Anyone else have keyless ignition/push button start

[katie01]

DH bought a RAV4 fairly recently, we've always had the keyless entry fobs, but this is the first vehicle we've had with keyless ignition. I had seen this article, carbon monoxide poisoning is certainly the greatest worry, but in his vehicle anyway, the engine does make enough noise that it's unlikely neither of us would notice if he forgot to turn the motor off and left it in the garage. https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/hidden-dangers-of-push-button-start

A less serious, but more practical worry for me is, what happens when the battery in the key fob runs out? I actually don't even remember replacing them with our other vehicles that had keyless entry (but a traditional key to start the engine), so either I'm really forgetful, or we sold those vehicles before the battery died. With a keyless entry, the worst thing that happens when the battery in the remote dies is that you have to use a key to get into your vehicle. But with keyless ignition, you now have a vehicle with no key to enter OR start. DH commutes out of town, so it would be a hassle for work, an even bigger issue if we were in the middle of nowhere on a vacation. Just wondering if anyone else has had this happen with keyless ignition?

 

[loves to dive]

I have a keyless ignition right now, I've only had it for two years but no problems so far. When I had the keyless fob for my old car I had it for 6 or 7 years, and the battery never ran out. Honey has one for both his truck and car and has had both for 15 to 20 years and never had any problems

 

[Carole]

I have replaced the batteries in mine for a Prius. I believe there was a warning light telling me it was getting low.

 

[ronandannette]

I've got a Nissan Juke with a push-start. I hate it. I can't for the life of me figure out what benefit this feature is supposed to have. It's about 3 years old now and I have had the key-fob battery run down to the point the vehicle won't start.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

Both my cars have push start.

You will know when the battery is losing power....at least for us, we can tell, because the locks or start will kind of lag a little, or it will take me pushing the start button more than one time for the start to work...we will get a "key not detected" picture on the dash, then the car will start the 2nd time. When we start seeing this, we replace the battery (for ours it's the small round ones) and everything is "normal" again.

We have never not known that the engine was still on. All of the other cues are still there....the dashboard is lit up, the slight vibration, there is a off, run, and some other word that I can't remember right now that light up...off is off, run is like when you first turn the key and the music and fans come on but the engine hasn't started up....so as long as the off work is lit up, the car has been turned off.

 

[katie01]

I have replaced the batteries in mine for a Prius. I believe there was a warning light telling me it was getting low.

I'm almost positive that his does not have a warning light, seems like a no-brainer that they should all have warning lights though!

 

[katie01]

I've got a Nissan Juke with a push-start. I hate it. I can't for the life of me figure out what benefit this feature is supposed to have. It's about 3 years old now and I have had the key-fob battery run down to the point the vehicle won't start.

Oh no! Were you far from home?

Both my cars have push start.

You will know when the battery is losing power....at least for us, we can tell, because the locks or start will kind of lag a little, or it will take me pushing the start button more than one time for the start to work...we will get a "key not detected" picture on the dash, then the car will start the 2nd time. When we start seeing this, we replace the battery (for ours it's the small round ones) and everything is "normal" again.

We have never not known that the engine was still on. All of the other cues are still there....the dashboard is lit up, the slight vibration, there is a off, run, and some other word that I can't remember right now that light up...off is off, run is like when you first turn the key and the music and fans come on but the engine hasn't started up....so as long as the off work is lit up, the car has been turned off.

Ok, that is good that there are warning signs ahead of time. I just did some more reading on it, and one article said that if the battery goes completely dead before you replace it, you have to take it to a dealer to get re-programmed?? But then wouldn't you need to reprogram after removing the battery even before it goes completely dead, because it would be completely shut down without a battery in it during changing? Not sure if I'm explaining that correctly

 

[arminnie]

My fob has a key inside that will open the door. If you hold the fob next to the on/off button it will start even with no battery. 2018 Honda Odyssey.

 

[ronandannette]

Oh no! Were you far from home?



Ok, that is good that there are warning signs ahead of time. I just did some more reading on it, and one article said that if the battery goes completely dead before you replace it, you have to take it to a dealer to get re-programmed?? But then wouldn't you need to reprogram after removing the battery even before it goes completely dead, because it would be completely shut down without a battery in it during changing? Not sure if I'm explaining that correctly

I was just out and around town. Apparently there is a little signal on the display that I hadn't noticed. I got DH to come with the spare key and rescue me. You can change the battery in them yourself (it's kind of like a watch or hearing aid battery), at least you can in mine. I'm not aware of anything that would necessitate having to go back to the dealer.

