leaving keyfob in unlocked 2010 RX350
 

I notice that if we leave the keyfob in the unlocked SUV that it blinks the little red light on the keyfob. Is this running down the keyfob battery and should we not leave the keyfob in the SUV?

When I accidentally left my key fob inside the Rx and close the door, it made a loud quick beeping sound. I was impressed.

Was the keyfob red led light blinking while in your RX?

I don't know If it blinks since its in my pocket all the time, but common sense tells me if a light is on or blinking it is useng the battery and will wear the battery down sometime.

Also I don't think many people leave the key in the car, since it wont lock. If they do its only for a quick sec. so I wouldn't worry to much.

I am trying to get my wife not to leave the keyfob in the Rx. Hopefully she will abide.

Should have told us that in the beginning. I would have told you to give up. :D

Ohh and where do you park this RX with the key in it might I add? LOL

I just tested it. No the key fob is not blinking. As soon as I try to lock the car, a blinking message shows up "Key inside the cabin". Then a high pitch sound. When I recover the key inside the cabin and lock, the sound and message went away.

Where does the blinking message show up, on the nav screen or ?

As you found out, the car will not lock with a key inside by touching the door handle. If you have a need to lock the car with a key inside, you can do it by pushing the lock button on the second remote. You will also have to unlock using the remote.

Good to know I didn't think it would lock even with the 2nd remote.

In the middle of gauges on the dash.

Same thing if you try to start the car with out the key, or get out of the car with the key in your pocket while its running. It will say "KEY NOT DETECTED" in that same place.

where is the light on your key fob

i must have the unlit version

Don't leave the keyfob in the car. Your vehicle and the FOB will "talk" to each other all the time when they're in a close distance and you will run down the battery.

Have seen other threads about this with members who experienced it - can't find them this second.

That makes sense since changing the battery is now part of the service. Thanks!

Didn't try that, but you could lock the car using the metal key.

Maybe I missed it but, why would anyone go threw this much trouble to lock the keys in the car.

Because they didn't get remote start I guess.

Ohh duh. Funny story since we are talking about those people.

Mine didn't come with it installed:egads:, but I saw it for sale online at one of the sponsers for 200 and some change. So I bought it now I have remote start sitting on my table here in a box waiting to be installed.

I can't think of a good reason to leave the keys in the car. All it takes is one second...

Good luck with the remote start install. I like mine, by the way. No complaints here ;)

My RX is kept in a garage at night. Why would I take the fob out?

Answer to that was posted above and I believe is also in the owners manual.

Dave: I wasn't replying looking for an answer (I already read the thread), I was answering the previous post:

"I can't think of a good reason to leave the keys in the car"

Related to this discussion - just got a 2007 ES to replace a 94 ES so the uber-cool key fob and electric start are new to me.

Is this normal: car running, place in park, leave vicinity with key fob in my pocket, car beeps but keeping right on idling. Could someone come over and just drive it away?

Surely that can't be...but I was inside my house, yards away with brick walls in between the fob and the car and it didn't shut off.

Strange or am I dumb?

Yes someone could drive it away. OTOH if they shut the car off they couldn't restart the car.

Try it. I don't think that you will find that you can drive away. The smart key needs to be in the car. I keep forgetting to leave mine in the car when I take it to a car wash (yes, I do that occasionally!) and the attendants come running after me.

I've tried it, you can indeed drive it away without a keyfob...

I mean that is really ridiculous. I can't imagine why it was designed that way. You leave with the key then the engine should shut off or at least you should not be able to shift into gear.

Welp, such is life. Thanks for the info, folks, appreciate it.

There are so many scenarios where maintaining the status quo makes sense:

You inadvertently lose the key, or drive over it while stepping momentarily out of the car, the battery goes dead; or your spouse drops you off, you have the key, she takes off on for an emergency, car goes dead part way, yada, yada...

You can make arguments to the contrary and it would all be valid, but I'm sure Toyota/Lexus have weighed all the pros & cons, and perhaps much of this was decided by committee amongst other car manufacturers (they do get together on non-compete safety related issues - SAE, etc...).

I posted this in the wrong thread. Here it is again:

I stand corrected!!

