RobertGift

It is not detected there.
Tied the key fob's metal key where I could get it to unlock the door.

lexusrus

???? So you're saying the tin can can block the signals from the remote key?

JT4

So you hid the metal key somewhere on the outside of the vehicle?

RobertGift

Yes. I assume the Altoids metal container is sufficiently shielding the signal.
(I should try it outside the Altoids box and see if it is detected.)
If I leave it unshielded, it might be detected in some situations: vehicle in a parking garage, next to a metal-walled building, near or under an overhang, etc.

The metal door key is tied where even one looking for it will have difficulty finding it.
But still accessible.

3 a.m. bloodelivery in a blizzard. The remote key fell from my pocket and almost went down a storm sewer grate in the hospital's ambulance bay.
If it had, I'd be stuck for a long time.
I feel much better knowing that no matter how sleepy I am, I can still get in the vehicle and sleep and then drive home.
Wish the RX350 had a door keypad as our Expedition had.

FLYCT

Thanks for posting this. I need to do something similar with our RX.

I do something similar with my F-150 and did something similar with my SC430. For these cars they have mechanical ignition keys with transponders built into the key.

The F-150 has a external door keypad so I can open the door without a key. I have a transponder key well hidden in the F-150 cabin

With my SC430s I had a door key cut which I had attached under the car in a magnetic hide-a-key box. It was out of sight but I knew where to reach to get to it. Once I got into the car I opened the trunk and found a programmed transponder key I had hidden there.

As a private pilot aircraft owner I hid a key duct taped inside a wing behind a wing rib. To get to it I would remove an inspection panel and reach inside and feel for it. It came in real handy one day when we lost the key when we were in the Bahamas.

RobertGift

Wow! Congratulations owning an aircraft! Excellent idea! Did someone steal its key?
Years ago when learning to fly (never finished), I told my flight instructor I was afraid to fly over the ocean.

I used to hide a key wrapped in electrician's tape in gas filler doors. No one would even recognize that a flat key, without transponder, was there. But many vehicles now have locking gas doors.

BE CAREFUL Criminals know where to find magnetic key holders.

Flight instructor always wanted letters spoken as words; Alpha, Bravo, Charlie,...
He was flying commercially to Santa Barbara to see his mother and drive a car back.
To SBA was $329. To LAX via SBA was $134. I made his LAX reservation and told him his confirmation: C as in "Crash", 6 as in "Feet under", A as in "Auger In", N as in "No Survivors", P as in "Pilot Error", E as in "Exceeded Vne".

JT4

Yeah, that would have been bad situation to be in. Makes sense for you to have an extra available in case next time you're not as lucky..

kitlz

Or maybe invest in the credit card key that can fit int the wallet.

mjeds

+1

I have eliminated all keys since buying my RCF. I got the Lexus Key Card, which I actually keep in my iPhone case (has a hidden pocket on the back and the key card fits perfect). My house is all zwave locks so no keys are needed, garage door is on battery backup if the power is out so I can still get in.

I used to carry a dozen keys between work and personal, now with everything at work being on RFID badge, the keyless car, and the keyless house, I have no more keys to carry. Also the big advantage to keeping the key card in my phone is that I will never forget my phone..

FLYCT

My wife was having issues where the smart key battery life was very short. She was keeping it in a pocket of her iPhone case. Dealer told her that when it was that close smartphone it caused battery drain of the smart key.

After she removed it from the iPhone case and just put it in her purse the battery life returned to normal.

mjeds

sounds odd, it isn't connected tot he phone so there is no reason why it should drain. I have had mine in the case for awhile with no issue. my wife has her Camry key clipped to her phone and has for 10 years without an issue..

I have read that having smart keys within a few feet of a charging phone could cause battery drain because the electrical field created by the charge can 'trick' the key into becoming/staying active.

I'll keep an eye on it, and I keep a spare set of fob batteries in the glove box anyway..

RobertGift

I considered removing the metal key from its curved handle and sewing it into my wallet.
But f I lose my wallet or it is stolen or I leave it in my street clothes, I am stuck. I have always been terribly absent-minded.
Even worse when just gettting to sleep and then called for a transport.

mjeds

the metal key can't be used to start the car, only open it, therefore the enform remote app serves the same purpose, unless the car battery is dead.

less is more in some cases, I prefer the wallet key and the enform app over having a spare key anywhere in or near my vehicle. I would rather have to call my wife or niece and have them bring me a spare then risk someone breaking into the car, finding the key and stealing the car.

RobertGift

The metal key unlocks the door so that I can get to the key fob hidden in the First Aid Kit. If that is too easy to find, it can be.tter hidden elsewhere.

I could be 200 miles from my wife, who could also be at work starting at 0500.
Lexus Enform is $139/year.

kitlz

Look at it this way, you would know pretty quickly if you forgot/lost your wallet because the RX won't open or start Adding to what mjeds said, it's pretty risky leaving the key fob inside, especially after announcing where you keep it. And how do you lock it? Wait, don't answer that question.