! Haha
Or you leave your keys in the car at the carwash so the door doesn’t lock, but then it does lock…
I really hope it was just due to the state of the fob battery but I don’t trust it any more.
A few years ago, I had the ignition cylinder lock up in our 2001 Mazda Tribute (Escape). Ford used an antenna ring within the steering column to detect if the key was present, deactivating the immobilizer if it was. I replaced the ignition cylinder with an aftermarket one, and realized I still couldn’t start the car due to the car needing programming to the immobilizer. This would have cost me several hundred dollars plus driving to the nearest Mazda dealer, which was over an hour away. Not attractive options to a dirt poor college student.
My solution? I removed the antenna from the column, and ziptied it under the dashboard with the old key suspended within the ring. Bingo bongo, no more immobilizer issues.
I’d be curious to see the replacement fee of the BMW display key. I’m sure it only requires a small sacrifice to the Elden gods and thousands of dollars
My key for my 2013 F30 Wagon was stolen along with the house keys, work laptop etc. Cost to replace is approx $800 NZD, 2-3 week wait as they have to ship from Germany to New Zealand. Majority of locksmith shops can’t or refuse to clone. Those that can will charge ~$575 – 650 NZD.
Been using one key for over a year now and if I lose this key, then I’m screwed. Will have to pony up for a spare key at some stage I guess..
This is one of several reasons why I have a firm policy of plancing absolutely nothing on the exterior of any vehicle, aside from my overwhelming ADD, bags, boxes, and keys will scratch the paint.
My first vehicle was a Samurai with an external gas cap and no door to rest it on. When I went to the autoparts store to buy my third gas cap after leaving it on the roof a second time, I decided I was never putting anything on the roof again.
Volkswagen had an excellent solution to that in the 80s; a Vanagon’s doorless external gas cap had to be unlocked with the van’s ignition key, and couldn’t be taken off until re-inserted and locked back on.
Yeah the Suzuki also had a locking gas cap, but it was aftermarket. My solve was to put it on top of the pump with my keys in it (as long as I wasn’t going into the gas station for anything). If I didn’t do that I’d wedge the cap into the pump handle so I had to remove it when I pulled it out of the filler kneck.
I only did that with one gas cap, and maybe a McDonalds cup or two, before I stopped putting things on the roof.
I lost a mug doing that…I’d put it on my truck’s camper shell while fishing out my keys. Took off, and about a mile later while pulling onto the highway heard what sounded like breaking glass. “Huh, wonder what that was.” Figured it out a few minutes later when I reached for the missing mug….”oh.”
One of the (few) things I’ve always liked about the Fords I’ve owned is the keypad. I can leave my keys/fob in the car and lock it by entering my keypad code. Then when I come back, enter the code and I’m in the car. It’s handy if you are going to the lake, beach, whatever and don’t want to lug your keys around with you or worry about losing them. I don’t know why more manufacturers don’t use the keypad.
100% agree. The keypad is terrific. It’s great because you don’t even need to lug a phone around.
Once you get used to the Ford keypad, it’s challenging to imagine spending real money on a vehicle without it.
Yeah I’ve had it since 94, I was pissed when it was dropped for 98’s, apparently I wasn’t the only one who complained because they brought it back in 99. Soon after they started to expand the vehicles it was available on. Now they are taking it back off and offering a stick on version that gets programed like a remote and who’s battery eventually dies. Ford considers it a non-replaceable battery but it can be changed, after you’ve pried it off where it was stuck.
The other annoying thing about the newer Fords is that if you have a power trunk, tailgate, or lift gate, pressing 5 does not open it. I really don’t understand that since I can open and close with the remote and in theory not be able to see it while I certainly can see it when operating the keypad.
Yeah I can’t believe they’ll be rid of it for long. It’s got to be a huge customer loyalty incentive.
Well, at least in this situation, you could “phone a friend”…
Scene: PDX, parking structure for Departures
Vehicle: 2014 Mazda CX-5
Action: Unlock car with keys to get luggage. Open tailgate. Lock car with fob (because safety!). Place fob in rear area of car to remove luggage with two hands. Close tailgate. Enter airport for work trip.
Realize just after passing through security that keys are now locked in car and no one will be home when I return to bring a spare set. Curse wildly at self. Anticipate a multiple-hour wait for a locksmith after a week-long work trip. Turns out coming home isn’t always a blissful reunion.
My wife’s former 2013 CX-5 allowed her to lock the fob inside of it as well. Twice.