I just pulled the car out of the garage and tried it. As I left the car I got two loud electronic beeps but the engine stayed running. I took the FOB into the house and came back. When I got into the car there was a big yellow warning diamond in the cluster and the center display showed a message that the key was not in the car. I put the car in gear and drove back into the garage.

I guess the people in the car wash were just reacting to the displayed warnings rather than not being able to move the vehicle.

Ppl can drive away without FOB when the engine is already on. They will continuingly see lots of alerts showing or beeping during the drive.

When going to some of the auto car wash, I leave the engine on and shift to N. Once they finish cleaning and drive it to the next stop, they will shut down the engine and leave the car there without worrying about someone drives it away.

Good points here and from others. Makes sense.

I guess the take home lesson is: don't be an idiot and leave your car running whether you have a fob or a real key in the ignition.

I fail to see any good advice here. This is all common sense. Just as the warnings we see during thunderstorms on TV....

"If you see a downed powerline, don't go near it and please call the authorities..."

Really, I shoudn't go out and touch that powerline...shouldn't this be a daily goal and not just apply to thunderstorms?

Why, because we have electronic iginitions, does that make it OK to just leave the FOB in the car at all times? Thanks for making my insurance rates higher. http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...8/rolleyes.gif

You may be right. But let's see it this way. When I live in NYC, I lock/club/alarm after parking my car. When going back home in IL, I park my car in front of the house and throw the key into the car. Everyone has the different scenarios and ways to fit into their lives. Ppl may not justify whether or not other ppl do the right thing since they're not making a living under the same "sky". Sometimes our common sense may be different from theirs. :)

Most of ppl here have the valid points.

I was told by Lexus service dept. that I should not leave the fob in the vehicle as the vehicle and the fob will talk to one another but how far away does one need to keep the fob? My fob will lock or unlock my car from any spot in my house so it would seem that the vehicle and the fob are talking regardless of where the fob is so what difference does it make? I am puzzled but I love my 2010 RX350.

Yes, you can unlock/lock alarm the car from anywhere inside your house, or even a block away.
BUT you can't START the car. Try it. Unlock the doors, leave the FOB in the kitchen and go to your RX and you'll see what i mean.

The FOB and the RX talking to each other, continuously is limited to a few feet.

Another experience i had, when the battery is so low, even if you're inside the RX/any Lexus/Any Toyota and you have the FOB with you, you might need to place the FOB as near as 1-2 inches near the Start/stop button to be able to START the engine.

SalmonGuy, as Mark says, just give it a try to see how the distance works. I find how my FOB is designed and operates is just great with me -- with Lexus having put a lot of thought into how to deal with exceptions...

I honestly don't know why I'd ever want to leave the FOB for some long period inside of my vehicle or on the seat -- there have been other discussions on that where someone wanted to hide a spare FOB in the RX, with IMHO the best option being for that owner to just cover the FOB in foil to prevent the FOB communicating with the truck until he wanted it to. You may also want to check out around p36 of your 2010 manual re situations where your RX will stop or slow the frequency with which it searches for the FOB, including how it stops after 10 minutes when the FOB is within 6' of the truck until the vehicle is locked/unlocked -- all designed to help prevent draining the vehicle's (and FOB) battery.

In my situation, I keep my FOB in my pocket most of the time when I'm working or driving the truck, and it hangs on a hook inside my home going out into the garage other times. The notable exception is when I back my RX out in the driveway for a wash, I've learned to keep the doors unlocked, but hang the FOB on a hook I put on one of my interior garage walls -- that way it's far enough away that as I wash and dry the car, but the doors won't lock and unlock magically as water and towels run across the front door handles. Similarly, I've learned I CAN open and close the doors on my RX as it sits in the garage from within most areas of my home, but if I go into the backyard or have the RX sitting in my driveway with my metal garage door shut, the FOB can't get to the RX for the lock/unlock.

As far as if the FOB battery is low, it is a Lexus design point that even if the FOB battery is dead, you can still physically unlock the RX with the key in the FOB, then by placing the FOB physically next to the start/stop button, you can still start your vehicle. Perfect.

FWIW, my 2014 MBZ "FOB" that has the MBZ "Keyless Go" option, operates in a similar manner for all of this as my Lexus. The main difference being the MBZ has a different number of days where it turns off or reduces the time it checks things to prevent battery draining.