Home and Auto A key fob mystery to solve. - Page 2

**Rain Man** · 09:35 PM

So I had a rental car on a business trip, and the rental car was doing well. It was a newish Chevrolet Malibu. At some point a few days ago, I pulled into a hotel parking lot. I'm not sure if it's relevant, but the hotel was on a Native American reservation.

Boom.

The turnoff was weird, and I got a message on the instrument panel that the car did not detect a key fob. This is problematic for a variety of reasons.

The logical conclusion is that the battery died. I'm not a handy guy, but with the help of youtube I figured out how to change it. I was lucky that the hotel was next door to a grocery store that carried that type of battery.

I went up to my hotel room, switched the battery out, and went downstairs to test it. As I was walking toward the car, the car alarm started going off on the vehicle next to mine, which was a newish Nissan SUV.

A guy got out of the Nissan. "Sorry about the noise," he said. "I pulled in here and parked, and my key fob died, and I can't figure out how to fix it."

At that point I tested mine and it didn't work, either. I was able to pilot it back to the rental car agency by using a secret trick that I learned on youtube. It involved removing a piece of trim from the door and putting the dead fob in a specific spot in the car, and it was black magic.

The rental car woman seemed like a longtime rental veteran, and she was friendly. She noticed that the car had 2,000 miles on it and said there's no way that the battery should have died. I told her about the Nissan next to mine, and we puzzled over what happened, and if the two failures were related. It seems really odd that two key fobs on two adjacent cars would fail as they were both parking.

What are your theories?

Jewish Rabbi · 07-16-2022, 10:20 PM

I’d like to know what color the Malibu was before choosing my answer.

**Rain Man** · 07-16-2022, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kman34

Were you near Roswell New Mexico??

In galactic terms, I was very close. In earth terms, not close at all.

**Rain Man** · 07-16-2022, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jewish Rabbi

I’d like to know what color the Malibu was before choosing my answer.

It was white. Do you think maybe that bothered the Native Americans?

Kman34 · 07-16-2022, 10:24 PM

Key fob bad medicine...

Vladimir_Kyrilytch · 07-16-2022, 10:25 PM

Fun fact about Indian reservations. They are not self governed territory subject to Indian laws and Indian law enforcement. It is true that police have no authority. No state cops, no county cops have authority there. That is true.

The FBI has complete law enforcement authority there. The FBI handles all major crimes including murder, which is otherwise a state crime.

Source: redacted.

Jewish Rabbi · 07-16-2022, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain Man

It was white. Do you think maybe that bothered the Native Americans?

It certainly didn’t help things.

ClevelandBronco · 07-16-2022, 10:28 PM

Streetlights go dark more frequently than I would attribute to coincidence as I pass them. Batteries die in my presence. I seriously can’t keep a watch going if it takes a battery, and I’ve tried several watches. The only one I have had success with is a self-winding Omega.

But I haven’t been near a reservation recently, so it ain’t me.

**Rain Man** · 07-16-2022, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClevelandBronco

Streetlights go dark more frequently than I would attribute to coincidence as I pass them. Batteries die in my presence. I seriously can’t keep a watch going if it takes a battery, and I’ve tried several watches. The only one I have had success with is a self-winding Omega.

But I haven’t been near a reservation recently, so it ain’t me.

I think that goes with being a Browns fan.

Simply Red · 07-16-2022, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain Man

So I had a rental car on a business trip, and the rental car was doing well. It was a newish Chevrolet Malibu. At some point a few days ago, I pulled into a hotel parking lot. I'm not sure if it's relevant, but the hotel was on a Native American reservation.

Boom.

The turnoff was weird, and I got a message on the instrument panel that the car did not detect a key fob. This is problematic for a variety of reasons.

The logical conclusion is that the battery died. I'm not a handy guy, but with the help of youtube I figured out how to change it. I was lucky that the hotel was next door to a grocery store that carried that type of battery.

I went up to my hotel room, switched the battery out, and went downstairs to test it. As I was walking toward the car, the car alarm started going off on the vehicle next to mine, which was a newish Nissan SUV.

A guy got out of the Nissan. "Sorry about the noise," he said. "I pulled in here and parked, and my key fob died, and I can't figure out how to fix it."

At that point I tested mine and it didn't work, either. I was able to pilot it back to the rental car agency by using a secret trick that I learned on youtube. It involved removing a piece of trim from the door and putting the dead fob in a specific spot in the car, and it was black magic.

