mkivbadger

Had an interesting (horribly frustrating) experience with my IS 350 last week and I am hoping someone on the forum might have more insight as to why it occured...the dealership was no help other than to say it was all our fault.

We left in the morning to catch a flight out to Minneapolis and stopped briefly at a nearby gas station for coffee. My luggage and purse (with key fob) were in the trunk and my husband had his fob in his briefcase behind the driver's seat. We got out of the car and I went into the trunk to retrieve my wallet and when my husband shut the trunk we heard a long beep (warning beep) and the car locked itself...with the key fob still in my husband's breifcase! Needless to say, I missed my flight, Lexus roadside had to tow the car to the nearest dealership and they marred my trim pieces around the windows on both sides before they finally got it open! The mechanic insisted that it was our fault because both keys must have been in dead zones....my husband disagrees as the car was behaving fine not to mention I drive everyday with my purse on the floor behind the driver's seat and I have never had a problem.We removed the "key" when we tried to recreate the scenario so we could get back in if needed but we were not able to recreate the problem. Any ideas? We are wondering if the two fobs were "warring" with eachother and it might have confused the computer(s)?! This one really has us stumped.

monkeyfarm

That one long beep is a warning that the car COULD NOT be locked because there's a fob inside it.
There's also no way to even tell the car to lock itself through the act of closing the trunk. You either need to use one of the door handle buttons or the fob.
So I've got no idea.

Foxberry

Wow, for it to lock itself ON ITS OWN with fobs inside the car sounds really bizarre. I've tried to lock it once or twice intentionally with 1 fob in the car and it wouldnt. Maybe the "dueling fobs" exposes a glitch in the system?

mkivbadger

Our thoughts exactly! This would constitute a replacement of the ruined trimmed pieces which is why they are trying to say it was our fault...IMHO. Anyway, time will tell as we are going to contact Lexus Customer Service and go from there.....I will update with any news.

monkeyfarm

My wife and I have both our fobs all the time. In fact, the first time she left hers in the car and I had mine and I tried to lock the car with the door handle button, it made the one long beep and refused to lock. It forced me to use the fob to lock the car.

I really don't think there's a general glitch anywhere, as I've tried to screw with the system about every way there is, and I haven't managed to lock a fob in the car.

mkivbadger

Maybe not a general glitch...just mine? According to the mechanic, the trunk is a dead zone so the car should not even recognize that it's there....still can't figure out why then it locked....expecially after getting the warning beep! But, we closed the trunk, went around to get in and all 4 doors were locked...very bizarre. Needless to say, my husband will have it on his person at all times from now on and I am leary to leave mine clipped to my purse for fear of a repeat! Craziness.....

monkeyfarm

The only thing I can come up with that would remotely explain this is that your husband's fob was hitting up against something in his briefcase, pressing the lock button. I've never tried using the fob to lock the doors from inside the car, but my guess is that should work.

mkivbadger

Worth a try..............

TimboIS

Trunk is not a dead zone, there is an "antenna" right by the spare. I think there are 6 antennas total in the vehicle, so that the system can triangulate the position of the sensor, diver/passenger, inside/outside, etc.

monkeyfarm

Indeed, but you'll notice that if you put your fob in the trunk and then close the trunk, you won't be able to open it with the trunk release button. So inside the trunk does appear to be a dead zone to me.

kensteele

The trunk is not so much a dead zone as it is a zone that will not recognize the key for opening the doors and starting the vehicle. When I go to the airport, I pack my key in my luggage. When I put all of my luggage in the trunk, I jump in the front seat and the car will NOT start.

Edit: The doors will not recognize the smart key in the trunk area.

taejin09

I tried with my car and it worked for me.

TimboIS

I just tried, works fine for me.

EBMCS03

I bet it was just a software glitch.

ba-b4

I think this is a pretty comon occurance with BMW's. People put their fobs in the trunk and lock themselves out. I read on bmw boards that bmw is looking into fixing the problem. I don't know about lexus though.