[slodave]

I learned a little something about the new cars with the push button start/stop. My parents had been out of town and I stopped by this afternoon to catch up. Mom had gone to the grocery store by the time I showed up. I was in my parents office and my dad had gone wandering around the house when his phone (land line) rang. I had a feeling it was my mom, but it's not my phone, so I let it ring. Mom leaves a message about not being able to get back into her Camry or start it. Dad comes back in just as she hangs up. I get up and tell dad I'll grab her spare key fob and drive it down to her.

When I get to the parking lot, she's at her car. I take her key fob and with a puffed chest push buttons to make things unlock/work..... Nope. Hey, she's right! Okay, key fob battery died. I take the spare and hit the unlock button. Nothing... Eh? Hmm... Maybe there's something else going on. (Turns out the battery was dead in the spare as well) I take the little valet key and manually unlock the driver's door. Once inside, I try to start the car via the push button - "Key not present", is displayed on the dash. Try a few things with the same result.

Get out of mom's car and tell her I am going to mine to sit with the heater on - it's cold and I'm not wearing a jacket - while I search the web... I find the Camry manual online and it tells me that if I hold the key fob with the Toyota logo touching the start/stop button, the car will come alive. First try... nope. I touch it again and sure enough... Beep! And a green light on the start/stop button. I push it and the car starts!

My guess is that this works for all new cars with a push button start/stop. I think that the battery in the key fob not only allows for the doors to unlock, but also power the RFID chip so that it can be read from a 3'-4' distance. If the battery dies, the RFID chip acts like the one in your bank card or passport and requires a little stimulation to vibrate and transmit its code. By holding the key fob to the button, there must be a device in the button that has a bit of voltage from the car battery that causes the RFID chip in the fob to transmit.