Keyless driving error "Key Fob Not in Car"

[wildag]

I'm experiencing an issue where....

1) In the Tesla app I unlock the car, and enable "keyless driving"

2) Once in the car, I see the "Keyless driving enabled... " message.

3) When I put my foot on the brake pedal, a message saying "Key fob not in car" pops up.

4) No combination of brakes, gear selector, use of the app, or resetting the instrument cluster and media screen allows me to actually start driving the car (instrument cluster never shows driving mode)

The car has firmware 2018.6.1 641efac

Anyone else experience this?


(Side note: I called the local SC. The scheduling person kept saying "you probably need a new key fob battery". *le sigh*)

 

[boaterva]

Huh... Wonder if something changed recently to 'require' the fob be inside? That would be interesting...

And, I've given up on listening to Tysons....

 

[SocalT3sla]

I'm experiencing an issue where....

1) In the Tesla app I unlock the car, and enable "keyless driving"

2) Once in the car, I see the "Keyless driving enabled... " message.

3) When I put my foot on the brake pedal, a message saying "Key fob not in car" pops up.

4) No combination of brakes, gear selector, use of the app, or resetting the instrument cluster and media screen allows me to actually start driving the car (instrument cluster never shows driving mode)

The car has firmware 2018.6.1 641efac

Anyone else experience this?


(Side note: I called the local SC. The scheduling person kept saying "you probably need a new key fob battery". *le sigh*)

I had this exact thing happen to me two weeks ago. Pretty disappointing for a $120k car. Mine is a Tesla Model X, only 2 months old. Had to take it into service, they had to replace both keys and swap out a sensor.

Now only if they could fix my Falcon Wing door sensor...I guess there is a 1-2 month wait lead time for this part. I can't believe how many issues could go wrong with my Tesla Model X... *sigh*

 

[Robwoodruff]

I had that happen in my model S. I got a new battery and no more problems.

 

[wildag]

I had that happen in my model S. I got a new battery and no more problems.

I hope that's true, though it would be baffling as to why.

 

[LukasSwan]

I have this issue too. I'm on 2018.7.
SC says they are working on a fix.

 

[mrpseudonym]

+1 I am on 2018.6

Happened yesterday, For the first time. I used the fob to open the car, but when I got in (with the fob) key was not recognised as being inside. I did the two button reboot, and got out and opened the rear .. problem went away.

 

[ytwytw]

I have this issue too. I'm on 2018.7.
SC says they are working on a fix.

What’s the chanelogs on your 2018.7?

 

[Yinn]

I'm experiencing an issue where....

1) In the Tesla app I unlock the car, and enable "keyless driving"

2) Once in the car, I see the "Keyless driving enabled... " message.

3) When I put my foot on the brake pedal, a message saying "Key fob not in car" pops up.

4) No combination of brakes, gear selector, use of the app, or resetting the instrument cluster and media screen allows me to actually start driving the car (instrument cluster never shows driving mode)

The car has firmware 2018.6.1 641efac

Anyone else experience this?


(Side note: I called the local SC. The scheduling person kept saying "you probably need a new key fob battery". *le sigh*)

I think you need to clarify to the SC. I understand needing a new key fob battery if you were just trying to drive as normal. But if you enabled it via the app, the car is supposed to be able to allow driving without a key fob - with or without a low battery condition. I've done this myself when I left the house with my key fob inside the house (but close enough to the car to start) and had to use keyless driving to get home.

The process was as you described. I unlocked the car w/ the app. Entered the car. Then I enabled keyless driving mode. Stepping on the brakes allowed me to take off as normal.

 

[muleferg]

"the car is supposed to be able to allow driving without a key fob - with or without a low battery condition. I've done this myself when I left the house with my key fob inside the house (but close enough to the car to start) and had to use keyless driving to get home."

This has happened to me 2 or 3 times. Also I have gotten in the car 2 or 3 time with the fob being in my right front pocket. and the would get the the Keyless warning. I would adjust are take it out of the pocket and it would go away..

