Back in November 2013, I purchased my first brand new car, a Hyundai Santa Fe Sport 2013. The SUV had 11 miles on it and I knew it would be perfect for our family. I wanted to get something reliable, safe, good gas mileage, and a great warranty.
Saturday, September 2, 2015, I took my daughter to the mall. After an evening of shopping, we got back to the SUV. The key fob / proximity sensor didn't work. I brought her stroller closer and closer to the car to make sure that I was "within range" for the sensor to work. I checked my purse and realized that it must have "fallen off" or "detached" at some point during the day. There was no warning. The key portion was attached to my key ring along with my TrackR device (should something happen to my keys, I would be able to locate them). However, since the black part of the key fob fell off and isn't attached to the key ring, there wasn't any way to find it.
I spent another 2 hours re-walking / re-tracing my steps in hopes of finding the black electronics portion of the key fob. I left my name and number at numerous stores in hopes that they would find it.
In the end, no luck. I was stranded with my two year old child.
Thankfully my husband was at home and was able to bring the spare set of keys to us. If we would have been traveling out of state, we would have been stranded.
He went online to see if this was a common problem. To his surprise, there were numerous complaints. However, our Hyundai Dealership stated that they were "unaware of this problem" and were not able to find complaints about it.
Now my car that was supposed to be purchased to keep my family safe and secure makes me stressed out and nervous. I am constantly checking my keys to make sure that the black electronics portion of the key fob is still attached. There needs to be some type of re-call or fix for drivers who have these key fobs.
Another big concern is that this SUV is the primary vehicle for us when we drive long distances to visit family and vacation. We took our SUV to Florida last year. Now I'm concerned that if I would be out of town and this would happen, I would be stranded. This could be a life or death situation should I lose the key electronics at an inopportune time.
The key fob needs to have a better / more secure way to hold the electronics portion of the key fob on the key. Jeep keys seem to be better designed with a "slide" technique to detach the electronics portion from the key.
click to see larger images
Back in November 2013, I purchased my first brand new car, a Hyundai Santa Fe Sport 2013. The SUV had 11 miles on it and I knew it would be perfect for our family. I wanted to get something reliable, safe, good gas mileage, and a great warranty.
Saturday, September 2, 2015, I took my daughter to the mall. After an evening of shopping, we got back to the SUV. The key fob / proximity sensor didn't work. I brought her stroller closer and closer to the car to make sure that I was "within range" for the sensor to work. I checked my purse and realized that it must have "fallen off" or "detached" at some point during the day. There was no warning. The key portion was attached to my key ring along with my TrackR device (should something happen to my keys, I would be able to locate them). However, since the black part of the key fob fell off and isn't attached to the key ring, there wasn't any way to find it.
I spent another 2 hours re-walking / re-tracing my steps in hopes of finding the black electronics portion of the key fob. I left my name and number at numerous stores in hopes that they would find it.
In the end, no luck. I was stranded with my two year old child.
Thankfully my husband was at home and was able to bring the spare set of keys to us. If we would have been traveling out of state, we would have been stranded.
He went online to see if this was a common problem. To his surprise, there were numerous complaints. However, our Hyundai Dealership stated that they were "unaware of this problem" and were not able to find complaints about it.
Now my car that was supposed to be purchased to keep my family safe and secure makes me stressed out and nervous. I am constantly checking my keys to make sure that the black electronics portion of the key fob is still attached. There needs to be some type of re-call or fix for drivers who have these key fobs.
Another big concern is that this SUV is the primary vehicle for us when we drive long distances to visit family and vacation. We took our SUV to Florida last year. Now I'm concerned that if I would be out of town and this would happen, I would be stranded. This could be a life or death situation should I lose the key electronics at an inopportune time.
The key fob needs to have a better / more secure way to hold the electronics portion of the key fob on the key. Jeep keys seem to be better designed with a "slide" technique to detach the electronics portion from the key.
- Julie K., West Chester, PA, US