I just got my Defender last week and I literally have to press my leg up against the door (with the key fob in my pocket) in order for the button to work to unlock the vehicle. Locking it with the button on the door handle works just fine, its unlocking it that seems to be the issue. I called the dealership and they didn't know what could be wrong. replaced the battery in the key fob last night and I'm still having the same issue. Any thoughts?

 

Is the key in the same pocket as your cell?

 

Nope, I made sure it wasn’t in the same pocket.

 

It has happen to me and it can be a whole host of things. There probably some sort of interference happening and it is jamming up the fob. When it happens to me I have to take the fob out of my jacket or pants to get it to work. In my Volvo90, the door would unlock if I was in a certain car garage.

 

We traded in a 2017 xc90 for the defender and we’re having lots of (comparative) unlocking issues too. Maybe it’s an interference thing. I’ll try to be more cognizant of that. But it does feel like you have to be on top of the door for the prox sensor to work.

 

There is NO proximity sensor. You have to manually press button to lock or unlock it.

 

perhaps I worded that incorrectly. What I was trying to say is “it feels like I have to be on top of the door with my key for the button to work” Ie I have to be super proximate to the door for even the button to recognize that I should be able to unlock.

 

That's exactly how mine is too. And when I lock the doors it really doesn't matter how close (or far) I am to the vehicle, it will lock with no problem.

 

I have the same similar issue, but this is mostly with the back gate. It seems to work with the doors, but sometimes doesn't' work with the tail gate. Its a bit anoying.

 

I'm having the same issue on our 2021 - it's driving me insane!! We came from a BMW X3 and I NEVER had to take the key out of my pocket! As soon as you grab the handle, it would unlock - even if the key was in my bag. With our Defender, lock works like a charm, but 90 percent of the time I have to dig the key out of my pocket (often while juggling 2 coffees etc, and press unlock on the fob. SOOO FRUSTRATING!! Did they test this at all before releasing it?? Lol!