Have You Ever Needed a Spare Physical Key?

I'm considering having a spare physical key made and hiding it somewhere on the body of the car.

However, the only time I'd image I'd need it would be if I were to lock the fob inside the car, which LEAF does its best to prevent.

Has it ever happened that you locked a fob inside?? Can you imagine any situation in which having a hide-a-key would be necessary?

yes but it requires two fobs or something that is not recommended, both of which I have done. (FYI; you can't do this in the Older Prius's)


I used the door lock then rolled the windows up.

I also used the mechanical key a few times only because I wanted to see how dead I could get my FOB battery. it didn't take long. From the time I had to start holding FOB to start button to complete non response was less than a week...

When I go swimming alone, I wrap the fob in aluminum foil and hide it in the car, then put the mechanical key in the zippered compartment of my swimming shorts. So be careful not to accidentally wrap the fob in foil, or put it in a metal box...

LeftieBiker said:

When I go swimming alone, I wrap the fob in aluminum foil and hide it in the car, then put the mechanical key in the zippered compartment of my swimming shorts. So be careful not to accidentally wrap the fob in foil, or put it in a metal box...

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:?
OK I'm confused, first you say you "wrap the fob in aluminum foil and hide it in the car" (which I do for the spare fob I always keep in our '07 Prius) and you said you keep the mechanical key in your pocket(again something I always do with the Prius) but your last sentence confuses me when you say " So be careful not to accidentally wrap the fob in foil, or put it in a metal box..." :?
Again I've found(with the Prius, haven't done this with my Leaf) if you wrap the fob in many layers of Au foil the car won't see it and you can easily lock it in the car.

To the OP, if your just worried about locking your fob in the car(which my daughter did when the fob battery died and she used the interior lock button to lock the doors with her fob sitting on the passenger seat) simply carrying a spare key in your pocket(or coin purse in my case) would work just fine. The reason we keep a spare fob in our Prius is my wife carries a key/fob in her purse and I'd just as soon not carry 2 fobs(Prius and Leaf) in my pocket. This way if were out and about and I want to get in the car and drive it I use my spare key to get into the car, unwrap the foil covered fob and finally drive it. Shes also used it on several occasions when she couldn't find the fob in the house and didn't have time to look for it, she unwraps the spare fob in the car and uses that for the day until she finds the main fob at a later time.

PianoAl said:

Has it ever happened that you locked a fob inside?? Can you imagine any situation in which having a hide-a-key would be necessary?

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No; as you pointed out, it wouldn't be very easy to do.
The second fob is always at home if in fact I needed it. Besides, there's always AAA (or the equivalent).

OK I'm confused, first you say you "wrap the fob in aluminum foil and hide it in the car" (which I do for the spare fob I always keep in our '07 Prius) and you said you keep the mechanical key in your pocket(again something I always do with the Prius) but your last sentence confuses me when you say " So be careful not to accidentally wrap the fob in foil, or put it in a metal box..." :?
Again I've found(with the Prius, haven't done this with my Leaf) if you wrap the fob in many layers of Au foil the car won't see it and you can easily lock it in the car.

Click to expand...

I'm saying that I know for a fact that the entire key can easily be locked in the car, if the RF signal is blocked, so don't accidentally do that.

LeftieBiker said:

OK I'm confused, first you say you "wrap the fob in aluminum foil and hide it in the car" (which I do for the spare fob I always keep in our '07 Prius) and you said you keep the mechanical key in your pocket(again something I always do with the Prius) but your last sentence confuses me when you say " So be careful not to accidentally wrap the fob in foil, or put it in a metal box..." :?
Again I've found(with the Prius, haven't done this with my Leaf) if you wrap the fob in many layers of Au foil the car won't see it and you can easily lock it in the car.

Click to expand...

I'm saying that I know for a fact that the entire key can easily be locked in the car, if the RF signal is blocked, so don't accidentally do that.

Click to expand...

Ah, that makes sense :idea: