I appear to have lost my key fob sometime today sometime during my trip around town. At least I can't find it anywhere in the car and I have really looked. The car, however, still starts without any key fob. When I use my backup key fob and lock / unlock the. passenger side door with my backup key fob I hear about 15 warning beeps which presumably is telling me there's a key fob inside the car. And I can't manually lock the doors which I presume is because the CX5 thinks there's a key fob inside.

I have torn the car apart multiple times looking for the key fob and can't find it.. Is there any chance that the key fob is really lost but the CX5 still thinks -- for whatever reason -- the key fob is in the car and will allow the engine to be started?

If there's no chance of that the CX5 is incorrectly reading a "ghost" key fob, is there any instrument I can use to find the key fob in the car? Presumably the key fob is transmitting some type of radio wave / RFID which can be picked up by device looking for that radio wave / RFID?

Feeling stupid in West Virginia, Andrew

 

100% the fob is still inside the vehicle.

 

Most likely, but I like the idea of a haunted Mazda.

 

It probably fell between the sea and the console. There are lots of little nooks it can fall into. I've found all sorts of stuff when I've pulled seats to rebuild a car. You MUST find the fob for no other reason than to preserve your battery. As long as the system senses the fob, it will stay in stand by mode waiting for a command, like start the car. This will run the battery down.

It's also possible for the car to be stolen very easily.