Cjack00

Help!!! It's Sunday so the dealership is closed. The dealership is located an hour away anyway! My GS 350 was in the shop for new tires, 25,000 mile maintenance, etc., 3 days ago. I had no problem entering the car or driving it, making multiple stops, after the maintenance work was done or the next day. I didn't drive the car yesterday. It stayed parked in my garage all day long. Today, it doesn't respond to anything! Neither of my remotes "wake my car up" or unlock the doors or trunk - even after we changed the batteries (thinking that was the problem). The manual keys on neither remote don't open the door lock either! I can't get into my car! What's wrong??!!

bclexus

Sounds like the car's battery may be dead...

Since the car is in the garage, turn out the garage lights and close the garage door so it is dark where the car is located and see if the key fob will turn-on the side mirror puddle lights. If it won't, it's a pretty sure thing the car's battery is dead as a door nail.

Cjack00

Thank you for answering me! I'm really at a loss! If the battery is dead and I can't get inside the car, how do I open the hood to check the battery? Neither of my manual keys work either. You'd think that's a mechanical issue, but no joke...they don't do anything to the door when you turn them all the way.

yardie876

It sounds like the car battery is dead, but the physical keys would absolutely still work in the door locks if this were the case.

richard203

iTrader: (1)

Mybe they give u the wrong key? The manuel key should work even if the car is dead.

Cjack00

So, we've been trying and trying and trying to open the dang door with the manual key (both of the manual keys we have) and neither work! I'm losing it pretty quickly here. We don't know what's going on. We've used the keys to manually open the door in the past a couple of times so we know they work. They just don't work now. It looks like my Lexi will have to be towed to the dealership tomorrow...an hour away no less. We're at a loss. Gosh, if we could figure out another way to open the hood we could at least check on the battery. Ummm, how do you break in to the hood of the car from the outside? : /

bclexus

That's really strange that you know the manual keys have worked in the past, but won't work now.

When you had the car serviced recently did they do anything related to the car's battery, the door lock or to the key fobs?

Cjack00

bclexus - No service related to the battery, lock or key. It was in for tire rotation, regular maintenance and they ended up having to put on 4 new tires because the tires were pretty worn.

bclexus

I would call your Lexus dealership tomorrow morning and tell them what you are experiencing, and see what they recommend. I'm guessing that since the dealership is not local your best bet will be to call a locksmith and have them open the car for you, which will allow you to then have the car's battery checked...and have it replaced if necessary.

If using a locksmith is what you end up doing - ask the locksmith why the manual (mechanical/physical) key won't open the door now, but you know they successfully opened it previously. See what he says - they are pretty shrewd, knowing about such things.

Nevertheless, you will need to find out why the car's battery suddenly died (if it is dead) and why the manual keys don't work - and then replace the car's battery and correct whatever caused the battery to drain completely (if it did indeed drain), and have Lexus give you manual keys that will work and open your car's door if/when this ever happens again. Lot's going on to get you on the road again...and to give you confidence that your car won't leave you stranded in the future...

bclexus

I have heard that some Lexus owners (with IS models I believe) have had problems with their manual key not working on the driver's door, but it would work on their passenger door (if my memory is correct). But, the GS 350 only has a key slot on the driver's door only, so that's not helpful to you. But, if correct (about the IS model), maybe there is something happening that prevents the manual key from working for some unknown reason when it worked successfully before, which is the case with your GS.

bclexus

Is the red light for your car's security system flashing?

bclexus

When you tried the manual/mechanical key, did you use plenty of force when turning the key? The key should be turned clockwise, or rearward about 75 degrees.

Barkley45

I experienced something similar 2 weeks ago. I was on vacation for a week and when i returned, my car doors wouldnt open. I discovered that my key battery was dead so i found a pack in my battery stash. Not sure how long the batteries had been in the stash, but I think the batteries had expired so i went out to the local Target and purchased a new fresh set. The light blinked on my key but the doors still wouldnt unlock so i unlocked it manually, opened the hood, connected my cellphone sized battery charger to the battery ( ), and wahlaa. When i finally got back in the car i noticed that i left one of the reading lights on before i left town.
I recommend keeping one of those chargers in the car. i keep mine in my glovebox.

rog1206

iTrader: (4)

Did you try the keys for the trunk too and they didn't work?

Mike728

Was the car running when they gave it back to you? Did you see any warning lights on the dash? Maybe they gave you the wrong car!