 

[FlyF4]

I had that happen in my model S. I got a new battery and no more problems.

That's interesting. This is outside my area, so are you saying that the fob has to be in the car for this app feature to work? If so, isn't that defeating the whole purpose of the feature? So if I am out in the middle of nowhere and the battery on my fob is dead or I lost it, then I can't drive the car somewhere?

Yes, I know other cars don't have this feature so what am I complaining about? Well, it is a bit misleading that I should be able to start and drive the S/X without a working fob..... if that is the way it is supposed to work.

 

[Robwoodruff]

That's interesting, so are you saying that the fob has to be in the car for this app feature to work? If so, isn't that defeating the whole purpose of the feature? So if I am out in the middle of nowhere and the battery on my fob is dead or I lost it, then I can't drive the car somewhere?

Well, it is a bit misleading that I should be able to start and drive the S/X without a working fob.....if that is the way it is supposed to work.

No, I was saying when I got the message that the fob battery was low or the fob was not registered by the car, a new fob battery fixed the problem. Even when the fob battery is dead, you are supposed to be able to use it to open the doors by placing it somewhere on the right lower windshield then use it to start the car by placing it in the cup holder. I tried it and couldn't get it to work. You can use your phone to open and drive the car if you lose the fob as long as the car and phone have cell service. I think the model 3 doesn't need cell service for the phone to open and drive the car because it uses bluetooth to connect.

 

[LukasSwan]

I am still having this issue. Even after updating to 2018.10 software.
My MS is running the same software and doesn't have the issue.

My MCU was replaced in my MX due to the yellow ring. Perhaps the new MCU has an issue?
Has anyone had resolution to this yet?

 

[DCGOO]

I had the problem with one of the fobs on my S (the other worked fine). First comment from the SC, "fob battery is bad" I said I don't think so, and opened the rear hatch from 50 feet away. But none of the proximity based functions of one of the fobs worked. No walk to the car and unlock, and (of course) key fob not in the car messages. All the functions requiring a button press work fined, with excellent range. Cure was to replace the actual fob.

 

[LukasSwan]

I'm experiencing an issue where....

1) In the Tesla app I unlock the car, and enable "keyless driving"

2) Once in the car, I see the "Keyless driving enabled... " message.

3) When I put my foot on the brake pedal, a message saying "Key fob not in car" pops up.

4) No combination of brakes, gear selector, use of the app, or resetting the instrument cluster and media screen allows me to actually start driving the car (instrument cluster never shows driving mode)

The car has firmware 2018.6.1 641efac

Anyone else experience this?


(Side note: I called the local SC. The scheduling person kept saying "you probably need a new key fob battery". *le sigh*)

Did you get this fixed? Mine is not.

 

[wildag]

It took several rounds of discussions with the service center. They didn't seem to grasp the issue (one person didn't know the feature existed). But they finally "performed a remote key security reset" and the issue is now resolved. They did this at the SC.

 

[wildag]

FYI - apparently Tesla calls this feature "Remote start".

 

[dgatwood]

+1 I am on 2018.6

Happened yesterday, For the first time. I used the fob to open the car, but when I got in (with the fob) key was not recognised as being inside. I did the two button reboot, and got out and opened the rear .. problem went away.

To add another data point, I saw this error message earlier today (2018.12) when I first got into my car, but it went away after I dug into my pocket to verify that the fob was there. I'm guessing that there's a software bug involved.

 

[wildag]

To add another data point, I saw this error message earlier today (2018.12) when I first got into my car, but it went away after I dug into my pocket to verify that the fob was there. I'm guessing that there's a software bug involved.

That’s definitely happened to me as well - but that’s not the topic of this thread. As the OP, I was posting about the “Tesla App Remote Start” feature, where the key is intentionally not in or around the car.

 

[Peteski]

I haven’t tried keyless or should that be fobless driving. Could be quite handy, but think I’d only use it in an emergency e.g. lost key fob. Better check if it works or not though!