The rental car woman seemed like a longtime rental veteran, and she was friendly. She noticed that the car had 2,000 miles on it and said there's no way that the battery should have died. I told her about the Nissan next to mine, and we puzzled over what happened, and if the two failures were related. It seems really odd that two key fobs on two adjacent cars would fail as they were both parking.

What are your theories?

i need to think on this one.

Simply Red · 07-16-2022, 11:24 PM

Seriously was the area fairly populated? I'm guess heavy radioactivity traffic.

Chiefs4TheWin · 07-17-2022, 12:10 AM

g-g-g-g-g ghooooosts?

**Baby Lee** · 07-17-2022, 02:21 AM

I wonder if someone was cruising parking lots trying to spoof fobs.

There's not a lot of technical information on how each system operates, for obvious reasons, but the general sense is there is a range of radio frequencies that cycle and both the car and fob have to stay in sync with.

Thus if you push keys on your fob out of range too many times [maybe a dozen maybe two], your fob gets out of sync with the cycle sequence of the car and the two need to be re-paired.

Maybe someone thinks they have a gadget that can cycle through enough frequencies fast enough around enough cars, they can snag a 'hit' and sync with a car that isn't theirs.

You used to be able to do something similar much easier with garage door openers, that have much less sophisticated cycling algorithms and much less range of cycled frequencies, particularly if bunches of residences all had the same brand opener. Kids would drive down a residential street pushing their own opener to see if any garages opened.

Maybe someone's getting a little more aggressive with this because both Honda and Tesla have had recent problems with potentially having their fob algorithm hacked.

And maybe whatever they're trying failed to give them assess to your vehicle, but succeeded in throwing your vehicle's cycle schedule off of sync with your fob.

TwistedChief · 07-17-2022, 03:48 AM

I’m gonna wait until BlackOp weighs in on this one and I’ll vote along with him.

**ptlyon** · 07-17-2022, 03:54 AM

I am no help on the issue, just wanted to up my post count.

T-post Tom · 07-17-2022, 04:19 AM

Was there a Frenchman riding a bike in the parking lot? I would start there.

View Poll Results: What happened in the great key fob massacre?
Criminals were destroying key fobs with plans of stealing the cars that night.	2	4.26%
It’s a coincidence. These things happen, and the fobs just lose their pairing with the car when the batteries are replaced.	4	8.51%
It’s a coincidence. These things happen, and the grocery store was selling dud batteries.	0	0%
Sunspots. Something about sunspots.	4	8.51%
The hotel had some sort of equipment that was putting out electromagnetic pulses.	8	17.02%
The hotel was on an Indian burial ground, and key fobs are cursed.	12	25.53%
The Native Americans are counterattacking against Manifest Destiny with electronic warfare.	1	2.13%
The other guy was a serial killer trying to draw you in, but couldn't get the jump on you.	1	2.13%
The other guy was faking it to be sympathetic.	0	0%
The two key fobs somehow interacted and destroyed each other.	2	4.26%
You were probably low on key fob fluid.	6	12.77%
There's some other obvious answer that I will describe below.	0	0%
There are some mysteries that we are not meant to know.	5	10.64%
What is a key fob?	2	4.26%
Voters: 47. You may not vote on this poll

07-16-2022, 09:29 PM
Rain Man Seize life. Be an ermine. Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $-482449 VARSITY	A key fob mystery to solve. So I had a rental car on a business trip, and the rental car was doing well. It was a newish Chevrolet Malibu. At some point a few days ago, I pulled into a hotel parking lot. I'm not sure if it's relevant, but the hotel was on a Native American reservation. Boom. The turnoff was weird, and I got a message on the instrument panel that the car did not detect a key fob. This is problematic for a variety of reasons. The logical conclusion is that the battery died. I'm not a handy guy, but with the help of youtube I figured out how to change it. I was lucky that the hotel was next door to a grocery store that carried that type of battery. I went up to my hotel room, switched the battery out, and went downstairs to test it. As I was walking toward the car, the car alarm started going off on the vehicle next to mine, which was a newish Nissan SUV. A guy got out of the Nissan. "Sorry about the noise," he said. "I pulled in here and parked, and my key fob died, and I can't figure out how to fix it." At that point I tested mine and it didn't work, either. I was able to pilot it back to the rental car agency by using a secret trick that I learned on youtube. It involved removing a piece of trim from the door and putting the dead fob in a specific spot in the car, and it was black magic. The rental car woman seemed like a longtime rental veteran, and she was friendly. She noticed that the car had 2,000 miles on it and said there's no way that the battery should have died. I told her about the Nissan next to mine, and we puzzled over what happened, and if the two failures were related. It seems really odd that two key fobs on two adjacent cars would fail as they were both parking. What are your theories? Last edited by Rain Man; 07-16-2022 at 09:35 PM..
Posts: 145,278

