Kubs

Ok, so my wife went shopping came back out into the parking lot and walked towards her car (same color) it opened up. She was just about to sit then noticed a child seat in the Rear. She froze closed the door and looked around saw a car exactly like hers walked towards it. The side mirror lights up and door opened up as well. (thinking this is some prank) She then recognized the contents being hers. She became disturbed that her key fob opened up the other car... She called me and told me right away, I told her maybe it was already opened. She said when she pulled the handle it beeped. This is very disturbing, in theory anyone can steal her car (vice/versa). HAS ANYONE EXPERIENCED THIS? Please let me or all of us know, this is very serious if others have experienced it then Lexus has a serious issue on their hands... The Fob is nice but prefer the traditional Key!

syzygy

It is disturbing and I haven't experienced this.

But fortunately, I think it's fair to say the Lexus demographic probably doesn't include people who are liable to steal

Forbes did a "what your car says about you" segment for the past two years, and two lexus models were included -

"Lexus LS sedan

Base price: $61,000

What it says about you:

You like to travel to exotic locations. You enjoy exercising, reading books and taking classes for personal self-development. You are married and family-oriented, and you make around $175,000 a year. You are around 64 years old. To you, intelligence and politeness are guiding principles in life."


"Lexus RX400 Hybrid SUV

Base MSRP: $42,080

What it says about you: You have a median income of $202,900 and a median age of 56. You like understated luxury and you are comfortable with new technology. You like to surround yourself with the finer things in life, but have more than a passing concern for the environment.
"


Not really the stealing type I'd say

t0e

iTrader: (1)

done it before, didn't work for me!

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

I used to work with a guy who also rode a Honda 900. Our keys were interchangeable. They were bought 500 miles apart. Different bikes, same keys.

Why is this so bizarre?

ISCjonny

iTrader: (7)

first time ive heard bout this also... but not saying itll never happen but chances of this happening to a keyfob vs traditional key is far less... traditional keys are easier to replicate... back in my younger days when i had a honda... my friends neighbor had a similar car and just as a joke to see if my key would work.. i went over and guess what happend.. my key popped the door lock on the other car.

if she really feels there is a security risk.. have a talk with the dealership and explain what happend and see what they could do... im not sure if its as easy as just reprograming the codes... i know keys can be reprogrammed with no problem.. not sure about reprogramming the actual car.

Kubs

Sure i'll just borrow someone else's car because the keys are interchangeable. You're kidding right. Maybe that's cool for you and your friend but like most other people on here, we would prefer to not have their $40k car stolen.

jc86

hm i've never mistaken my car for another so this has never happened to me...
but quite scary that this can happen..
see if lexus can reprogram your key fobs

Jefe's IS

My guess would be that the remotes uses a rolling code feature that changes the code everytime you lock the car. I would guess that pure chance landed both cars on the same code.
If this is the case the other owner should not have been able to use their remote to open their car as your remote changed the code when she unlocked it.

Did she wait for the other owner by chance?

2JZGTE-SC

This problem is nothing new, I've seen this happen back in early 2006 when the IS350 just came out. I was working at a hotel, and there were several IS350's in the lot...someone was able to unlock another car.

teeder27

Take the car to Lexus, explain what happened and tell them that you need the keys and car reprogrammed. That should solve the problem. There are only so many different codes that the smart keys can use, so its bound to happen that once in a blue moon, your key will unlock another car.

Think thats bad? Years ago, I could start my Dad's 01 Chevy Silverado with the key for the 01 Grand Am that I had. When you held the keys on top of each other, they didn't look similar at all. He took it in, with the key for his truck and the key for my car and demanded a new ignition. GM FTMFL.

HighImStan

iTrader: (4)

Nothing new, even to traditional keys. I went to Vegas two years ago and rode with a friend with a white camry with a garmin 1250. We parked at the golden nugget structure. The next day when we were about to drive out, we noticed a few sno-***** on the passenger side. We thought, odd...we never bought any sno-*****. Then we found a note on the outside driver side window that read..."sorry, accidentally took off with your car....we have the same car, same color, same navi" They even left a number for us to call for further explanation. No theft involved. When we called, they were quite nice. Laughed it all off the next minute

lexboi250

iTrader: (10)

hmm...never had this happend to me either. but at least, now you have a reason to mod the car can never mistake your car thereafter hehe

Individual

iTrader: (7)

That is pretty bizarre. I work at a Lexus Dealership, in the Service Department, and I have never experienced anything like that, so far. After reading this, I tried to open IS' that are parked for services, while I have my own '09 key fob in my pocket, and so far that has not happened yet. Hopefully it was just a really rare occurance.

Bichon

While that may be true, I don't understand why it should be. On a mechanical lock, there are only so many pins in the lock (usually 5), and only so many possible pin sizes for each pin position. But smart keys are all about numbers and number sequences, and it doesn't sound like it would be that hard to design a system with enough uniqueness that this wouldn't happen.

teeder27

Here's a completely random thought. On the 1st IS that the person walked up to and got into and it wasn't her car, could the fob have been in the car and because it was in the car, it allowed her to reach her hand in the door handle and unlock the car?

(I'm not 100% sure how the smart key system works in the IS line of cars...)