VW Caddy Key Fob Failure, Common Fix Tips

As someone with moderate experience maintaining cars, I dealt with a comparable issue on my 2017 VW Transporter. The symptoms were nearly identical to what you describe with your electronic key system. Initially thought it was a major electrical problem, but it turned out the key fob battery was just critically low. Even though the warning light hadnt activated yet, the battery voltage was too weak to maintain proper communication with the car. Took it to a workshop where they diagnosed and confirmed it was just the key battery. The replacement was straightforward, 37€ for a new battery and programming. The key worked perfectly after that, both for remote locking and keyless entry. Quick tip: When key fob batteries get very low, they can cause inconsistent behavior before showing any warning lights. The car key might work intermittently or only at very close range before failing completely. Could you share: Whether both keys (if you have a spare) show the same behavior, If the manual key blade inside the fob still works for door locks, Whether the problem developed gradually or suddenly This information would help determine if its just a battery issue or if theres something else going on with your central locking system.

Thanks for your response. My spare key also shows similar behavior, and yes, the physical key blade still works normally. The issue developed over about 2 weeks, starting with occasional non-response and getting worse. Had my last service at 43000km about 3 months ago where everything was checked and marked fine. Have noticed the car key remote range getting shorter recently before it stopped working completely. The auto key function for keyless entry worked a bit longer but now fails too. Would changing both key fob batteries be a good first troubleshooting step before considering more complex electrical issues?

Based on what you describe, it sounds exactly like my experience with the dying key fob batteries in my VW. The gradual decline in remote range followed by complete failure of keyless functions matches the pattern I saw. Since both keys are affected and showing identical symptoms, this strongly points to battery issues rather than a system fault. A battery replacement solved all these issues for me. Since both your keys are showing low battery symptoms, I recommend replacing both fob batteries at the same time. The total cost for two batteries was around 70€ in my case, which is much cheaper than diagnosing potential electrical problems. Quick tip from my experience: After the battery replacement, you might need to use each key fob a few times to resync with the car. Just lock and unlock the doors manually a couple of times with each key, and the keyless access system should recalibrate automatically. If the issues persist after replacing both batteries, then it would be worth investigating the central locking system. But given the classic symptoms of gradually failing key fob batteries, I bet this will resolve your problem just like it did mine.

Thanks again for your help. After reading about your experience, I'll definitely try replacing both key fob batteries first. Makes total sense given how the problems developed gradually and both keys are affected. Will get this done this week. The battery replacement cost seems reasonable compared to what a full diagnostic of the central locking system would cost. Plus, the manual key blade still working perfectly suggests the core system is probably fine. Will update once I get the new batteries installed and test if this resolves the keyless entry and remote locking issues. Hopefully this basic fix will get everything working normally again like in your case. Looking forward to not having to use the physical key blade anymore. Really miss the convenience of the electronic key functions, especially the keyless access.