Smart Key and Lightning?

[Maxima_TX]

I was driving home in my six-week-old 2009 coupe during an electrical storm last weekend--constant flashes of lightning. I stopped to let a passenger out a block from my house and the car stopped recognizing my smart key! It displayed a message, something like "Exit - No Key" then "Insert Key". I put my key in the dashboard slot and the message went away. When I got home I couldn't use the button on the door handle to lock or unlock the doors. I went inside, got my spare key and used that to lock the door, then put the key back in the house. When I went back outside my original key started working again. Weird! The guys at the dealership said they'd never heard of that happening before.

Has anybody else had this happen to them?

(This same storm evidently started my motorscooter, which has a remote control and was running when I got home.)

I've had another minor, unrelated problem with the smart key: When I wear pants that are too tight and bend over, the other keys in my pocket press on the buttons and turn on the alarm or roll the windows partway down, usually while I'm in my house. I've learned to be more careful, but wish I had a key protector of some kind!

[marlin29311]

I-key covers - http://www.thejacketstore.com/...ories

Or you can find them on ebay...or don't wear tight pants! lol

As for the storm knocking out your key - it's totally possible, depending on the electrical fields that were generated by the storm. Your i-key is an electrical device that is subject to all natural forces - there are times where an electrical storm can knock that stuff out. It's weird, but you're ok!

[Maxima_TX]

Thanks for the suggestion. I bought one of the i-key covers and have been using it for about a week. The windows haven't roll down by themselves during that time, and I don't setoff the alarm by accident as much, but oddly the trunk has unlocked itself several times, which is something new. It seems to happen when I'm getting in or out of the car.

Sadly, relaxed-fit jeans don't seem to help much either. I think my options are either to always wear pleated pants or else take the battery out of the key and always use it in manual mode. Neither of those alternatives seems especially appealing.