07-16-2022, 10:20 PM	#16
Jewish Rabbi What's up braj? Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Placencia, Belize Casino cash: $-1596750	I’d like to know what color the Malibu was before choosing my answer.
Posts: 16,916

07-16-2022, 10:24 PM	#19
Kman34 My Mamma Says Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Glass Cage Of Emotion Casino cash: $-1738214 VARSITY	Key fob bad medicine... __________________ SFC... Stay ****ing Calm..
Posts: 15,124

07-16-2022, 10:25 PM	#20
Vladimir_Kyrilytch Veteran Join Date: Sep 2021 Casino cash: $-820600	Fun fact about Indian reservations. They are not self governed territory subject to Indian laws and Indian law enforcement. It is true that police have no authority. No state cops, no county cops have authority there. That is true. The FBI has complete law enforcement authority there. The FBI handles all major crimes including murder, which is otherwise a state crime. Source: redacted.
Posts: 3,098

07-16-2022, 10:28 PM	#22
ClevelandBronco I'm with the banned. Join Date: Sep 2006 Casino cash: $5658955	Streetlights go dark more frequently than I would attribute to coincidence as I pass them. Batteries die in my presence. I seriously can’t keep a watch going if it takes a battery, and I’ve tried several watches. The only one I have had success with is a self-winding Omega. But I haven’t been near a reservation recently, so it ain’t me. __________________ "Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth ..." – Pope Saint John Paul II
Posts: 28,113

07-16-2022, 11:24 PM	#25
Simply Red You Sweetie! Join Date: Sep 2005 Casino cash: $2021206219 VARSITY	Seriously was the area fairly populated? I'm guess heavy radioactivity traffic.
Posts: 71,691

07-17-2022, 12:10 AM	#26
Chiefs4TheWin Veteran Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Hollidaysburg, PA Casino cash: $1282783	g-g-g-g-g ghooooosts?
Posts: 4,896

07-17-2022, 02:21 AM	#27
Baby Lee Supporter Join Date: Aug 2000 Casino cash: $8028275	I wonder if someone was cruising parking lots trying to spoof fobs. There's not a lot of technical information on how each system operates, for obvious reasons, but the general sense is there is a range of radio frequencies that cycle and both the car and fob have to stay in sync with. Thus if you push keys on your fob out of range too many times [maybe a dozen maybe two], your fob gets out of sync with the cycle sequence of the car and the two need to be re-paired. Maybe someone thinks they have a gadget that can cycle through enough frequencies fast enough around enough cars, they can snag a 'hit' and sync with a car that isn't theirs. You used to be able to do something similar much easier with garage door openers, that have much less sophisticated cycling algorithms and much less range of cycled frequencies, particularly if bunches of residences all had the same brand opener. Kids would drive down a residential street pushing their own opener to see if any garages opened. Maybe someone's getting a little more aggressive with this because both Honda and Tesla have had recent problems with potentially having their fob algorithm hacked. And maybe whatever they're trying failed to give them assess to your vehicle, but succeeded in throwing your vehicle's cycle schedule off of sync with your fob. __________________ We need the kind of courage that can withstand the subtle corruption of the cynics - E.W.
Posts: 95,642	2 0

07-17-2022, 03:48 AM	#28
TwistedChief Why so serious? Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Chicago Casino cash: $-1249585	I’m gonna wait until BlackOp weighs in on this one and I’ll vote along with him.
Posts: 13,272	6 0

07-17-2022, 03:54 AM	#29
ptlyon Bono & Grbac wasn't enough Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Sioux City, IA Casino cash: $9433829	I am no help on the issue, just wanted to up my post count. __________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Advertise here: $19.99 a month
Posts: 40,682

07-17-2022, 04:19 AM	#30
T-post Tom Busy in a Kohl's restroom Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Milk/Honey/Gazland Casino cash: $1897293	Was there a Frenchman riding a bike in the parking lot? I would start there. __________________ You seem nice!
Posts: 22,290	1 0