Despite my experiment which determined that the key fob could not be locked in the car my wife managed to do it for real.
She opened the rear door to change into some boots and left her purse with fob and cell phone on the rear seat. When she shut the rear door she must have hit the lock button (Canadian version) and was locked out. Fortunately my fob was at home a mile away.

 

Good to know.

That result is implied by the notes on the RHS in the Handbook p146 (Make sure you have the key in hand before locking the door). You cannot use the internal switches to lock the doors while the key is inside, but the door switches do not care where the key is.

 

Good test. I wonder if you don't have a purse and leave the fob on the seat what could happen. As a guy, I don't carry a purse or man-bag or European Carry-on.

Sounds like the purse is acting like a Faraday cage, but then she probably uses that situation to start the car.

Good to know. Thanks.

 

Wow, I didn't think this could happen......

 

Same. Is it not like other cars where it will tell you if the fob hasn't left the car and/or it won't lock? Interesting that she couldn't press the button on the door handles and it wouldn't unlock.

Sidenote: shocked the mess out of me when I left my fob in my bag in the trunk and it beeped and popped back up!

 

Wow! That is cool.

 

Wonder if its because the fob was in her purse with her cellphone which has been shown to intefere with the fob when entering the car if they are next to each other.

I can confirm that if your keyfob slips out of your pocket onto the drivers seat, and you try to lock the door using the driver's side front door button (), that the car will not lock.

I was at work, so thankfully nothing interfered with it in my case as my phone was still in my pocket.

My coworker who was with me commented on how in her ES300 she locked the fob in her car before the lockout prevention; she now keeps an extra in her purse.

 

I think Mr. Hyde has the probable cause of this. She thinks the fob was touching the cell phone. However she says that she has put it there in the past and been able to unlock the car.

 

Did some basic tests with the Fob on the drivers seat or back seat.

1. Open the door, manually press either door lock button and close the door. The doors unlock.

2. Close the door and press the lock button on the handle. No response and doors do not lock.

I agree with the above posts that suggest the cellphone of something similar was blocking the transmission from the fob so the car did not recognize that it was still inside.

 

I can lock my car usually without issue with my keys in my pocket, but I have 2 cell phones, and I sometimes put one in each pocket. Occasionally, when I do this, my door will not unlock, and I need to rotate my right hip pocket, and thrust it closer to towards the handle before it will unlock. (this manuever probably looks quite bizzare to anyone who sees it )