I have a 21 Venza with 2,200 miles in 6 months. The car is not used everyday, and we place the Smart Key in the "battery saving mode" after coming home at the end of the day. We then place it in an Altoid metal container for security purposes, in the event placing it in battery saving mode is not sufficient to protect from hackers. The battery lasted only 6 months. Does the frequent placing it into battery saving mode, or storing in the metal container, or infrequent driving somehow adversely impact the Smart Key battery life? My other Smart Key's battery was not dead, but I replaced them both. Thank you.
Kenagh
Bad luck w/ the original battery that came w/ the remote. Should have lasted longer, but did not. It’s a consumable item, like the 12V vehicle battery. Some people will get longer life, some average life, some short life.
The metal box to block radio signals from the car fob is a good practice!
Since you drive so little, the vehicle 12V battery is most likely in a state of discharge. A battery that constantly stays fully charged will live a longer life. Get a smart 12V battery charger that has an AGM setting, as many vehicles are coming standard w/ AGM 12V battery; don’t know if your Venda was shipped w/ AGM or traditional flooded WET cell. If you have a 12V battery charger, you could use it on an AGM battery, but it will just NEVER fully recharge it, b/c an AGM battery sits at a much higher energy potential than a non-AGM 12V battery.
Noco and CTEK are good brands for chargers. Noco sells the quick release battery terminal leave behind as an optional accessory. CTEK‘s chargers come w/ this accessory standard. Noco seems to have more frequent sales on Amazon than CTEK.
The metal box to block radio signals from the car fob is a good practice!
Since you drive so little, the vehicle 12V battery is most likely in a state of discharge. A battery that constantly stays fully charged will live a longer life. Get a smart 12V battery charger that has an AGM setting, as many vehicles are coming standard w/ AGM 12V battery; don’t know if your Venda was shipped w/ AGM or traditional flooded WET cell. If you have a 12V battery charger, you could use it on an AGM battery, but it will just NEVER fully recharge it, b/c an AGM battery sits at a much higher energy potential than a non-AGM 12V battery.
Noco and CTEK are good brands for chargers. Noco sells the quick release battery terminal leave behind as an optional accessory. CTEK‘s chargers come w/ this accessory standard. Noco seems to have more frequent sales on Amazon than CTEK.
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+1
The lithium batteries used in remotes have something like a 10 year shelf life, and should be good for at least 3 year in a regularly-used remote.
When out of range of the vehicle, the transmitter is not pulling power, unless it is near another device that would cause it to "wake up"
Cell phones and computers may trigger it to transmit the serial number, but there is no definitive list.
Generally, when battery life is that low, it can be traced to storing the battery at home within range of the vehicle (a lot of people drop their keys in a tray in the garage as they go through the interior door), which causes the fob to actively transmit constantly, or tightly fitting pants that randomly press the remote buttons.
But in your case, neither of these is true.
If the dealer you bought from stores the keys in a lockbox clipped onto a window, then it's possible the fob was picking up the signal from the car and transmitting on the lot 24/7. I've done a few test drives at Carmax, and every car that had a smart key had a dead battery because of this. Our Toyota dealers keep the keys in a vault inside the showroom and check them out to the salesman for test drives, but used car lots generally use lockboxes on the cars.
Putting the fob into the Altoids tin is not doing anything helpful if you have put the fob into battery save mode... in that mode, the fob is not "listening" for a wake-up signal unless and until one of the buttons is pressed. Putting it into battery save mode is similar to removing the battery.
The Altoids tin is a really good idea if you park in a garage where the car may be in range of the fob inside the house.
The lithium batteries used in remotes have something like a 10 year shelf life, and should be good for at least 3 year in a regularly-used remote.
When out of range of the vehicle, the transmitter is not pulling power, unless it is near another device that would cause it to "wake up"
Cell phones and computers may trigger it to transmit the serial number, but there is no definitive list.
Generally, when battery life is that low, it can be traced to storing the battery at home within range of the vehicle (a lot of people drop their keys in a tray in the garage as they go through the interior door), which causes the fob to actively transmit constantly, or tightly fitting pants that randomly press the remote buttons.
But in your case, neither of these is true.
If the dealer you bought from stores the keys in a lockbox clipped onto a window, then it's possible the fob was picking up the signal from the car and transmitting on the lot 24/7. I've done a few test drives at Carmax, and every car that had a smart key had a dead battery because of this. Our Toyota dealers keep the keys in a vault inside the showroom and check them out to the salesman for test drives, but used car lots generally use lockboxes on the cars.
Putting the fob into the Altoids tin is not doing anything helpful if you have put the fob into battery save mode... in that mode, the fob is not "listening" for a wake-up signal unless and until one of the buttons is pressed. Putting it into battery save mode is similar to removing the battery.
The Altoids tin is a really good idea if you park in a garage where the car may be in range of the fob inside the house.
For those technically challenged you could ask the dealer to replace the FOB battery. Mine does it at no charge for the first 3 yrs/36k miles (standard warranty). ymmv
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