I have a brand new 2012 and was merely wondering where the keyhole is in case of an emergency and i need to use the the emergency key that is attached to my keyfob? i dont see it in the traditional place on the steering wheel post.

 

Welcome to CL, ribbit. The key is not used to start the RX. It's push button start only. The key can be used in the driver side door to lock and close the windows and sunroof (turn left)/unlock and open windows and sunroof (turn right) and to lock the glovebox.

 

Check the details in your owners manual, but in the event of a dead keyfob battery, there's some procedure about holding the keyfob near the start/stop button for a minute, then you should be able to start the car.

 

the key is not needed anymore to start the vehicle. What happens is in the event your fob is low on battery, you should get warning messages on the dash telling you that way before it completely dies out. If you ignore the messages and continue to use the fob until it dies, you are supposed to hold the fob right in front of the start/stop button, the light will turn green and you get one last go at starting the car.

 

You can buy a pack of batteries on eBay for a few bucks.....put one in the glove box and throw the rest in the freezer for a future day. Once a year, or when you get the 'low battery' signal on the dash, just replace the battery. It's literally a two minute job. No excuse for ever having a dead fob battery.

 

I think i read it somewhere in the owner's manual. If you have a dead battery in your fob, you should hold your fob and attach it to the start/stop button, then press it to start the car. I don't understand how exactly it works, but that's what i remember I read.

 

I change the batteries in the key fobs once a year although it's included with certain services I have LoJack fobs as well so it's times four for me. Total cost is less than $10 and a few minutes of my time.

 

Without batteries or with a dead battery, the key has to rely on a passive RFID system - kind of like those FastPass credit cards, or building entry key cards that you just swipe over a sensor. Put the key up to the button and the car will detect the RFID signal from the key and let you start the car.

The batteries in the fob help expand the range of the RFID signal.

 

if the battery dies then the key fobs have a built in RFID similar to what is in the credit card key that I have. It will work based on the cars battery. I am not sure how many times it will work but for a few bucks you can replace the battery and be fine.

 

Interesting.