Smart Entry ???

Papagena · 04-24-2004, 01:32 AM

Who has advice about the SS-SE? Here's the story:

I took everyone's advice and decided to get the Prius from the mean dealer instead of wait months to get it from the dream dealer. Ah, at last, after 6 months my salsa-red Prius finally arrived! Salesman gave me lessons with the SS-SE and all worked that Monday night.

Tuesday the Smart Entry no longer worked, and I hadn't disabled it. I could open the car "manually" from the key fob. It would not lock by pressing the small button, but would only give the "long beep." I was told that this means an open door, and so I checked and slammed all doors and hood and hatch. Still only the long beep. I took it in, and the salesman couldn't make it work. By then the service dept. was closed.

Wednesday I returned to the service department. The Prius expert said the SE worked perfectly and demonstrated that it did. He read the famous sentence from the manual about the long beep and the open door. He was spending an inordinate amount of time reading the manual. Has he been properly trained? He did NOT believe me that it hadn't worked, until I told him the salesman had seen the problem. Only then did he believe me, and surely because the salesMAN had seen it.

So: he had done nothing and the SS-SE worked properly. It had NOT worked when I left home that morning! I left, stopped to do an errand, and lo and behold, the SS-SE didn't work; the long beep prevented the doors from being locked.

I'm not going back to have this fixed for awhile :guns: until this "expert" will learn to do more than read the manual, and make the SS-SE work!

Has anyone experienced this erratic behaviour of the SS-SE?

Is there a way to get it to work? I'd like to be able to walk up to the car and have it unlock, and then lock upon command when I exit the car. Can I do anything other than consult this "trained expert" who can only read the manual?

Do you have ideas and/or suggestions about the SS-SE?
Meanwhile, my Prius rides like silk and is a dream to drive.

benbethel · 04-24-2004, 01:48 AM

Check to see that your spare keyfob isn't hidden in the lower glove box. If it is (this happened to me - we couldn't find it) then the car will give a long beep as it knows that there's a valid key somewhere in the car.

hedwig · 04-24-2004, 09:17 AM

It can be really frustrating when you have a problem and people keep pointing out obvious stuff that you'lve already tried...so here's another one!

You checked all the doors again, right? Okay, next time you have to do that, really whale on the hatch door. That one only kinda closes sometimes - sounds like a close, feels like a close, not a close. It's possible the hatch was only closed-ish and that kept your SE from working. We've all had our turns griping about the touchy hatch door.

Frank Hudon · 04-24-2004, 11:43 AM

one possible thing you could try is to cycle the disabler switch a couple of times just in the off chance that it's just on the edge of making contact and causing the intermittent operation you describe.

rflagg · 04-24-2004, 11:45 AM

#1 - check for spare keyfob inside vehicle as mentioned - yes, obvious, but just to be sure.

#2 when trying to lock the door, have someone else try to lock it with you and your keyfob far away from the car - sometimes (though not too likely) the car will be too close to the keyfob and will think it's inside the car, hence giving you the long beeps.

#3 - perhaps try shutting off the SS/SE system, then bringing it back on? You know, the old 'if somethings wrong with electronics, power it off and back on' trick.

#4 - the car is completely off too, right? again, an obvious, but just double check that IG-ON mode isn't on.

#5 - I'm not sure on this at all, but perhaps you can take it to another dealer - the dream dealer, and any toyota place *should* honor the warranty, I'd think. Just tell them the other dealer refuses to work with you.

hope some of these help.

-m.

Papagena · 04-24-2004, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Check to see that your spare keyfob isn't hidden in the lower glove box. If it is (this happened to me - we couldn't find it) then the car will give a long beep as it knows that there's a valid key somewhere in the car.

:mrgreen:

Thanks so much, everyone! All those suggestions are great. The problem was the spare keyfob. It was in with my manual, and I had been told to keep everything in the car. The salesman didn't put the manual in the car until I was ready to drive away, hence the SS-SE worked during his demo. The next day it didn't work because I kept everything in the car (except when reading the manual, in the house). The SS-SE did work for the Prius expert, because he took the manual and pack of stuff out of the car so he could read the manual. (This is very suspicious; he is supposed to be trained well!) And it did not work the instant I left the dealership because... you guessed it... the manual packet with the spare keyfob was back in the car.