 

[dmetcalfrn]

I had my battery in my fob replaced at Honda. It was $20. Went to Dollar Tree that same day to pick up a few things and they had same watch type batteries $1 for 2 batteries. Glad I watched them replace it. I'll do it myself the next time.

 

[pl71]

After owning a keyless ignition car for 7 years I had my first battery problem this winter. I went skiing and kept the fob in my pocket and the cold drained the battery. I could open the doors with the valet key but the car just said no key when I tried to get it to start.

I found out that there is a backup start method after a very stressful time looking through the owners manual (which did NOT give the solution) and then doing google searches on my phone in the cold sitting in my car (Google did give me the answer)! In my car there is a slot under the steering wheel and you can insert the fob so the car will read the chip directly even if the fob battery is dead. (2011 Infiniti)

This spring we bought a second car with keyless and that one will read the chip if the fob with a dead battery is held so it touches the ignition push button. (2013 Infiniti). They now have this information in the owners manual.

Other than that one time scare I love keyless. No need to find the key from the bottom of my purse and I really like that you can’t lock the key in your car!

I changed the battery at home, it’s easy but you do need a tiny screwdriver. Nothing needs to be reset after a battery change, the battery is just to transmit the chip signal.

 

[DisneyLover1217]

We also have the push button. I have had fob's batteries go low, but the warning always came on in the car telling me to get a new battery.

That's interesting Pl71 about the inserting the fob underneath, never knew that. Good to know! I'm surprised that wouldn't be something the car dealer would tell you in case of battery malfunction.

 

[NHdisneylover]

We're on our second car with keyless ignition . we've never had a battery issue, but I know if ours ran out to hold the fob touching the picture of a key that is on the steering wheel stock and the car can read the chip and start.


I also cannot imagine forgetting to shut off the engine. As a pp said, everything is lit up. Additionally, I know from when we've swapped drivers without turning off the engine that our car has warning beeps that go off if the driver door is opened while the engine is on. And there is a limit to how long it will stay on once the key leaves the vehicle.

 

[TCRAIG]

I had my battery in my fob replaced at Honda. It was $20. Went to Dollar Tree that same day to pick up a few things and they had same watch type batteries $1 for 2 batteries. Glad I watched them replace it. I'll do it myself the next time.

Replaced ours at The Battery Store - for about 5 bucks - I wouldn’t trust batteries from the Dollar Store...

 

[katie01]

After owning a keyless ignition car for 7 years I had my first battery problem this winter. I went skiing and kept the fob in my pocket and the cold drained the battery. I could open the doors with the valet key but the car just said no key when I tried to get it to start.

I found out that there is a backup start method after a very stressful time looking through the owners manual (which did NOT give the solution) and then doing google searches on my phone in the cold sitting in my car (Google did give me the answer)! In my car there is a slot under the steering wheel and you can insert the fob so the car will read the chip directly even if the fob battery is dead. (2011 Infiniti)

This spring we bought a second car with keyless and that one will read the chip if the fob with a dead battery is held so it touches the ignition push button. (2013 Infiniti). They now have this information in the owners manual.

Other than that one time scare I love keyless. No need to find the key from the bottom of my purse and I really like that you can’t lock the key in your car!

I changed the battery at home, it’s easy but you do need a tiny screwdriver. Nothing needs to be reset after a battery change, the battery is just to transmit the chip signal.

Oh that is interesting about the back up method, we will have to see if that is an option with his vehicle

 

[MillauFr]

Aren't the cars with the key fob and push start harder to steal?

 

[katie01]

Aren't the cars with the key fob and push start harder to steal?

I would think so, but as I was researching all of this this morning, I did see something about some sort of device that would allow thieves to duplicate the frequency of the remote? Not sure how common this is https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/style/keeping-your-car-safe-from-electronic-thieves.html

 

[arminnie]

DH and I rented a hybrid car with keyless ignition last fall before we owned a car with keyless ignition. It was a comedy of errors trying to figure out how to drive that car. We couldn't tell if it was on or off. We finally had to go get an attendant to show us how to put it in gear. I don't remember the car model - but it was not straight forward like my new Odyssey.

We quickly adapted and drove the car all over Northern California - but we sure felt like idiots having to ask how to start it and put it in gear.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We acquired an old Prius, I started driving it a couple of weeks ago because my car broke.

I have left the engine running a couple of times. Yep.

Since then, I have been more careful with making sure I press that button to turn off the car.

 

[Disneylovingmomof2]

My car is a push button start but like a pp said there’s a key in there I can use if I need to unlock a door manually. For my car, if the battery ran out in the keychain, I can hold it up right next to the push button start and it will turn the car on. I have replaced the batteries in both of my keys though, just to be safe.