Some days we’ll take just about any excuse to call in sick to the day job. Digital creator @mexicosweetheart was clearly having a chronic case of “need a personal day” blues based on her recent post where she showed that the key fob to her Kia automobile wasn’t working. This meant she was unable to enter the car for the drive to her day job, which in a later video we learn is in a veterinary clinic.
She clearly had no idea how to access her car without an operating fob, and pulled on the door handle several times while mashing the buttons that weren’t cooperating in any way.
The many hundreds of commenters on the video started piling on and pointing out that anyone who’s changed the batteries in a key fob before (which we’ll assume she hadn’t) should know there’s a physical key inside the fob’s casing that can open a vehicle in the old school physical way. That may seem impossible to the unfamiliar since at first blush there’s no keyhole in which to use a key. More on that further down.
So yeah, the comments on the post were pretty brutal.
‘They give you hella warning’
“If you don’t know BASIC stuff about your car, your license should be revoked,” one opined.
Another one threw a whole lot of shade in just a few words, writing, “this made me feel so smart.”
And another noted that there is usually a series of alerts or warnings that notify the driver when the fob battery is almost dead; “They give you hella warning to change battery.. there’s also a key.”
In responses to the comments, @mexicosweetheart said she knew there were other ways to get into the car but was using the incident as a reason to stay home, relax, and enjoy the beautiful sunrise that was reflecting on her car door.
In a followup video, she seemed disappointed at all the criticism and gaslighting that the original post generated.
“You know what I really really needed from you guys in that last video? I needed someone to tell me that I could hop through the trunk or that there was no other way and that I needed to call off of work (because) there was no other option but to call off of work.”
Daily Dot readers will remember that there’s tactics to successfully keep fobs from other car brands from dying, but that doesn’t guarantee Kia fobs can be made invincible.
On YouTube, an explainer video that appears to have come from a Kia dealership shows step by step how to remove the manual key from the fob. From there, the manual key can be inserted in the underside of the door handle, on the righthand partition, which will pop off with a little pushing. That will reveal the lock mechanism that – TADA! – lets the door open when the key is inserted.
Not for nothing, the issue here was almost certainly a dead battery. Like a flashlight or Discman, so too are they easily changed on a Kia fob.
How to change the battery on your Kia key fob
- Buy a CR2032 battery at any Target or grocery store or Home Depot.
- Pop open the fob using a small tool like a flat-head screwdriver.
- Some fobs have a screw that needs to be loosened, so do that.
- Swap the coin-like battery. It should look like a dime.
@mexicossweetheart ♬ original sound – mexicossweetheart
The video notes that in most cases the “dead” fob should have enough juice to allow the car to start. From there, we hope @mexicosweetheart or another fob-challenged driver makes their way to pick up some batteries or get the device repaired at a nearby dealership.
