sapd911

How far away do the key fobs need to be away from the car when it is parked? I park mine in my garage and my master bedroom is about 15 feet from the garage entry door. We put both fobs in the bedroom, so they are about 15 feet away, separated by 2 walls.

Just trying to figure why my new car and new battery keeps dying after I leave it sitting for only 2-3 days. 2013 ES350.

I also read it doesn't matter if you hang the key fob next to your car, it doesn't drain the battery, true?

Nelexus88

The owners manual says the fob detection distance is about 6 feet and my experience confirms this on my ES. I dont think the signal will go thru walls so I doubt your keys are stored too close to the car. If you want to be sure, you could put both keys in battery saving mode (page 131 in the owners manual).
The owners manual does state the fob battery saving mode prevents discharge in both the key fob and the vehicle battery over an extended period, but in your situation I suspect there is some other problem that the dealer will need to sort out.

Arty101

I think you've got your answer in your dead battery thread. It sounds more like a short or a battery drain that the dealer needs to find than location of your fob. Good luck.

bc6152

I would definitely agree that it is a shorted circuit or bad ground that must be found. If the dealer fails to determine the source of the battery depletion, I would look into your state's Lemon Law. Don't know if this issue would be covered as it isn't a safety matter.

sapd911

Dealer agreed it is not the key fob doing this. But they can't find whats draining it over a period of 3-5 days! Frustrated but being patient!

jollick

As a courtesy to you, just ask them to replace the battery, I had the same issue on my HS, after they looked at it twice without finding the issue, it happened again so I asked them to come to my office and change the 12 volt battery, they did and the issue went away. Worth a try.

ALIGN

Go find another dealership. I leave my key 3-4ft behind the car for 2 weeks while on vacation and it never drained.

I agree with the others, there is a short somewhere that is causing a battery drain. On my MB E500 the usual culprit of battery drain is the seat module (seat control). Or it could be just faulty battery.

oldcajun

I had one of these kind of battery drain issues on a Chevy years ago. The dealer could not find anything until one afternoon late while my car was in the shop the noticed a light on underneath. It was the underhood light with a stuck switch! All the time they were working on finding the problem, the hood was up so naturally the light was on. Could your problem be similar? Maybe even the trunk light.
Steve

sapd911

I will have them check, thanks