[abrookes]

So I may or may not have lost my key fob to my 2017 jeep renegade, and I can’t figure out if it would have to be at my house (where I last drove it to) or in the parking garage I came from. Here’s what happened:

I was walking back to the parking garage I park in for work, and I remote started my jeep with my key fob while entering the garage. When I was right next to it, I unlocked it and got inside, then pushed the ignition button to complete it turning on. Then I drive home, but on the way (roughly 3 miles from my parking garage), it dinged at me but didn’t give me a message of why, like it usually does. So from what I saw, it didn’t say that the key fob had left the car or that it was out of range, anything like that. A possibility is that it detected my bag on the passenger seat and wanted it to be buckled? Just a thought. I didn’t go anywhere the rest of the day, and I didn’t realize I didn’t know where they were until the next day when I needed to leave.

So my question is, is it possible for the key fob to have fallen out of my pocket while I got into my vehicle, then I shut the door and pushed the ignition button, and it NOT give me a message saying it was in the vehicle? I drove all the way home without it saying anything about it not being in the vehicle.

But when I tried starting it today to see if it was somewhere inside the vehicle, it said that I needed to put the fob by the ignition, which I’d assume is it saying that it doesn’t detect the fob in the car.

So does my key fob HAVE to be at my house, or is it possible I dropped it in the parking garage and got all the way home without being alerted the fob wasn’t inside the jeep??

Sincerely,
Someone who really wants to know where her keys could be

 

[Ops]

from what i read you can start and drive it but once you turn it off if the keys not near you wont be able to restart. are you able to go back to the parking garage and look around? maybe someone found it.

usually if its not within 50ft you cant start it. if it was in the car still you should be able to start it up

 

[Nev]

It should alert you the key is no longer present even if the engine is running.

 

[Marek K]

Welcome!

With my 2021 Trailhawk, it gives a visual text alert when the key is removed from the vehicle with the engine running. On the display between the tach and the speedometer. I don't know how long it stays on; I assume as long as the fob is out of the vehicle. So I'd assume it would have stayed on for the entire trip home, if you'd dropped the key fob in the parking garage after starting the engine.

The alert occurs as soon as the key fob leaves the inside of the vehicle. The engine keeps running, though.

I don't think there's an audible signal, though -- but maybe. I don't know if that can be adjusted in Settings.

If you got a ding halfway home, then yes it might have been because it was reminding you to buckle the passenger seatbelt, if the package there was heavy enough. You should have gotten a text alert for that, I'd think.

Yes, the message that you need to press the fob against the start button occurs either when the key isn't present (inside the cabin, I think); or that the fob battery is dead.

I'd guess the most-likely thing is that the key fob is somewhere in your home...

It's kind of scary how sophisticated the electronics are for stuff like locking of starting the Renegade -- like a lot of things on the vehicle. But it all seems to be pretty-well thought out and fail-safe as much as it can be. (Except there have been reports here of people locking themselves in when the body control module malfunctions.)

 

[abrookes]

I appreciate all the responses, I did find them in my home in my boyfriend’s coat (???), which he hasn’t worn since before they were lost, so maybe they fell from my coat pocket into his. Anyway, it does do exactly what you said, Marek. So now I know for the future. Thanks!

 

[RWG75]

If is was complaining about the passenger seat belt, you would have known because it gets really annoying with constant reminder beeps. The fob has to be about 50 ft from the vehicle for it to notice, it pops up a big warning in the dash - but only for about 5-10 seconds. Pretty sure it doesn't keep bugging you about it and probably so a weak fob battery doesn't make you crazy.

Last month my girl and her buddy get in, go to down. He drops her at the CVS, runs to Dunkin, has no way to re-start the car because fob in her pocket. At least it was a short hike.

 

[Marek K]

The fob has to be about 50 ft from the vehicle for it to notice, it pops up a big warning in the dash - but only for about 5-10 seconds.

Not with my 2021 Trailhawk. I just went to the garage, started it up, rolled down the driver's window, stuck the key fob as far as I could out the window, and... nothing.

But the instant I opened the door and shut it again, with my hand still holding the key fob through the window:

So about a foot outside the door frame. And for much longer than a few seconds. No audible warning.

Interestingly, when I pulled the key fob back inside through the window, the warning stayed on. It wasn't until I opened and shut the door again that it went off.

 

[Ops]

Elvis has left the building

 

[Marek K]

Elvis has left the building

You mean abrookes is Elvis?

Maybe... But I was responding to RWG75's comment that the key fob needs to be 50 ft away. Not so.

Like with so many things with this vehicle, you really have to do some experimentation to see how they really behave...

 

[RWG75]

Ya wonder off with the fob, it takes a couple seconds to notice and react. Sometimes ya gotta wait for the auto door unlock to notice too.