Key Fob

[Bazile]

I have never had to change the battery in my remote control , in any of the cars i have had .

Is this unusual ?

[gingejbee]

Since you've never had to change one....presumably, not unusual?

[Old_Geezer]

Depends on how long you keep a car.

[Bazile]

Previous about 3 years +
Present - currently about the same .

[Bazile]

https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/how-long-does-a-key-fob-battery-last

Well that answers my question

[hc4361]

My nine year old is still on the original battery

[Togo]

I am sure that some key fob batteries are rechargeable, and receive a charge from the car whilst in use. Could be wrong.

[DarceyK123]

I have one of those 'keyless entry' cars which I've had from new.

It's 2 years old and had to change it twice now.

They change it for me at the local car spares shop at a cost of only £3 so that's not bad.

I think it should last a lot longer though but he says no, not with this type' he does them every day.

[Old_Geezer]

Mine's showing signs of needing replacement soon, but the car is 6 years old now.

[Togo]

Same here Darcy. I made a mental note to change mine every 12 months. The keyless ignition and entry ones are transmitting at all times on the ignition frequency but only on the door entry and lock when the buttons are pressed.

[Buenchico]

The car I bought last year was the first one to have remote central locking. (I've had cars with central locking before but I had to turn the key in the lock to operate it). The battery apparently went dead a few weeks after I bought the (ten-year-old) car, so I replaced it. It turned out not to be a battery problem but I decided that it made sense to leave the new battery in anyway.

When I replaced the batteries in my kitchen CO detector a couple of months ago (because they'd come to the end of the 2-year period they're meant to last for), I decided to change those in my smoke alarms too (as they were probably overdue for changing, even though the alarms still tested normally) and, to complete the set (and because I'd got a big pack of spare batteries unused anyway) I changed the one in my car's key fob too.

I'll probably keep changing the key fob's battery annually (if I manage to remember!) as getting into my car with it dead is ruddy noisy (when the alarm goes off) and I just know that I'd need to do it at 3am, when my neighbours would all curse me like mad!

[Togo]

Ohhh gawd Buen....you have just reminded me that "She who must be obeyed" gets out all her sparkly, twinkly lights and things out in a few weeks. Changing all those coin batteries and AAAs is a mare. I am always 1 short and end up doing a cobble with tinfoil.

[bhg481]

My Volvo has keyless ignition and the battery in my keyfob has only been changed once, about 2 years ago, since I bought it new almost 10 years ago. The key in my wife's has only been changed once as well. It's a very rare event for me to actually press a button - the whole idea of keyless is that you don't take the remote out of your pocket/handbag.

[ToraToraTora]

mine charges in the ignition.

[DSJ]

I sold my last car, bought new, after 12 years. I never had to change the battery in my key fob.

[anotheoldgit]

I recently needed to change my battery in my key, so I took it along to Timpsons and they put the new battery in for me.

But returning to my car it still did not work, luckily I remembered a useful tip, I opened the door manually with the key, placed the key in the ignition, turned the key to the 2nd position and pressed the key's button, this reprogrammed the key and it worked perfectly.