Rotary Nut

I never had a remote battery go dead so quickly!

All the cars I have had for the last 10 years had remotes for keyless entry and they all lasted for well over a year. My '99 Passat lasted for three years and was still working when I traded it for my Audi.

I opened it up to check for corrosion or something out of the ordinary but it was clean. Has anyone else had to replace the battery in their remotes yet?

TRZ750

No problem yet. Got my 8 on 12-31 so also 6 months. Use my remote a lot as wanting to make sure it is locked and to unlock both doors.

RX-8 friend

Those batteries can be "iffy". Most are good for years, but every now and then you get a bad battery. Not a major expense item though.

maxwell72764

Had one of those key fob garage door openers and went through batterys every month until I found that with one pair of pants with really long, loose front pockets would allow my key ring to slide down the outside of thigh when I sat. This would push the button and wear it down quick. Found out by forgeting to put my keys away at home and left 'em in the pocket. Wife came to me in the office saying 'honey, you gotta do something about the garage door!'.

RX8-TX

stop playing with the OPEN/CLOSE buttons!


j/k

buzzwordenabled

Does a dead keyless remote battery really merit a WTF? If you ask your dealer nicely, they'll probably just replace and install a replacement battery for free.

If you're even moderately handy, you can replace it yourself.

rxeightr

Almost 12 months with mine -- no probs with the remote here

tpryor

Ditto. A year in July, same remote battery, driven daily (13,500 miles).

88gt

C'mon.. just buy new batteries Certainly there are other issues in your life to get upset over.

Peace

Rotary Nut

I know but I just thought it was a bit odd that they would go bad so quickly!

If a GI ain't complainin' about something then he isn't happy!

khoney

My factory remote battery lasted about 8 months.

TheColonel

I never had a remote battery go dead PERIOD. (Yay GM!)

Haze

Either you were in for the full twenty, or you've been reading Bill Mauldin cartoons!

I just replaced the batteries in my mom's Jaguar fobs. They weren't dead at over two years, and the batteries were around three bucks each. Took about 90 seconds to do each one. Not a big deal.

MY Mazda is about ten moths old, and it has perfect function of the fob that I've been using, and I lock the car about four times a day at a minimum and open the trunk with it all the time. You probably just had a bad battery. No big deal. However, feel free to bitch. It's every American's constitutional God given right to bitch all they want. Go for it!

rx8cited

No. That's it ........ time to trade your RX-8 in for another Passat :D.

rx8cited

TODreamer

Hopefully when I'm ready to purchase....perhaps an '05 model...all these little purturbances will be corrected.

Rotary Nut

Yup did the full twenty! Note my sig! And no I will never trade my 8 in on another Passat. I know it isn't a big deal I just thought that it should have worked for a bit longer!

rx8cited

I like maxwell72764's theory ........ is it possible you're mashing down on the buttons when the fob is in your pocket?

Cmon' I know you don't want to believe this, but it's gotta be you ........ no one else has had to replace their battery

Rotary Nut

Nope! My keys hang from a hook on my belt loop! No joke.

On an aside, one evening many years ago when I was teaching a night class we (instructors on break) were standing outside on a smoke break (I don't smoke, just chit-chatting). All of a sudden a truck in the parking lot starts unlocking then locking its doors then the panic goes off then shuts off. This went on for about 30 minutes. Well we all got a kick out of it and then went back inside. We asked who owned the S-10 pickup out in the parking lot and it turns out that the driver was indeed sitting on his remote and every time he shifted his keyster it would press the buttons setting the thing off!

But no I don't put my keys in my pocket because there is too much of them on the loop making it very painfull to put in ones pocket!

mjd

I think mine just died too. How do you go about prying open that little remote? I don't want to break it. I just need to see what kind of battery to get.

Deslock

Mine's lasted 13 months so far. Out of curiosity, did the remote's range decrease in the days before it became totally unusable?

Go48

Page 3-6 of the owners manual. You did get one with your car, right?

SAFD1450

Well mine still works (I Think!). I am just comming up on 6 months. Well then again I have been stationed outside the us for all but 2 weeks of that time so I havent used it

sferrett

Got mine in July 2003 and the remote is still fine (the second one I have not used yet). The range is starting to decrease a little though, so I guess it might be getting down slightly.

jaguargod

The battery should slowly drain as long as it is touching the contact, even if it is not being actively used.

Haze

Took delivery of mine in October of 2003, and my remote started to get weak last winter. I went up to the zero farenheit weather of Montreal and the cold would just kill it until I warmed the thing up, so I switched the battery of the second remote into the first one, and that's been working fine. Your battery probably has very little left at this point.