The keyless entry system is a great luxury many car owners enjoy these days. Yet, it has some issues. Many factory keyless entry systems have problems with:
- Limited range
- Intermittent response
- Unexpected behavior
Are you experiencing issues with your keyless entry system? We can help you navigate this frustrating situation.
The First Thing You Need To Do
Before troubleshooting the issue, change the battery in your key fob/transmitter. Sometimes that’s all you need to do to fix limited range and intermittent response issues. It doesn’t always do the trick, though. Does your keyless entry system still have issues after you changed the battery? The underlying cause is something else.
The Most Common Causes of Keyless Entry System Issues
Sometimes keyless entry systems have limited range and intermittent response. It may just be because they aren’t that good. Range and response are largely dependent upon antenna location and electronic interference. You won’t get the performance you’re looking for if:
- Your vehicle has a poor quality antenna
- The antenna is buried in some random corner of the vehicle
- Your neighborhood has a lot of electronic signals that interfere
You might have to hit the remote button several times to get your keyless entry system to respond. Sometimes you even have to stand right next to your vehicle to get the system to work.
A Few Solutions You Can Try
To fix this problem, there are a couple of things you can try:
Replace The Remote(s)
It’s common for keyless entry system remotes to get damaged from drops, spills, or other mishaps. If you suspect that your damaged remote(s) is the problem, you can try replacing it. Remotes aren’t cheap, though. Expect to pay several hundred dollars for a replacement remote and to have it programmed. Even then, it’s not guaranteed that your keyless entry system issues will disappear altogether.
Bring Your Vehicle To Your Dealership Or Repair Shop
If you want to get to the root of the problem, your dealership or repair shop may help you. They have the tools and expertise to inspect your vehicle’s receiver and antenna. They also can repair it. There’s a major downside to this, though. It costs quite a bit of money to have a dealership or shop find the underlying issue for you. It costs even more money to have them repair the faulty part(s). There’s also no guarantee that the issue won’t crop up again.
Replace Your Factory Keyless Entry System With SEER
Factory keyless entry systems aren’t always reliable. If you want a more reliable and more secure system, get SEER (Smart Entry Exit Recognition). It’s a sophisticated passive keyless entry system. It operates on an entirely different principle than factory keyless entry systems.
With a factory keyless entry system, you have to press a button to lock or unlock your vehicle. With SEER, you don’t have to press any buttons. Instead, it detects your proximity and reacts accordingly. You can program it to automate certain tasks (such as locking or unlocking your vehicle) when you’re within a certain distance of the vehicle. SEER is much more reliable than factory keyless entry systems. Read more about SEER here.
Another great benefit of having SEER on your vehicle is the fact that it’s much more secure than factory keyless entry systems. Not many people know this, but it’s relatively easy for hackers to hack into factory keyless entry systems to break into vehicles and/or steal them. You don’t have to worry about this with SEER. It’s bulletproof for both replay and relay attacks. This means you’ll face fewer theft claims, which means less costly insurance premiums.
Do you have any questions about SEER? Please contact us. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have!
Categories: Car Accessories