For about the last week or so I have been getting the replace key battery warning on my 2020 SE Tech estate, same message when using either key. 
 

Went into dealer and had one of the key batteries replaced as I was passing and yet the message persists.

 

has anyone else had this problem? 
 

had a few electrical gremlins lately such as, a couple times last week the door speakers seemed to die for a few mins then came back on as randomly as they went off

 

only thing that’s happened to the car was the windscreen being replaced but wouldn’t have associated that having an electrical impact 

There's been quite a few instances of 'new' batteries not being as good as they claim.

1 hour ago, john999boy said:

There's been quite a few instances of 'new' batteries not being as good as they claim.

 

Totally agree. Always best to use fresh premium brand batteries.

 

@Davidr1986 your dealer may have had them lying around for a while or be bulk buying in-branded ones.

A lot of late model vehicles with keyless entry seem to have quite the appetite for batteries, I guess because the fob is constantly searching for the car and as has been mentioned above not all batteries are created equally.

My car will be a year old at the end of this month and I've replaced the battery in the fob at least 3 times if not 4. At least they're inexpensive and easy to change.

2 hours ago, CS363 said:

A lot of late model vehicles with keyless entry seem to have quite the appetite for batteries, I guess because the fob is constantly searching for the car and as has been mentioned above not all batteries are created equally.

My car will be a year old at the end of this month and I've replaced the battery in the fob at least 3 times if not 4. At least they're inexpensive and easy to change.

My car is almost a year and a half old and I only replaced the battery once. Not sure if replacing a battery every 4 months is how it should be. If the key is stationary for a period of time, it goes to sleep mode to save the battery. Maybe there is something wrong with your key?

52 minutes ago, TheUltraRunner said:

My car is almost a year and a half old and I only replaced the battery once. Not sure if replacing a battery every 4 months is how it should be. If the key is stationary for a period of time, it goes to sleep mode to save the battery. Maybe there is something wrong with your key?

Battery going to sleep was introduced about 2 years ago, might not be on a 2020 model.

 

kessy does eat batteries, buy the best premium quality batteries you can, cheap batteries only seem to last few weeks or months.  Top quality batteries seem to last nearer 18 months (I now using Panasonic coin 2032 battery, not cheap, but seems to last).

 

 

Edited 13 May, 20224 yr by SurreyJohn

Just curious - to cause the dash warning does the car detect a weak signal, or does the fob send a "low battery" message?

On 13/05/2022 at 18:11, TheUltraRunner said:

My car is almost a year and a half old and I only replaced the battery once. Not sure if replacing a battery every 4 months is how it should be. If the key is stationary for a period of time, it goes to sleep mode to save the battery. Maybe there is something wrong with your key?

 

Actually, I looked backed at my records and I've replaced it 3 times - first around 5 months from purchase, replaced with an Energizer brand battery, that lasted just over 6 months and then I replaced it a couple of weeks ago when the warning came up on the dash.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the battery as everything works as it should, possibly aggravated by lots of short trips during the day and perhaps that the car is parked very close to where I keep the key when at work (well within range).

 

We have a VW Tiguan at work which has quite an appetite for key batteries as well (at least two in 12 months). I guess the other factor is that you have no idea how old batteries are when you purchase them, they could have been sitting on the shelf for a long time and surely they must discharge slightly over time. 

Plus everyone's usage patterns are different which would have an effect.

 

On 13/05/2022 at 18:59, SurreyJohn said:

Battery going to sleep was introduced about 2 years ago, might not be on a 2020 model.

 

kessy does eat batteries, buy the best premium quality batteries you can, cheap batteries only seem to last few weeks or months.  Top quality batteries seem to last nearer 18 months (I now using Panasonic coin 2032 battery, not cheap, but seems to last).

 

 

 

My car is May 2021 and does have the sleep feature for the key fob. I think you are correct regarding the differing quality of batteries as I have  bluetooth headset fitted to my motorcycle helmet for the radar detector, cheap batteries seem to die within a few rides whereas quality ones like Panasonic, Maxell etc., last for months.

It'll be interesting to see how long this battery lasts as it was a Chinese one that we had a packet of at work,,,,,,   

Edited 15 May, 20224 yr by CS363

On 13/05/2022 at 18:59, SurreyJohn said:

kessy does eat batteries, buy the best premium quality batteries you can, cheap batteries only seem to last few weeks or months.  Top quality batteries seem to last nearer 18 months (I now using Panasonic coin 2032 battery, not cheap, but seems to last).