The 2016 we had afterwards (as well as my 2016 Mazda6) would not. They’d beep and unlock immediately if you tried to lock the doors with the fob(s) inside.
The solution is simple. Leave the key in the sunvisor and disable the door locks.
Will this cause other problems? Undoubtably. But you’ll never be locked out.
Plus someone in the middle of a horror movie will know exactly where to look
If you’re in the middle of a horror movie you’ve got bigger problems.
I leave one of my vehicles unlocked because the drivers door cylinder is frozen, and the battery is weak from disuse. It’s cheap and I never have anything of value in it, replacing a broken window would cost more than I’d want to spend. At least this way someone intent on breaking into my car won’t damage it.
Not necessarily—they might assume it’s locked and smash the window anyway. Didn’t leave anything of value in it? Doesn’t matter. Source: a friend’s wife’s Neon. All they got was a tape-to-CD adapter, which they smashed on the sidewalk. That was the second time it got broken into and they took to leaving it unlocked due to cost of damage.
I can’t stop people from being jerks, just doing what I CAN do.
No, and I take a similar stance. What’s that saying about locks only keep the honest people honest?
I have done a version of the forgotten-key trick. While visiting my parents, they had plans at one location where it would be hard to park, I had plans at another. We all pile into their Odyssey. I drive, and drop them off at their location. It was a busy spot in downtown Chicago, and (in hindsight), the car did beep at me, but it let me drive on to my destination, quite a ways away. Only when I parked did I twig to the fact that the key was in my mom’s purse.
My own car supposedly will kill the engine if it drives out of range of its key, but I’ve never tested this.
Got one key made for my 2018 Jeep Wrangler. It cost enough that I’ve repressed the amount, but it was NOT cheap.
Got two keys cut for my 88 Saab 900. $22.
That’s a bit concerning the truck didn’t complain with the key outside of it. My Ram will immediately bark at me if mine is even an inch outside of the cabin. Same story for our Grand Cherokee L.
Biggest worry is rental cars, when I’m out of my element. Always 2 fobs on a steel cable.
And those 2 keys on a steel cable do not fit in a pocket at all well.
Gawd no, I usually have a jacket/sportcoat or backpack with me but I’m constantly alert to the possibility. Probably should just get another carabiner for my computer bag for travel and solve it.
Why on earth do they give you both keys at some rental car locations? If you lose them, they can’t send out the back-up to save you!
Sure, but they can charge you a markup on both key replacements.
Because not everyone returns the car to the same location. Putting them on the same key cable makes it easier to ensure they have both keys when they go to sell it.
I wish Avis had done that, then our used Mazda5 would have had two switchblade fobs and I would have save $350 and two hours.
Cut the cable, or detach the fobs from the backup key they’re often connected to the cable with.
Indeed, Phone-as-a-Key tech is pretty helpful here, and I know that iPhones–at least–still have enough power to operate NFC communications for some time even after the battery is “dead.”
But yes, this has always been a worry of mine.
I aways cut another key (even on chipped) for lockout purposes to keep in the house.
The Aston dealership down here wanted $5k to replace the key fob on the DB9. Which is pretty insane.
But, without the fob, the car is a paperweight.
Sometimes just one. My concern is that anyone else with a Velorex can start mine. This is offset by the realization that I can start any Velorex I see:
https://cdn.aukro.cz/images/sk1666167584799/skoda-tatra-praga-velorex-spinaci-skrinka-pal-bosak-134320440.jpeg
My 2012 Prius v definitely doesn’t like it if the keys are anywhere outside the vehicle. If it’s on and I step out, it immediately starts angry-beeping at me.
On vacations and the like, I bring the second key. Usually left with a different person. After all, it’s scientifically proven that two people can’t be idiots at the same time. [citation needed]
The smart key on my 2013 Focus ST has spoiled me. SO FAR I’ve kept it in the little “watch” pocket inside my front right jeans pocket and everything has been fine. But I can see a scenario like you describe when going on a trip and only having one key. “many dealerships treat the loss of a single smart fob during a road trip as being the same thing as losing both fobs” would be an expensive and big mess.
On my Fords with the Intelegent Access Key the vehicle won’t start the first time if it is not inside of the vehicle. If I hold it in my hand and stick my hand out the window it will give me the no key detected. I haven’t tried placing it on the sunroof, I guess I’ll go do that now and see what happens on my car since I’m about to leave. I’ll report back and give some other thoughts later.
I just went outside and tried this on my wife’s Sienna, my F350, and my Caddy. Keys on roof, just behind the driver’s seat. None of them would let me start it.
