can genesis start without the key fob being inside or near the car? my experience

[happyowner1]

I have a Hyundai Genesis 2011 3.8 V6 sedan. The door was unlocked (I think-I usually push the button the car door to get in), I got in the car, and pushed the push start system. The engine started, and I was able to drive 10 miles. When I got out and tried to find the key fob in my pants pocket to lock the car in the parking lot, I couldn't find it. After looking underneath the seats and such, I drove it to a Hyundai dealer and three people there tried looking for the key fob. No luck. They even opened the trunk, the engine, the glove compartments, searched every nook and cranny, especially by the driver's seat, for a combined total of one hour.

The dealer service technicians and the manager there told me that the car shouldn't be able to start unless the key fob was somewhere inside the car. My husband also searched for the key fob for 30 minutes later that day. Couldn't find it. We of course checked my handbag. I even went more than 20 feet away from the car with my handbag, and my husband was able to start the car by pushing the push start button. So the logical conclusion is that the key fob is somewhere in the car. But we really looked hard. The key fob is the typical size, about an inch by two inches, not the size of a needle, so it's odd that it wasn't found.

***Could it be that the electrical signalling system for my fob is somehow the problem? I am considering whether to replace the key fob or first take the car back to a different dealer and have the key fob programming or electrical systems(?) checked out.

We had a spare key fob at home, so I was able to lock the car with that spare. But we don't want to just rely on this spare fob, because I might lose it or the day I park and leave the car unlocked somewhere and someone thinks to get into the car seeing it's unlocked, he can just drive away with the car. Unlikely scenario, but hypothetically possible, and I'm risk averse.

 

[Mark_888]

If I understand correctly, you cannot find one of your keyfobs, either in the car or anywhere else. Since the car starts without a keyfob using your secondary keyfob, the logical conclusion is that the missing one is in the car somewhere. Keep looking.

 

[jake the snake]

I'm prety shure that you can start the car if you leave the Fob on the roof of the car.

 

[musher51]

Your last sentence provides useful insight into your dilemma. If a second fob allows you to lock the car, you can reasonably assume the first fob isn't in the vehicle.

I haven't actually tested this (although it would be easy to do), but as I understand the functionality of this keyless fob design, you CANNOT lock the car if it detects that a fob is inside the vehicle. Thus, if your car starts even when fob #2 is nowhere near it, you may have a faulty ignition that starts the car when it shouldn't (although that sure seems like an unlikely failure mode).

*OR* Perhaps someone's pulling a prank and taped the first fob to the outside of your car...but then the "hey, the key's outside the car" tone should go off every time you close a door.

 

[happyowner1]

Yes!!! That is the logical conclusion and the reason we're all stumped! I didn't include this in the initial posting, but actually, seven people total looked for it. The shortest search was for about 15 minutes, the longest search was for about 45 minutes. No one has able to find it so far.

The technician at the Hyundai dealer said that it was highly unlikely, but possible, that the electrical system could be the problem. But at that point, my glovebox was locked and he thought I should go home, get the spare fob key and check there first. I did, and the glove box was empty. So we searched the car again, no luck.

 

[CanukV6]

My wife frequently leaves her key fob in her purse which she then locks in the trunk if we go to a restaurant for example. If I try to lock the doors with my fob, the car will sound an alarm but if I wait until its finished yelling at me it will allow you to lock the doors & trunk.

If the key is inside the car however the lock function is disabled. Not sure how it differentiates between the car and the trunk, but it does!

If the engine was already running, I could understand how 'happyowner1' was able to drive away, but if the car started without the key, then that sounds like a serious malfunction of the security system.

 

[darrell]

My wife frequently leaves her key fob in her purse which she then locks in the trunk if we go to a restaurant for example. If I try to lock the doors with my fob, the car will sound an alarm but if I wait until its finished yelling at me it will allow you to lock the doors & trunk.

If the key is inside the car however the lock function is disabled. Not sure how it differentiates between the car and the trunk, but it does!

If the engine was already running, I could understand how 'happyowner1' was able to drive away, but if the car started without the key, then that sounds like a serious malfunction of the security system.

Are you sure someone can't just walk up and open the trunk?

 

[Car Fan]

You're saying the key alert was sounding as you drove away? And you're saying that after you got to the dealer you turned off the car and then were able to start it back up? Are you able to grab the handle and get the door to open without having the back up key? Because if all those are true the key has to be in the car. If those things aren't true it is possible the key was near you when you started the car.

Just for kicks I discovered that I could put the key up to 3 feet away on the outside and still start the engine. But the second I begin to move the key alert went off.

 

[CanukV6]

Are you sure someone can't just walk up and open the trunk?

No, I tried that but after the alert, the 2nd key fob locked everything and the trunk release is inoperative. Weird eh?!

 

[mikec]

One owner posted long ago about a missing key fob that took forever to find at the dealership... if I remember correctly when they were purchasing the car. The dealer gave them 1 of 2 fobs and had no idea where the other one was. Turns out it was in the windshield wiper bay just above the dash but outside the glass/windshield... close enough though that the car's antennas could pick it up. The fob blends in nicely in that black plastic.

If you can't find the 2nd fob, one possible option is to buy another new fob and have the dealer re-program both the new one and the one you can find. The missing one will then be ignored by the car as the Genesis can only work with 2 fobs.

mike c.

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