Poor proximity key range

[century]

Compared to my previous vehicles (including Lexus) my proximity key range is terrible. I often have to step closer to the door (front and rear) for it to register and the walk-up lights don't activate until I'm basically touching the car. I've never had an issue starting the car even with the key in my work bag on the passenger seat. I just figured it was kind of a quirk of the car. The remote functions work from an acceptable distance but I assume that works on a different system/frequency. I have new (but perhaps not fresh) batteries from my junk drawer in the remotes.

It's come to my attention that I don't actually know how proximity keys work. I always assumed they were passive RFID (similar to holding a dead key up to the ignition button) so the range could not be improved. Is it actually an active system?

I'm 90% curious how they work and 10% don't want to waste batteries experimenting with different brands.

 

[r2m]

For reverence, if I'm more than a foot or two away, my rig doesn't pick it up either.
I know this because I'll often go to the passenger side for my wife so she can open and unlock her door (if I don't get to opening it first for her) with the the key fob in my pocket. I have to be in pretty close proximity to the door for her hand to unlock. Same for the rear door. If I'm not right next to the door when she pushes the button OR if I'm reaching for the button and the key fob is in the far pocket from the door, it won't see it.

Let's see what other say.

 

[MallCrl]

Not helpful to fixing your situation at all, but mine has gotten notably worse in the 3 months that I've owned my GX... I replaced the batteries in both keys, and it is sporadic on whether it will work at all or not (key battery change did nothing to alter the behavior). For me the key has to be either in my hand or in my pocket and within 2" of the door to work at all, but 50-70% of the time it won't work at all. a few times over the past few weeks it has given me the "Key not found" when trying to start it. Sometimes it'll go a few days without working, and occasionally the buttons on the remote will also take several tries or be delayed 3-4 seconds in the truck acknowledging the lock or unlock. Additionally my key fob button range is only 4-5' from the truck usually.

 

[r2m]

Not helpful to fixing your situation at all, but mine has gotten notably worse in the 3 months that I've owned my GX... I replaced the batteries in both keys, and it is sporadic on whether it will work at all or not (key battery change did nothing to alter the behavior). For me the key has to be either in my hand or in my pocket and within 2" of the door to work at all, but 50-70% of the time it won't work at all. a few times over the past few weeks it has given me the "Key not found" when trying to start it. Sometimes it'll go a few days without working, and occasionally the buttons on the remote will also take several tries or be delayed 3-4 seconds in the truck acknowledging the lock or unlock. Additionally my key fob button range is only 4-5' from the truck usually.

Regarding the buttons not working, I know these small tactile buttons wear out. I'm on my second (plus) Roku remote, on account of the buttons stop responding.
I say plus because I disassembled our original Roku remote, peeled off the rubber pad, and with a Q-Tip and 99% alcohol, I thoroughly cleaned all the buttons on the PCB. Clipped it all back together and has been working great since.
These key fobs are even easier. Just open it up, get some Q-Tips and rubbing alcohol and clean all the contact buttons. I haven't done it yet to our key fobs, but should be easy.

Now, regarding the problem of having the fob in the pocket while touching the door handle and not working, sorry, if it's not the battery, don't know.

 

[jdam]

Not helpful to fixing your situation at all, but mine has gotten notably worse in the 3 months that I've owned my GX... I replaced the batteries in both keys, and it is sporadic on whether it will work at all or not (key battery change did nothing to alter the behavior). For me the key has to be either in my hand or in my pocket and within 2" of the door to work at all, but 50-70% of the time it won't work at all. a few times over the past few weeks it has given me the "Key not found" when trying to start it. Sometimes it'll go a few days without working, and occasionally the buttons on the remote will also take several tries or be delayed 3-4 seconds in the truck acknowledging the lock or unlock. Additionally my key fob button range is only 4-5' from the truck usually.

Yeah it's been the last few months for me as well, also on a '22. I had my key down low in a cargo pocket of my sweats and I'd have to hike my leg up to the door in order to get it to sense it. Changed battery and it improved marginally but definitely not what it was before. My actual car battery has been low recently, so maybe that's it. We're nearing the time for the OEM battery to start degrading so maybe it'll be worth it to change it.

 

[GrizzlyClint]

Yeah it's been the last few months for me as well, also on a '22. I had my key down low in a cargo pocket of my sweats and I'd have to hike my leg up to the door in order to get it to sense it. Changed battery and it improved marginally but definitely not what it was before. My actual car battery has been low recently, so maybe that's it. We're nearing the time for the OEM battery to start degrading so maybe it'll be worth it to change it.

Don't cheap out, find a battery made in Japan if you can.

 

[century]

I didn't consider the car battery. I've tested mine on a few cool mornings using a Clore BA-9 and it shows good health, CCA, and charge.

 

[MallCrl]

Yeah it's been the last few months for me as well, also on a '22. I had my key down low in a cargo pocket of my sweats and I'd have to hike my leg up to the door in order to get it to sense it. Changed battery and it improved marginally but definitely not what it was before. My actual car battery has been low recently, so maybe that's it. We're nearing the time for the OEM battery to start degrading so maybe it'll be worth it to change it.

Same leg motion for me, but not in a cargo pocket... Although, sometimes it'll work from feet away... Yesterday we were in and out of the truck a handful of times and it unlocked when my GF touched the handle and I was still 3-4' away from the door; and the proximity lights worked from ~6' away (same behavior as her '21 Tacoma had). Last night we got to our hotel and I ran back out to grab something and stood at the door for ~5-7 seconds touching the handle maybe 5-6 times and right at the end of that window as I was reaching into my pocket to get the key the proximity lights turned on and the door unlocked (even though it had probably been 3 seconds since I touched the handle). Relocking the vehicle 20 seconds later involved me hiking my leg, pressing the lock button on the rear cargo door, and then it locked about 2-3 seconds later.

FWIW, I have a < 3 week old vehicle battery installed

I have a 40k scheduled next weekend, but we're only in that town for the day, so I doubt they'll have time to look at it or find anything conclusive, so I'll bring it up at my 45k when we get back home in about a month

 

[HVLA]

I have never noticed any issues.