I’m putting the blame squarely on Ford here for increasing the key range on their Super Duties between 2019 and 2025.
Do you have a hole in your roof? I’m pretty sure the test vehicle had the big hole which is why I expect it started with the fob on the roof. See my test results in my reply to myself above.
The Cadillac and Sienna do but I didn’t have either open at the time of the test.
Ok I’m back, thankfully, after an exciting trip, more on that later.
Fords use 3-5 antennas depending on the model, one inside the cabin, one in each of the rocker trims and depending on the vehicle one under the bumper rear and/or front depending again on the model.
They are directional antennas and I have tried in each of the 5 IAK equipped Fords in our family to see what the tolerance of the fob being in the vehicle is. I did that by opening the driver’s window and either attempting to start the vehicle. If I hold it up against the outside of the partially rolled down window it will start. 2-3″ past the window and it will give the “no key detected” or “Restart NOW or key required” notice on the dash. Now the vehicles I have tested that on range from a 2013 C-Max to a 2023 Lightning. On each of them they absolutely do not “brick themselves” when you put it in park. When you shut it off it does display the “Restart Now” until you restart, or it times out after I think 30 sec. Of course most people aren’t in the habit of looking at the shut down screen, so I certainly can see someone not noticing it before the message disappears.
Those antennas are directional. My wife carries the fob to her and my car in a zippered pocket inside her purse and never takes them out. Personally I keep my car keys in a drawer and there have been times where I didn’t grab the key for the vehicle we were taking and we used the wife’s key even if I’m driving. Now if I was the last to drive it and she unlocks the car by touching the passenger side handle it does not change the seat position. When I’m trying to put something in the back she has to bring her purse around to the back of the car for the button to work and for it to open.
I’m betting the F350 you got as a loaner has the panoramic roof, being a tester. Now on my MIL’s Mustang convertible I did try starting it once with the fob held at arms length above my head. So I went out and tried it on the panoramic roof of my car and sure enough it started and didn’t display the restart now warning when I shut it off. I then went in the house and grabbed a small cookie sheet and placed it on the roof above the driver’s head and put the fob on it. Boom I got the no key detected message.
Now about the exciting part, I was coming home from the dentist and sitting at a stop light waiting to turn right. On the cross road one and then a second police car crossed at fairly high speeds w/lights and sirens. I sat there for a few seconds and then I started hearing tire screeching like is hear when a car is sliding, hear a crash and look in my rear view mirror to find a Malibu with damage to the LF sitting about a car length behind me, both front doors being thrown open and to young guys breaking out running. I see the cop take off after the driver and shortly there after the light changed. I get around the corner and to the entrance to the parking lot to find another cop jumping out of his car and taking off running. When I passed by I saw the cop on top of the kid next to a car with the driver’s door open. I like to think the driver of that car door checked the runner which allowed another cop to catch up with him.
I’m now in the habit of buckling a carabiner with keys on my pants belt loop when out of the house. Alternative is a coat pocket or backpack. They hang on a hook in the mudroom at home.
How do you fit that on a belt loop when your phone is also clipped in. You must look like a SWAT guy, lol.
I prefer the phone in a jacket/sportcoat. I have keys for 3 cars, the house, my office and a rental. It’s too much everyday, yet when you don’t have it you need it. I strip it down on vacation and feel better.
Geez Louise, you must stab yourself every time you reach down for the store-brand dryer sheets or to tie your double-knot on your shoes.
Heh, we only buy the best eco friendly/whatever dryer sheets you should know.
Do dryer sheets even matter? Honest question…
No, not a bit. None of it matters.
That’s one thousand percent how I feel. lol. Everyone here seems to be on the EERV train as a salvation for the environment.
None of anything cars makes a dent.
I used to do this, but recently changed to having three separate key rings, one per car; each has the car key/fob, a house key, and whatever other keys go with that car (gas cap, roof rack, camper shell, etc). I much prefer it to having one big-ass mess.
Handful of times I tried that I ended up scraping the keys across the bottom of the leather steering wheel and cursing at myself.
I’m curious about the range on my fob, mine is also hanging on the laundry room wall, maybe 10 feet from the steering wheel, but the car will not start.
Ours (Honda) seems like it magically knows the exact limit of the car interior. Someone standing 3′ from the open door can’t do it, but if it’s in the third row/tailgate, it works.
We’ve thought we lost keys before, and the first step is “get in the car and see if it starts.” Bingo, now you know whether the keys are lost in the car or not!
