I've had my TCH for about a month and generally love drivinig it -- especially the Smart Key system. However, I have a recurring problem with the Smart Key system that I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced.

Once or twice a week I stop at a convenience store a few miles from my home. About half the time I stop there, I cannot lock the doors using the the push button on the door. The other times it seems to work okay. When I return to the locked car, I can never unlock the doors by just grabbing the door handle -- I have to use the mechanical key. And most of the time, I can't start the hybrid system when I'm parked at the store by pressing the Power button. The display says "KEY IS NOT DETECTED" and I have to start the car by touching the electronic key to the Power button.

There are a couple of tall (> 100 foot) red & white radio (?) antennas located less than 1/2 mile from the store and several more that are less than a mile away. All are visible from the store. Could these be interfering with the Smart Key system enough to cause the problems? The only other time I've had a problem with the Smart Key system is when I visited friends who live about a half mile from the store (away from the antennas).

The keys use RFID. I wonder if there is something near there that is causing interference with the RFID in the key fobs...

Certainly this sounds like the type of interference the manual makes mention of, especially if you can consistently reproduce it at that specific location. Curious to know what kind of towers they are. To me, red & white towers usually means systems for aircraft navigation and I imagine can emit a fairly strong RF signal. Time to find a new convenience store...

Two climate control systems, one inside and the other at the tailpipe.

Distance: 29169km (75% city - 20 min trips)
FE: 6.77L/100km or 34.7 mpg
Operating Cost: $0.066/km / $0.107/mile

Everything you described is a cause for RFID interference. Automatic-open doors at a grocery store, radio antennas, cell towers, etc. This is why you also cannot keep your cell phone in the same pocket as your key fob. There is no real solution to your problem, other than to find a different grocery store!

CAMRHEE Hybrid
Completed Mods: RK-Sport body kit, 18" LexusGS430 wheels 235/50ZR18 tires, TRD/SE springs, Rear Lip Spoiler, Terk XM-Direct, Smoked tail lights, Rear Bumper Applique, Front License Bracket, Lower Grill chrome inserts, K&N, Blaupunkt THB200A sub, moved rear HSD emblem
Future Mods: fog lights, black chrome my wheels

This same thing happened to me awhile back. We went to party down by the beach and the FOB just wouldn't work. This is the only time in almost 3 months of ownership that this has happened. As everyone has mentioned it was probably interference.

The auto-open doors would be my guess (the type WITHOUT the pressure pads in front of the doors). Do you park right in front of the doors when you stop there? If so, have you tried parking further from the doors?

RFID ? Are you sure? I think it's and active "Rolling Code" system. Otherwise it wouldn't need a battery and the buttons would use a different system than the smartentry. Notice the led blinks on and off when in proximity to the smartentry beacon. An RFID system is passive and doesn't do this. Also RFID is a fixed code and is less secure than a rolling code system.
J

Hey Charles! Sure it was not the MAI-TIA's lol

TCH-43mpg
VW TDI--48
08 LS 600 HL-20
08 LX 470-16

I don't think the auto-open grocery doors would do it. I believe they are infrared detectors and are not a source of significant radio waves... RF usually passes thru people so would not be a good way to detect them coming to the door...

Two climate control systems, one inside and the other at the tailpipe.

Distance: 29169km (75% city - 20 min trips)
FE: 6.77L/100km or 34.7 mpg
Operating Cost: $0.066/km / $0.107/mile

Thanks for the replies. Since the doors at the convenience store are manual, there's no chance of interference from them. Also, I conducted a very limited test this morning stopping at a couple of church parking lots about a quarter mile from the store. I had trouble with the Smart Key system at both places and I was parked far away from any buildings.

My guess is that the radio towers (or whatever they are) are putting out enough of whatever they put out to cause the interference with the Smart Key system. I'm just glad I don't live near them.

Unfortunately, there isn't another convenience store that's convenient so I guess I'll just have to live with it.