First of all, I'm sorry to hear about your fiasco and hope that it gets corrected completely to your satisfaction.

Seems like some of the threads I've read with similar situations, involved using the 2nd intelligent key to fix the problem. Is this just a problem with the battery inside the intelligent key needing to be replaced.? If so, maybe a good idea to have an extra spare newly packaged battery in the glove compartment. Carrying both keys all the time seems bulky and somewhat a nuisance.

 

Let me add to this story, as I've managed to lock my keys last night in the trunk. Funiest part about it is I was demostrating it to my coworkers at the end of the day and locked it with no responce, as it usualy supposed to unlock it self like it did in the past. So my coworkers left and I had to wait for my spare fob that my mother brought to me 2 hours later. Rest of functions work, couldnt lock it inside the cabin but trunk still locks..... shiet

 

Wow, that a nightmare! I hope this all gets resolved quickly by the dealer and towing company. I'm going to pick up some spare batteries just in case now...

 

Sorry to hear about that, buddy. Where is the garage that you parked? More importantly, where do you work? Would it be where you sit/place the keys that was interfered by the CN Tower?

Best of luck to you!

 

daaaaaaaaamn that's a long post.

That is a terrible story man.

Lots of crap you had to go through.


Good luck with the claims.

 

Sorry to hear of your issues, man......Hope you get the necessary repairs on the ride and the key(s).

The "Suitable Tool" you asked about is in your tool kit in the trunk and looks like the one in the attached pic.

G/L
Colin

 

That is HORRIBLE.

I know when I had to remove the plastic part to shift the shifter - I used my nails (I'm a female) and it came right out with no scratches..

I'd be SOOO angry about how that tow truck lady just basically rushed and messed up your car even more.. that is horrible!!!!!

 

You would think that a luxury car company would refer only quality tow/roadside service to you, not some junky, unknowledgeable person who obviously has no respect for your car.

By the way, you could've closed your windows with the manual key. Just turn and hold it to one side (I forget if it's to the left or right).

 

This is one of the reasons I started a post about the key fob slot on the lower left side of the dash. I still don’t understand how this slot helps if the battery is dead in the key fob (as there are no metal connectors on the fob to power it). A number of posters stated that the car would read a passive version of the RFID chip.

From reading the 2-3 other post about this same issue. It seems that the key fob slot is only helpful in cases where the battery is too low to send a signal to the car from your pocket. But if it is completely dead you are SOL.

If this is the case then why didn’t Infiniti just add a way to use the key (in the fob) to start the car, like in the FXs.

Please let us know what the cause of the problem is ‘G’TA, at this point it looks like most people are assuming that it is a key fob issue. And not an issue with the car or the receiving end.

 

Sorry to hear. Same thing happened to me, key just died but i was at home so had second set. I believe the problem has to do with RF from other devices not battery since i only had the car for a week.

When my main key didnt work i remember i put it on top of my DVR which gets programming over the air. took the car in and they replaced the key fob with a new one.

 

You should review the Infiniti Warranty Information booklet. Some of your expenses may be reimbursable.

 

Hey, thanks to everyone for their sympathetic notes. It really was one of those unreal, almost surreal, series of events that just kept compounding...as I was watching it unfold.

To be fair (24 hours later), Infiniti 'contractor service' did call back today and left me a couple messages with respect to the body damage. So at least I know it was escalated and they're trying to engage (unfortunately I had to be out of town today so we didn't connect). Once we connect, I will keep you all posted on their responsiveness and resolutions to the variety of issues.

A couple of quick comments in reply to some posts:

- re body repairs, I fully expect (will demand) that I don't get a re-spray/re-paint. This issue was completely a result of a faulty key, incorrect advice regarding towing as the required solution, and Infiniti Roadside's poor choice of a towing service provider.

- it almost certainly wasn't a keyfob battery issue. The battery was fine because when I clicked the various buttons on the fob, lights would go on or change status in the car (i.e. the orange light by the shifter, the security light on the dash). In fact, when I inserted the fob in the auxilliary slot, the dash would display the standard "Brake" graphic so it recognized the key. It was really just that the fob 'lost its memory' in terms of communicating with the vehicle.

- For Toronto folks, I wasn't downtown near the Tower. I was uptown at Kennedy & 401 in a simple parkade...no heavy duty communications transmissions as far as I know. I only mentioned the downtown story because the service rep at Roadside mentioned they'd come across this a couple times recently with downtown parkers and indicated that this was the suspected problem. Although I must say the notion that communications/transmissions could possibly jam/reconfigure a keyfob does make me a bit nervous in terms of parking downtown.

- In a similar vein, I'm now wondering if having the keyfob near a transmitting device like a cell phone or email device might impact the key. I did have the 'key' in my pocket next to my device holster on my hip. Something we should watch (like the poster who indicated a similar problem after his 'key' was sitting on an electronic home entertainment device that transmits/receives). I just re-read the manual and it does comment on these items in terms of interfering with key operation, but doesn't say it will disable the device permanently in terms of starting the vehicle.

- Regarding the 'suitable device' for operating the shift unlock, it was interesting to hear a poster indicate that it was in the toolkit that came with the vehicle. My fellow Canadian posters will confirm (I think) that our Canadian vehicles do not come with a tool kit - or the first aid kit for that matter. Let me know if I'm wrong. But if we don't get the kit here, and yet the 'suitable device' only comes in the toolkit, there's a serious oversight.

- Thanks for the info re the windows...didn't know the manual key could also close them. I only knew that the keyfob would open the windows when you held down the unlock button. I assumed the manual key would only do the same (i.e. down only). I bet a few folks didn't know that one.

Off to the dealer on Friday afternoon I think. I'm going on a driving vacation for a week and now feel like I need to have the original keyfob fixed so I've got two keys with me for the trip, just in case. Amazing how an incident like this can shake your confidence/security about going for any kind of a long drive to cottage country (no Infiniti dealer country). Interestingly, I've never worried about this before in traditional ignition cars. Lost keys are one thing....

On the other hand, having hit break-in, man that car is fast, sounds great 'up high', is amazingly intuitive in DS mode, and feels good in the twisties....

 

[QUOTE='G'TA]

- Regarding the 'suitable device' for operating the shift unlock, it was interesting to hear a poster indicate that it was in the toolkit that came with the vehicle. My fellow Canadian posters will confirm (I think) that our Canadian vehicles do not come with a tool kit - or the first aid kit for that matter. Let me know if I'm wrong. But if we don't get the kit here, and yet the 'suitable device' only comes in the toolkit, there's a serious oversight.

QUOTE]

My Canadian G35x has the "suitable device". It's next to the jack and jack handle, on the spare tire cover board (if you can call molded styrofoam a board...).

 

I imagine it's like your electric toothbrush. There are no exposed metal connectors, so nothing gets dirty or rusted. "Inductive charging," it's called.

http://home.howstuffworks.com/question292.htm

In our case, since the battery isn't rechargeable, I'm sure there's a way to "inductively" communicate with the fob, perhaps via RFID.

 

You are back on the toothbrush thing ??

Remember how the word spread around when the G came - that was some funny $hit