I wouldn’t surprised if it is using triangulation
Mfgs (at least some) have gotten much smarter about how to detect the presence of the fob. We have a Mazda and a Mini parked in our garage with keys hanging on the wall in the house next to the door to the garage. So <10′ to the Mazda and < 20′ for the Mini. Neither will unlock or start without the key being right with us. Not sure about the Mazda, but my Mini lets me know within seconds if the key leaves the confines of the interior, such as when I stop to get the mail and leave the engine running.
My Mazda 3 won’t start if the key is in my bag in the hatch cargo area. It also won’t let me lock the car when I’m out with my wife and she leaves her bag with her key in the car.
Same here, what year? Ours is a ’14 and it’s a very nice basic system.
Mine is also a ’14 and I’m very happy with it. It’s a manual so I love having all the controls right near where my hand is anyway, and the Android auto upgrade works seamlessly with the infotainment knob. It’s pretty much the sweet spot for me of mostly real buttons and controls plus a small display for my phone maps and music.
Yeah my cars will honk the horn if you exit the running vehicle and close the door with the fob on the outside. But you can still drive off IF the vehicle doesn’t have “secure idle” enabled, which only police vehicles do from the factory.
I don’t know specifically about Honda but most cars seem to have antennas on each side of the car, under the bumper on cars with power tailgate and one inside. If it detects a signal from outside the steel of the body it overrides the signal from inside the car preventing it from starting. Since the systems are relatively low power the thin sheet metal blocks the signal. See above about my experiment with a cookie sheet and a sunroof.
So that was interesting. I kept moving it closer to the car, from my tool box, to the hood closest to the A pillar, to the floor of the garage next to the sill, the actual door sill and nothing. I then held it outside the door in various positions, it looked like it had to be “inside” the frame of the doorway. Could be low or high but inside the “imaginary line” defining inside the car.
I feel this. We’ve had our one (and only) smartkey vehicle for about 10 years and I’ve been irked by the smartkey enough that I no longer think the tradeoff is worth it.
First, my wife and I share the car a lot. I’ve worked from home almost continuously for 8-9 years, so eventually we just relied on the “new car” for most daily chores. Sometimes that means she pulls up in the driveway, I go outside, and we swap seats and roles. So if I’ve forgotten my key — and the car was started with her key — I have to notice the subtle “no key detected” message (no audible chime, no flashing, no major warnings) or the car will keep running until it’s shut off. And then I’m stuck. Thankfully this only happened once, but she had no car to use and had to bum a ride just to deliver me a key.
The other one is just an annoyance, but my kids are tweens/teens and sometimes I like to leave them in a running car for a few minutes and lock the doors. No dice. I don’t really know why that is, but our workaround is that the key has to stay with the kids, inside the car, and rely on them to lock and unlock the doors themselves. That’s fine, but I also don’t like the idea of a carjacker taking my car, my kids, AND my key if that were ever to happen.
IMHO, the solution to a missing key should be obvious audio-visual alarms, followed by some kind of limp mode (55mph max, flashing lights, etc) so nobody drives away by mistake. All very doable.
What car do you have? I’ve owned GM, Ford, FCA, and Toyota vehicles that all allow this.
Honda — 2015 Odyssey. I’ve heard other people from various brands complain that sometimes they have reasons for locking a running car (most commonly in really cold weather) but a lot of brands just don’t allow it. Which is also really weird because a lot of these same brands ALSO have remote start 🙂
That would indeed take some of the appeal out of it for me.
Toyota is the same, I have left my teen in a running car with the extreme caution to TAKE THE KEYS WITH YOU if you leave and meet us.
Glue the keys to your teen’s phone. Then your teen is sure not to forget them.
Can you put the key fob to sleep, like our Subaru’s?
I’ve had Prius, Honda Clarity and a couple of Audis none of which allow it which is annoying because I have dogs not kids and even if you leave them the keys they are shit at opening the doors for you when you come back.
Every car with a smart key I’ve ever driven–starting with the 2005 Murano SL my mom had when I was a child–had loud, noticeable alarms when the key was removed from the cabin while the car was on: interior chimes, exterior honks or beeps, and some sort of visual indicator that the key has left the vehicle.
Unless that malfunctions, I don’t understand how anyone drives off without their key fob and doesn’t realize it.
The problem was it was sitting on the sunroof where it could detect it and on Fords it only makes noise if the door is opened, the fob goes outside of the vehicle and the door is closed. No door opening no honk.
