I'm driving a 2009 Gen 7 Maxima S. I bought it used and have had it about 6 months.

I've found that it's easy to inadvertently activate the buttons on the key fob. I carry the fob on a caribiner style key ring with other keys to my home, office, and etc. I habitually put the key ring by itself in the left front pocket of my jeans.

I regularly inadvertently lock/unlock the doors. I've occasionally activated the theft alarm this way. And, most worrisome now, I've unknowingly unlatched the trunk lid this way several times. Yesterday this happened at work and I didn't catch it. The car set 11 hours with the lights in the trunk on resulting in a drained battery at the end of the day, 50 miles from home. There were no warning lights illuminated prior to parking the car.

I jumped the car, brought it home, and put it on the battery charger overnight and spent the evening pondering battery? alternator? battery? alternator?. The nearest dealer is 180 mi. away and the battery is less than 3 months old. I just went out, started it, and noticed the dash warning that the trunk lid was ajar ... well crap!

Does anyone have a clever way to prevent this kind of inadvertent key fob activation? Perhaps a little enclosing wallet? Perhaps I should just disable the lights in the trunk ... I could live without them! This issue is a real annoyance that can leave me stranded!

Just a heads up ... you're battery probably will not withstand 11 hours with the trunk lid ajar!

Perhaps I need a battery with more capacity? The one I have now is a new Nissan replacement installed at the dealer while troubleshooting TPMS error codes a couple of months ago. Maybe I just need to discipline myself to check the trunk before I walk away from the car. It always makes me a little nervous to walk away with the headlights on relying on the "automatic" setting to turn things off ... now this.

Live long, and prosper
Jerry L. Gubka

 

Search for the Key fob condom thread and put one on.

 

This is what I bought from Ebay for my key, it works like a charm and protects the key against scratches and whatnot.

 

Thank you ... been there ... done that.

Live long, and prosper
Jerry L. Gubka

 

Clever, no. Outside of the key fob condoms mentioned above, I've had to rely on a more "awareness" footing. I've found that having anything else in my pocket "contributes" to the false activations. Well, just dedicating a pocket really didn't work. I've also found that the lounge chairs a dear friend of mine has on her lanai, have a tendency to "press in" on just the right spot to roll down my window and/or activate the panic system.

So, when I go to visit my friend, I place my keys on her countertop...same as at home. At work or on my weekend putzing around, I try to keep a pocket dedicated to just the keys. Does my process work 100%...sadly no, but it really has reduced the number of false activations and by removing my keys as soon as I get to my house or my friend's house, I haven't had the "hours long" exposure of old.

 

You know, LtLeary, this almost verges on the TMI front.....

 

One surefire solution is to always wear very loose trousers. I've not had a single false fob activation in almost two years.

Wearing baggy trousers is easy for old retired folks like me to do, but I certainly understand why most folks would not be comfortable in very baggy pants in a business environment. I wore fairly trim clothes during my working career also.

Another option might be to hang the fob with a short clip from your belt at the side, so it would not be compressed in your lap or underneath you when you sat.

I personally feel the fob design is very poor. The buttons should be:

A - Slightly smaller, so as to have less surface to accidentally press on.
B - Slightly recessed, so as to be less likely to be accidentally pressed.
C - Slightly concave, so as to be less likely to be accidentally pressed.
D - Require greater pressure to activate, so as to be less likely to be accidentally pressed.
E - Emit an audible 'click' or soft 'ding' or 'beep' when activated, so if you are in a fairly quiet environment, you may be alerted to an accidental activation.

 

I didn't mention the Barry White music in the background did I???

 

I would like to have an optional buttonless fob. Just have the circuits to enable the car to start and run but not be able to unlock doors etc. You would be able to lock and unlock the door by pushing the button on the door handle as you do now but lose the other remote functions. Without the buttons it would be very small, slightly larger than the battery and not take up much room.