MainStream

Over the last 6 months or so I have noticed that the battery life on my key card was declining. I was out of town recently and the key card wouldn't function and it had only been about 30 days since I had replaced the battery. Had my car in for service today and asked the service adviser if anyone else had reported battery life issues. He immediately asked if I carry my cell phone with the bluetooth activated. Apparently, while Lexus has not made any public statements about this, it is fairly well known within their tech group that the communication between a key card/fob and a bluetooth phone create some type of interference with each other. From his comments, when the phone and a card/fob are close to each other the key card/fob is in an active mode and it has a negative impact on battery life.

I don't know if anyone else has experienced this but in my case it makes sense as during the day I carry my blackberry about 6 inches away from my wallet where I keep my key card, and, at night it is in a charging stand again just a few inches from my wallet.

Nospinzone

Send me your wallet NOW, that'll save your battery!

Johnny

My keyfob and activated Bluetooth phone (Nokia) are always within a foot of each other (front pocket/rear pocket), and I have never had battery issues such as you describe. Something is causing your keyfob's battery to leak voltage, and I highly doubt it is Bluetooth. Have you tried switching keyfobs? Something tells me there's an open loop on you fob's circuit board causing this drain. Your service guy's reply almost sounds like the microwave popcorn cell phone excuse...

luxury1

I recently did a search on this on CL and found that cell phones do drain the battery. The battery should last approximately 2 years based on a lot of different Lexus owners. Mine lasted two years when I did a replacement just because I felt like it was time...

zzzzdoc

Mine's one year old and no problems so far. Why should the cell phone drain it's battery??? Don't get that one.

luxury1

I think that the key keeps attempting to communicate with it. That is what I read at least.

350Dave

I only got 15 months out of the battery, prior to BT phone the last fob (on my '03) lasted almost twice that...

luxury1

By the way, it is really easy to replace the battery. The hardest part is getting off the leather case which is super tight. The directions are in the manual.

tennisstar

i have this problem with my key CARD...not my key FOB....the Card seems to be weaker at transmitting then the Fob....dealer said it was within spec, so they wouldn't do anything about it....

MainStream

Tennisstar your comments on the key card echo my findings. I seldom carry the actual key fob, and apparently the key card is more susceptible to battery drain. For me, the convenience of the key card and the benefits of utilizing blue tooth far outweigh the cost of a few batteries. I picked up a dozen batteries at Ritz Camera and will just start a monthly replacement program. Burnaby may well be right that there is another issue causing the problem. I am not a technical person so for me it's simple. I want the doors to unlock when I want to get in, and then I want the car to start when I want to go somewhere. If dropping a new battery in every 30 days allows me to do that, then I'll be a happy camper.