For some cars I believe its possible to buy a new or used transponder chip separately, a new key blank, have it cut at a local keycutter and program the car to accept it yourself as long as you have a separate working transponder key to authorize the programming.
I haven’t tried buying/programming a new transponder chip myself but when my original Mazda and Honda key cases cracked I was able to buy new cases for about $10 ea, transfer the remote button boards, transponder chips (it’s just glued into a small pocket in the case so its easy to cut out, clean up, and hot glue into the new case) and and original key blades to the new case. The keys worked just as originals.
New blank transponder chips can be bought here for a couple of bucks
https://www.uhs-hardware.com/products/philips-46-crypto-2-tag-blank-transponder-chip-for-honda-nissan-hyundai-kia-gm
And probably even cheaper on Ebay.
There are also online dealers who will cut you a brand new working transponder key without sending in an original based on your VIN. They wanted about $80 for my key, about half what local dealers and key shops asked and that’s what I would have done if the cheaper DIY option hadn’t been an option.
With most Fords you need two programed keys and then you can program a 3rd key or IAK. With the key you have to put one programmed key in the ignition and turn it on and off, repeat with the second key, and then put the unprogrammed, but cut key in turn it on and wait 30 sec. You can repeat that procedure until you have up to 8 keys programed, depending on the vehicle.
With Intelegent Access you have to do similar but instead you put the Fob in the transponder location used when the batter in the fob dies.
So yeah I’ve got 3 keys/fobs for my vehicles so I can always add another if I loose 1.
That sounds similar to Honda. Mazda too which makes sense since Ford and Mazda were partners for a long time.
I can lock mine with it running and the key outside the vehicle.
Most if not all Ford Police vehicles that have the IAK have “Secure Idle” activated when they leave the factory. That means the vehicle will not shift out of park if the fob isn’t inside the vehicle. Note that can be activated on most Fords either by the dealer or with the use of Forscan. So yeah they really should raise a bigger stink about it, it really is just a few lines of code. My Fords will honk at you IF you open the door of a started vehicle and shut the door with the vehicle running but won’t do anything except display the no key detected if you hold the fob out the window.
The best part of smart keys (never needing to remove them from your pocket) eventually makes this problem less likely to occur, it’s just a learning curve to get used to the idea.
As I mentioned on the Discord chat though, the real crime here is Ford allowing such a long range to detect the key and start the truck. If the key isn’t in the front seat area, the vehicle shouldn’t start.
I’m so used to this (having the key in my pocket) that on weekends I’m completely confused why the car won’t start.
My daughter reminds me that pockets aren’t as ubiquitous as one might like, esp if you happen to like to wear dresses as she does.
Does she not carry a purse? My wife keeps her keys in hers and never needs to dig for them, a major upside.
Purses can also be left behind or on a roof. But also, yeah, I find many GenZ will not carry anything that doesn’t fit in a card-slot in their phone case
I have one group of five female coworkers, and the only thing fashion-related that is ever discussed is when one of them finds something with pockets. All of them are under the age of 40, and all of them hate carrying any purse or handbag. Typically, they already have laptop bags and materials for presentations and an extra item that is just there to hold keys and a wallet is ridiculous.
You speak the truth! lol I’m usually jumping with joy at the discovery that a new dress has pockets.
Having pockets was the only thing I missed about “the old days,” so to speak. Women’s fashion gets so stupid. 🙂
The group I am referring to is a group of interior designers, two of whom love fashion, they just hate the stupid stuff that is applied only to women’s fashion.
Purses can also be left on highways, too, apparently! Back when my ’90s Dodge Caravan lit itself on fire, I somehow managed to leave my purse on the side of an Interstate while panicking. Amazingly, it was still there when I returned over 12 hours later.
My wife reminds me constantly that pockets are not a thing that women are allowed to have. Even for women’s clothes that look like they have pockets, the vast majority are either fake or too small to be usable for anything other than a stick of chewing gum.
Apparently these are not a ubiquitous thing on women’s clothing. Mysterious and distressing.
We leave the house and the wife is like “Is that all your taking???” Yep, wallet, keys, hat. I’m good.
I need to be within about 5 feet foy wy Toyota to auto unlock – this seems reasonable.
Yes, that’s good for lock/unlock but starting should be stricter IMO.
As I mentioned above I think the root of the problem is the sunroof, our Fords ranging from 2013-2023 need that fob pretty close to the area of the desired aperture, like less than 2′, for them to unlock or the hatch/tailgate/fronk to work, including two with the same generation of Fob as pictured in the article.