On 15/05/2022 at 12:06, CS363 said:

It'll be interesting to see how long this battery lasts as it was a Chinese one that we had a packet of at work,,,,,,   

 

Well, proof positive of the varying quality of batteries - was on the way to drop my car off for it's first service today and the low battery warning came up on the dash so the cheap Chinese battery only lasted about a month and a half!

I'll have to get a supply of quality ones for the future!

 

Just had the battery warning myself. That will be two batteries changed in 13 months of ownership.  Nipped out to Screwfix to get a pack of four Varta batteries so see how we go with these. I've put a spare in the handbook file in the glove compartment. 

cars come with 3 keys nowadays, if you use one of the keys till you get the battery warning,  then start using one of the other keys

the other 2 keys should still have good batteries in them if they have not been used, 

doing it this way you could just change the 3 batteries all at once,  say every 2 years or so

 

I’ve just replaced the battery on the keyfob with a Duracell. The car is 19 months old, I started using the spare key. Now the spare is saying change battery, I’ve only been using it for 2 months, it’s still on its original battery. Don’t know if it’s referring to the spare fob I started using or the one I changed the battery on when I tested it.

1 hour ago, Jonop said:

I’ve just replaced the battery on the keyfob with a Duracell. The car is 19 months old, I started using the spare key. Now the spare is saying change battery, I’ve only been using it for 2 months, it’s still on its original battery. Don’t know if it’s referring to the spare fob I started using or the one I changed the battery on when I tested it.

 

The warning applies to the key currently in use. Who knows how old the battery is in your spare fob, could have been sitting around for months and they do discharge, particularly if the key has been moved, every time you move the key it searches for the car evidenced by the flashing red led.

 

As an update on my earlier post, I've since purchased some Panasonic CR2032's these are lasting way better than anything else I've used, likewise in my Ducati's key which is a similar system.

Just had the pleasure of this ridiculous problem in my car. I was getting the 'replace key battery' message a few weeks ago so swapped it out for a new Duracell. All fine until we drove to a Christmas event this afternoon (temperature of 1 degree), after parking up the car wouldn't lock and the dash was saying 'no key detected', I hadn't received any warnings prior to this so the new battery has lasted a few weeks.

 

Cue much faffing with accessing the barrel lock and figuring out how to start the car with a dead key battery (the answer is to put the key in the cup holder(!), how does this work? presumably the key has some sort of backup that can be detected at very close range?!).

 

Upon returning home found we had no spare batteries so I have removed the battery and done the trick of warming it between my hands and blowing on it(!), hey presto the battery has come back to life (for now). So it looks like as well as being fussy about the type of battery (I understand Panasonic is preferred) they also don't like the cold.

 

What a ridiculous situation, I replaced the battery maybe 3 times in 8 years in our MkIII. All this for keyless entry (that I don' want) and keyless ignition (that I also don't want). Why do car manufacturers insist on fixing problems that don't exist with badly implemented solutions?

We have a Fabia iii SEL 2015 model and the brilliant Octavia Scout iii estate 2015 model. The Octavia keyfob batteries last for years before needing replacement. The Fabia batteries last for around 3 months if I'm lucky. The difference is that the Fabia has keyless go while the Octavia doesn't so the Fabia wants to talk to the keyfob all the time. We put the Fabia keys in Faraday wallets when not in use in the car but even with this precaution, the Fabia batteries don't last very long. Cheap batteries sometimes don't work at all. Currently the Fabia has a Duracell CR2025 with a long shelflife which I fitted about 6 weeks ago and the car has told me for about a week that the battery needs replacing. Today the message was "key not found" even after I unlocked the Fabia from some distance away and started it. This is total nonsense and I agree with G Woodhouse that keyless go is a solution to a non-existent problem.

 

I've just forced a CR2032 into the keyfob to see if that makes any difference. It was reluctant to fit but did eventually so let's hope the keyfob stays together with the thicker battery. I believe new KESSY keyfobs are several hundred pounds to replace!

 

Incidentally, the Octavia Scout is still on it's original 12v battery which is quite amazing. Indeed nothing has needed replacing apart from tyres and service items and we've had it from virtually new. I believe that Skoda is no longer supplying the Octavia Scout which means that we will probably run this car into the ground, which may be quite a while!