Hurrah for all these simple low-tech solutions! I've printed them out for future reference

whatshisname · 04-26-2004, 08:01 PM

My '04 came with two keys. My wife and I decided that she would carry one in her purse for her use and I would carry the other for my use. Then we decided we should have a third for a spare in case one of us lost one. We called our dealer to order one and learned an additonal key would cost $274. Now, one of our keys is in our safe and the other hangs on a hook available to either of us when we decide to use the car. Whatshisname. :wink:

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04-24-2004, 01:32 AM	#1
Papagena Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 17 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	Smart Entry ??? Who has advice about the SS-SE? Here's the story: I took everyone's advice and decided to get the Prius from the mean dealer instead of wait months to get it from the dream dealer. Ah, at last, after 6 months my salsa-red Prius finally arrived! Salesman gave me lessons with the SS-SE and all worked that Monday night. Tuesday the Smart Entry no longer worked, and I hadn't disabled it. I could open the car "manually" from the key fob. It would not lock by pressing the small button, but would only give the "long beep." I was told that this means an open door, and so I checked and slammed all doors and hood and hatch. Still only the long beep. I took it in, and the salesman couldn't make it work. By then the service dept. was closed. Wednesday I returned to the service department. The Prius expert said the SE worked perfectly and demonstrated that it did. He read the famous sentence from the manual about the long beep and the open door. He was spending an inordinate amount of time reading the manual. Has he been properly trained? He did NOT believe me that it hadn't worked, until I told him the salesman had seen the problem. Only then did he believe me, and surely because the salesMAN had seen it. So: he had done nothing and the SS-SE worked properly. It had NOT worked when I left home that morning! I left, stopped to do an errand, and lo and behold, the SS-SE didn't work; the long beep prevented the doors from being locked. I'm not going back to have this fixed for awhile :guns: until this "expert" will learn to do more than read the manual, and make the SS-SE work! Has anyone experienced this erratic behaviour of the SS-SE? Is there a way to get it to work? I'd like to be able to walk up to the car and have it unlock, and then lock upon command when I exit the car. Can I do anything other than consult this "trained expert" who can only read the manual? Do you have ideas and/or suggestions about the SS-SE? Meanwhile, my Prius rides like silk and is a dream to drive.

04-24-2004, 01:48 AM	#2
benbethel Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Phoenix, Arizona Posts: 49 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	Check to see that your spare keyfob isn't hidden in the lower glove box. If it is (this happened to me - we couldn't find it) then the car will give a long beep as it knows that there's a valid key somewhere in the car.

04-24-2004, 09:17 AM	#3
hedwig Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 91 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	It can be really frustrating when you have a problem and people keep pointing out obvious stuff that you'lve already tried...so here's another one! You checked all the doors again, right? Okay, next time you have to do that, really whale on the hatch door. That one only kinda closes sometimes - sounds like a close, feels like a close, not a close. It's possible the hatch was only closed-ish and that kept your SE from working. We've all had our turns griping about the touchy hatch door.

04-24-2004, 11:43 AM	#4
Frank Hudon Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 4,144 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	one possible thing you could try is to cycle the disabler switch a couple of times just in the off chance that it's just on the edge of making contact and causing the intermittent operation you describe.

04-24-2004, 11:45 AM	#5
rflagg Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Springfield, VA Posts: 946 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	#1 - check for spare keyfob inside vehicle as mentioned - yes, obvious, but just to be sure. #2 when trying to lock the door, have someone else try to lock it with you and your keyfob far away from the car - sometimes (though not too likely) the car will be too close to the keyfob and will think it's inside the car, hence giving you the long beeps. #3 - perhaps try shutting off the SS/SE system, then bringing it back on? You know, the old 'if somethings wrong with electronics, power it off and back on' trick. #4 - the car is completely off too, right? again, an obvious, but just double check that IG-ON mode isn't on. #5 - I'm not sure on this at all, but perhaps you can take it to another dealer - the dream dealer, and any toyota place should honor the warranty, I'd think. Just tell them the other dealer refuses to work with you. hope some of these help. -m. __________________ lifetime MPG: 51.8 total miles: 41469 (2/28/04-12/08/05).

04-26-2004, 08:01 PM	#7
whatshisname Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Northern California Posts: 53 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	My '04 came with two keys. My wife and I decided that she would carry one in her purse for her use and I would carry the other for my use. Then we decided we should have a third for a spare in case one of us lost one. We called our dealer to order one and learned an additonal key would cost $274. Now, one of our keys is in our safe and the other hangs on a hook available to either of us when we decide to use the car. Whatshisname. :wink: