My actual concern is that it may to too large of a distance and would allow someone to walk up to the hatch/door of our locked Fit, open it and steal what is inside while we watch this transpire from inside a fast food restaurant booth that only has a window plus 3 feet of sidewalk to the front of the car.

Has anyone actually measured the distance the FOB smart key works from in each direction?

I also plan to test the FOB smart key at the restaurant in question this week and will give my results but I am interested in what others have experienced.

 

The distance is literally about two feet or less. There is no chance of someone unlocking your vehicle when you are sitting several feet away.


It may have even been 18" for the proximity sensors. I need to double check my literature here at work.

 

What ^ said. I've tried mine a few times now with friends at a restaurant nearby, and Nada, nothing a few feet away, but only within a foot or so. Read the manual. It gives the distance.

 

iirc, manual says 36" from door.

*EDIT* i was off by 4". it is 32" from the door.

"When you carry the smart entry remote, you
can lock/unlock the doors and the tailgate.
You can lock/unlock the doors and the
tailgate within a radius of about 32 inches (80
cm) of the outside door handle. You can open
the tailgate within about 32 inches (80 cm)
radius from the tailgate release button."

i did an experiment with a friend. she had her right hand on the door, and i touched her outstretched left hand with my right hand, key in my left pocket. the door unlocked.

not sure it will start that way, but the door itself unlocked. if you are not in sight of the car, no way will it start.

 

I've had my purse a couple feet away, with my fiance trying to open the door - it didn't work until I was about a foot away. The key will start the car, however, from a longer distance away. Last night, I tried putting my purse in the hatch, and the engine started up just fine.

 

Answer is is in next post. Ignore/delete this post.

 

Thanks.

That sounds like there are multiple sensors since the same 32" are mentioned from each door and the tailgate. If there was only a single sensor those distances (door, tailgate) would be different.

 

I remember an earlier thread where someone found the rear sensor somewhere around the spare tire. The front sensor is probably between the seats or behind the dash.

 

OP the car is telling you not to eat at fast food joints.

If you are worried park farther away and walk off those extra calories.

 

Well in my defense it was an upscale fast food joint (Schlotzsky's).

Schlotzsky's - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I actually will now be parking farther away from any restaurant/store as being too close means that lots of cars/trucks will want to park right next to me. That means more possibilities of door dings from parking too close.

 

Mine is also consistent with the others. It unlocks just fine when I'm standing right next to the door or hatch, but if I'm standing right behind someone else who is trying to open the door, they sometimes can't get it to unlock until I move in a bit closer. I second the opinion that there is no way this is going to unlock even if you're sitting at the table closest to your car.