According to experts, a battery in a car key fob is supposed to last anywhere from three to five years. However, as key fobs get more advanced, some have found their fobs dying much earlier than expected—and as a result, discovering that they need to replace key fob batteries faster than they anticipated.
Now, a user on TikTok has revealed that there may be a method for saving your key fob battery and potentially preventing your car from being stolen.
In a video with over 80,000 views as of Sunday, TikTok user @kudoscarsales reveals that certain Toyota vehicles have a battery-saving feature on their key fob that can also act as an anti-theft measure.
For this to work, one must make sure that their Toyota uses a “smart key system,” the TikToker says that one can easily tell whether this is the case if the vehicle has “two lines on the door handles and a push button start.”
From there, one must take their key fob in their hands and “press and hold down on the lock button, then press unlock twice, and the light will flash four times.”
“Now your key fob is no longer emitting a signal,” the TikToker explains. “Press any button and it’ll turn the key fob right back on.”
According to Toyota’s website, this is a “battery-saving mode” in which “battery depletion is minimized by stopping the electronic key from receiving radio waves.”
While the TikToker notes that this saves battery life, he also states that this provides a secondary function.
“Essentially, the key’s always emitting a signal. Thieves will use that signal to send it to the car; the car thinks the key’s present and lets them drive away,” he details. “So by turning off your key fob whenever you’re not using it, you reduce the chance of theft.”
The Daily Dot could not verify these anti-theft claims; we have reached out to Toyota via email for clarification.
@kudoscarsales Battery Saving Mode For Toyota Keyfob #toyota #key #fob #battery #saving #mode #education ♬ original sound – Kudos
Although users in comments were appreciative of the tip, many claimed that they weren’t too concerned about preserving their key fob’s battery life.
“Save the battery? I had a Hyundai with a fob of this fashion and haven’t had to change the battery in 2 years,” said a user.
“Just get a bunch of dollarstore batteries lol,” added another. “Lasts years.”
“I just store it in a special pouch and it turns off automatically,” offered a third.
Update April 15, 3:28pm CT: In an email to the Daily Dot, the TikToker explained some of the benefits of this trick.
“The batteries in smart keys usually last three to four years,” he wrote. “By maximizing the use of the battery saving mode, you can expect to extend the length of the key fob battery by 2-3 years.”
“The anti-theft portion of the video explains that with the use of battery saving mode, the vehicle and fob are no longer emitting signals to each other that can be copied by thieves to falsify the presence of a key within the vehicle,” he added. “Toyota does not promote the battery saving mode as an anti-theft feature, but it just happens to work.”
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