Got a call from my wife last Sunday. She was out of town and her 2011 Elantra would not start. She was all by herself and concerned.

I told her I was on my way. Before I got out the door, she called me and told me it started and was on her way home.

Turns out the reason she was stranded was due to the battery in the FOB. The module she carries around to enable her to enter and start the vehicle. It also holds the valet key.
Once I realized what happened, I put in a new battery and all is well.

This may seem like a silly complaint, but I have never owned any vehicle that depended on the Key FOB "battery" to start the car.
There should be a way for Hyundai to fix this issue as they are fully aware of it. The guy at Hyundai told me he got stuck once also and had to remove the battery from the FOB and put it back in and it then started.
Seems this FOB and push button start design are not safe and I see future possible litigation should someone get hurt or killed because they could not get their car started over a 3 dollar battery.

I want to make sure everyone knew about this and will keep a spare key FOB "battery" either inside their car or on their person to have in case of emergency. Imagine a $100 tow charge when all thats wrong is a 3 dollar battery.
Warning folks. Keep a spare key fob battery with you at all times.

 

Personally I think the engineers who came up with the idea of push button starts just wanted to make it fancy and/or different.
However, they forgot how easy it is for something like this to fail and the cost associated when it does fail.
A key is just so much more dependable.

 

It really did not sink in when we bought the car. Who would ever think a hearing aid battery could strand you?
My neighbor made a funny face when he saw how it worked.
Now I know why he made the face.

I was expecting the super moderator to come to the defense of the FOB.
He loves the idea of no spare tires, so this must be okay too?

 

Well that sucks. The towing cost more than the FOB battery.

 

Warning not necessary. Here's a better idea: read the owners manual. I see lots of people complaining about perceived problems when in reality it's the owner that is unaware of how the car operates. In this case, see page 5-11 of the 2011 Elantra owners manual:





Seriously? "Killed because they could not get their car started over a 3 dollar battery?" Don't you think that's a bit over the top? If someone gets killed because their car won't start, maybe they shouldn't have been driving in the first place. Every driver is responsible for learning how the car operates. Stop blaming other people and the car manufacturer because of your own ignorance.

 

So that highlighted part means that if the smart key is not working correctly
Then using the smart key to press on the start/stop button will start the engine

But, if the smart key isn't working then how would that work?
Wouldn't it be like pressing the start/stop button with out a smart key in the car?

I mean if there is something like a magnet in the smart key which the button can sense
Then can't someone just have a magnet to bypass the smart key?

Sorry, just curious about the operation of these start/stop buttons

Edit: So the engineers have thought about the event of key fob failure?

 

Thanks Super Moderator. Yes, you are correct. I did not see this nor did I know about it. But I do now.
However, before I believe this, I will remove the battery from the FOB and see if this procedure works.

When my wife called me, she told me she had to use the valet key to enter the vehicle. And once in the vehicle she had no apparent power to anything including cluster lamps.
The vehicle acted as if the FOB was not there. I hope your right and using the FOB will start the car as the manual says it will.
I don't see how this would work as pushing in the start button with the FOB is any different than having it in your pocket.
There is no electrical current when the FOB battery is dead. Unless the start button recognizes the magnetic ID from the FOB? So how would touching a dead FOB to the start button make one bit of difference?
I'm asking.

I am going to try it before she gets stuck again. For the record, it was Hyundai that confirmed that a dead battery in the FOB would leave you stranded. They did not mention what you have shown in your post. And I do appreciate you doing so.
His exact word were these.
"It happened to me in my car once. I took out the FOB battery and rubbed it between my fingers. Then put it back in and it worked".

Maybe the dealers should learn a bit more as us regular people don't always read the manual front to back. I have a 09 truck and have never even looked in my manual. We let the dealer do everything, including but not limited to oil changes.
I trusted the dealers words on this and see what happened?
None the less, your point is well taken!

 

I've never tried it as I don't own a Hyundai with push button start. I'm curious to see it work too.

Not sure, but your idea of a magnetic ID is what I believe to be the case. Also, removing the battery may not work. The manual says "if the battery is weak", not "dead". So this may only work when it's too weak to work correctly but still has some power. So removing the battery would simulate a dead battery, not a weak one. Again, I don't know if that's the case or not. Try and let us know.

Today, cars are far more complicated to try to use them without reading the manual. And it's not the dealers job to train you on how to use the car. They are salesmen. The just want to sell you the car. Plus, they see dozens of models, they aren't going to know every detail of every car they sell. Great dealerships and salesman might but the average ones won't. EVERY time I've bought a car, I knew more about the car they they did.

 

I will report back on using the FOB as picture and described above without a battery in it.
However, knowing this will be useful in the future and this symptom will indicate the FOB needs a new battery.
Not the best way to find out though.

As far as dealerships and how complicated cars are today.
Once we bought the car, we never saw anyone at the dealership other than "service". When I called about what happened, I called "service dept".
Now, if they know less than what we know about the car they work on every single day of their life, we really do have a problem.
In fact I took my wifes car in not long ago and they could not replicate the noise coming from the exhaust system. Although the service writer heard it on the first visit.
While it was on the lift and running, I asked If I could look. Took out my ball point pen and pointed to the broken weld.
They are supposed to be the experts. If they are not, maybe we should look elsewhere for support.

Just because cars are so complicated is the sole reason we use the service.
Great for you, that you know more than they do. But most people don't.
The service dept should be able to field any question and if they did not know the answer, and they should be able to find the answer.