Came home, shut off the car and went inside. No problems. Went back out 40 minutes later and noticed that the doors wouldn't unlock when I touched the inside of the handle like they usually do. I then used the key fob to unlock the vehicle and get inside, but when I tried to start it, I got the message "No Key Fob Detected".

I went back into the house and go for the spare key fob and tried that, but I still got the same message. I was able to remotely start the car with the key fob, but I was still not able to activate the rest of the systems or drive it. I was told that if you press the "Press To Start" button WITH the key fob itself, it should override the system and the car will start, but this too failed.

The car had to be towed to the dealership and as of yet (only about 4 hours) I still don't have an answer.

Update from Mar 13, 2015: After an afternoon at the service department, I was informed that BOTH key FOBs went bad and they were not able to reprogram them. They gave me 2 new ones and it is working fine now. I feel that it is highly unlikely that both key FOBs, that are not kept together, would go bad at the same time. More likely is that after they pulled the fuse, or disconnected the battery to the vehicle the system reset itself and is now working again as designed. I wholly expect this problem to reoccur. My fingers are crossed that I am wrong.

The incident occurred on a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee on December 22nd at about 6:30pm. I pulled into the Stovepipe Wells, CA gas station to fuel up. Stovepipe wells is a remote location with no wireless phone service and very spotty internet connections. I put the car into park and then pressed the ignition switch to turn it off. I have a keyless ignition system (i.e Key FOB).

I pressed the fuel cap release button and went out side to fuel the vehicle. After returning to the vehicle I pressed the ignition switch and the vehicle wouldn’t start. A dash message displayed “Key FOB Not Detected”. I pressed the switch again and nothing happen with the message being displayed again. I looked for my keys and they were in the dash console by the shifter.

I pulled them out and held them close to the on/off button for the ignition and pressed the button again. The vehicle wouldn’t start and the message was displayed again.

I stepped out side of the vehicle and used the key fob to lock and unlock the vehicle. Upon stepping out noticed that I had failed to close the fuel lid and thought this could be the solution. I closed the lid and then went back inside the vehicle, closed the door and pressed the button again and still no success with only the same message being displayed.

I then pressed the auto start button twice and the vehicle started, but as soon as I stepped on the brake it stopped running. I tried this two more times and after the 3rd time this approach wouldn’t even start the car. Meanwhile the fob would still open and lock the doors and even open the tailgate door suggesting power was at a good level in the fob itself.

I pulled out the manual and looked for keyless entry info. I was specifically looking for the manual back up ignition start system that I had in my 2013 but could find no information for manually starting the vehicle with the back up key inside the key fob. At this point I decided to let the business know I was stalled.

I went inside the Stove Pipe wells store and contacted Scottsdale Airpark and unfortunately their service department was closed and instead spoke to sales. I asked if there was a solution to this problem (thinking it was still fairly simple) and they suggested trying to let the car sit for a while, also that I should be able to pry the start button cap off and use my back-up key inside the fob.

After about 10 minutes we tried to start the car again and still no luck. Then tried to pop the start/stop button off with my key fob back key but could get neither the ring about the butt in or the button to come off. At this point I figured I would then more easily be able to get the start/stop button cap off. I tried prying off the start/stop button thinking that a back up keyed ignition would be available but after applying what I deemed sufficient force I could not get the button off. At this point I was worried that any more force would eject the entire ignition system.

I also used the land line to reach my wife and had her start looking at online forums for solutions. From this we tried several additional options: 1. Remove the cell phone from the vehicle 2. Press the brake very hard and repeatedly 3. Pop off the start stop button (I told here that if I tried any harder the entire system would come right out) 4. Hold the FOB very close to the start button 5. Disconnect the battery

Options 1-4 resulted in no success. Option 5 we couldn’t initially locate the battery and then found out it was under the passenger seats but could find no clear battery installation or cables to disconnect.

I asked my wife to call a dealership back east (where she was) and to reach in the am with any solutions. All this time I’m thinking that I have missed something fairly simple. We also could not move the car from the gas station pump area as the car appeared to be in gear and after a few attempts to get into neutral with no success we had to leave it where it was.

December 24th, 12014 My wife called after speaking with a dealer in Virginia who still offered similar suggestions of popping off the start/stop button. I told her that I had tried this and was scared would cause more damage and I didn’t think the car had any manual back up ignition system, amazing as that sounds.

The tow arrived and towed me into the Parump, Nevada Jeep dealership that morning. I immediately asked if they could get the car running so I can make it back down to my dealership for final repairs. Again, I still thought there was a backup system using my Key FOB skeleton key that had failed to find. They informed me that there is no back up system like that found in the 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee model and that what I was experiencing shouldn’t be happening.

After a 3 hour wait they informed me that they could not get the vehicle running and would need to get two parts, one from Nevada and the other from a factory in Tennessee and that it would take at least week to repair. I then spoke with Chrysler customer service and asked if the Jeep could be towed into AZ and for a car rental. Customer assist was able to help me with a car rental but could not tow the vehicle back to AZ so I had to leave the vehicle in Nevada.