Toyota Key Fob Battery Life - Not Great!

[Lennyz1]

15 months and no problem for me.

Biggest killer of FOB batteries is keeping it near the vehicle. It will constantly hunt and draw the FOB battery down. Try storing the key FOB farther away from the truck.

Sponsored

 

[bsquaredMTB]

Thanks again for all the comments and suggestions. I'm going to go with the energizer battery and storing the fob further away to see how that works out!

 

[Lando]

18 months and original battery works just as good as when new.
I will add, I accidentally put my fob in the washing machine! Luckily I had it in a $20 Amazon two piece case. It was largely water resistant- only a few drops got in after an entire wash cycle. I dried it and remote is good as new.

 

[gpburdell]

Distance to your vehicle can be a factor. On my wifes car that is next to the garage door into the house, if I left thee FOB inside the door on the laundry room sink, the battery would wear out quickly as it can "see the car". Moved it 5 feet away and the batteries have lasted over a year since. I don't know the specifics on distance, just posting my experiance.

How old is your wife's car? In recent years most fobs have an accelerometer and go to sleep after a few minutes of no movement.

press the lock button hold the lock button then press the unlock button twice you'll see the light flash on the remote the remote is now turned off until the next time you push the button

Yes, this will immediately put the fob to sleep and it won't wake when moved. Current fobs don't really need this since they automatically go to sleep when unmoving for a few minutes.

 

[hiluxfans]

Glad I'm not the alone. My previous trucks' fobs lasted years, but this 4th gen seems to eat batteries for breakfast. Are you guys keeping your keys near the truck at night? I heard that keeps the signal 'awake' and drains it faster.

 

[Romer]

How old is your wife's car? In recent years most fobs have an accelerometer and go to sleep after a few minutes of no movement.

2024 Model year

I should also state that my Tacoma FOB battery has been fine. It is parked 10 ft farther away in my garage

 

[gpburdell]

2024 Model year

I should also state that my Tacoma FOB battery has been fine. It is parked 10 ft farther away in my garage

Surprising that recent a fob doesn’t auto-sleep, but here we are.

 

[TacoFreak]

Surprising that recent a fob doesn’t auto-sleep, but here we are.

An auto-sleep feature would be great, but it is easy disable/reenable the FOB to save battery life. My FOB battery is still alive after 18 months, but I disable the FOB for my wife's car since I seldom drive it.

 

[franx]

I have my 2025 for 11 months and still good. As others have already said move the key fob farther away from the truck or it will try and communicate with it and may be your issue. Move it far enough that when you try and lock, it doesnt lock then you know you have the distance to stop communicating. I keep my key fob about 40 feet away and that seems to be far enough for me.

Sponsored