Key fob oddity resolved

Key fob issue

A truly odd thing happened with my key fob today, which fortunately turned out to have a simple resolution.

The Kia Niro‘s mirrors extend out when the car is approached when locked. Over the last week or so, they have been less consistent and even when they do extend, the lock may not respond.

Oddly, there has yet to be a “key fob battery low” warning on the instrument panel.

However, today, when the car was shut off, there was a warning displayed. It said “key fob not in vehicle”. I did not have the presence of mind to take a photo.

The message disappeared when the Kia‘s door was opened, but reappeared when the lock button was pushed.

At face value, this makes no sense at all. Why would the car care if the fob was not inside while you were outside? The point is that the vehicle would not lock!

When many keyless start car will not start because the battery in the key fob is dead, the back up start process is to touch the fob to the start stop button while starting. This is also true of newer Kia models including the Niro.

So, I stepped back inside and started the car in this way.

This resolved the issue, and addresses yet another foible evidently inherent to keyless start vehicles.

Like others who have faced key fob warning signs, I’ve had a busy week and have yet to replace the fob’s battery.

Given today’s anomaly, and the general knowledge of how to handle fob issues, I will be waiting until the fob stops responding at all to replace the battery.

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