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one button off ignition is awesome

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by galacticenergy, Aug 27, 2016.

  1. galacticenergy

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    I absolutely love the one button turn-off operation our prius has!
    No pushing Park.... just OFF!
     
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  2. Coast Cruiser

    Coast Cruiser Senior Member

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    I'm still stuck in my ways...

    The 3 P's:

    Parking Brake
    Park Button
    Power Off Button
     
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  3. Gen 2 Tom

    Gen 2 Tom Active Member

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    I think my gen 2 was one button. I wonder why any car still uses a key. But that got me thinking, what would it take to hack the key code?
     
  4. wrprice

    wrprice Active Member

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    In the case of cars from VW Group, not much. There was a paper published recently, finally, after two years being withheld due to lawsuits. Basically, most VW, Audi, etc. vehicles made since 2000 all use essentially the same (flawed) encryption mechanism. It turns out, the millions of cars each use one of only a dozen (maybe) unique secret root keys to protect the rolling code and id of the car's assigned keys. If you uncover the root secret from one car, you can have access to at least all other cars of the same model (probably multiple model years and even multiple models) without too much additional work. It's not as simple as hooking up to ODB-II and reading a code, but it's not difficult enough given how many cars are exposed.

    The VW case was for remote keyless entry, like a "dumb" fob cars have had for decades. Our "smart" key is termed PKES, for "passive keyless entry and start" -- passive in that no button press is required. Ford and other manufacturers have been hacked in the past, including the passive RFID chips embedded in the big-headed keys. (Our keys have a RFID chip, too, as a backup.)

    I haven't found any specific documented hacks on Prius yet, but Toyota is capable of making the same mistakes as everyone else. Not finding it isn't the same as it not being there.

    The other thing that has come up recently is thieves using a laptop and the ODB-II port to program a new key (that they brought along) and getting the car to trust it without an original key present. Houston police busted two men for doing exactly this, and have video, so this isn't a theoretical attack. Our cars can be reprogrammed similarly by a dealer or certain locksmiths with the necessary software. They're supposed to check ownership and IDs very carefully, and allegedly it requires communicating with Toyota at some centralized point, but if the feature exists it can be abused or attacked for weaknesses.

    Despite the above, the mechanical key locks were just as flawed so you're not any worse off.
     
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  5. pakitt

    pakitt Senior Member

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    I simply turn the car off. I use park only if I have to get off the car to open the garage door, or waiting for somebody where I don't risk being rear ended (I guess I would have less damage to the transmission if I get rear ended when not in park, than with Park on and destroying it).
    I was doing the same on Gen3. I never bothered pressing P before turning off the car. Why bother.
     
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  6. wrprice

    wrprice Active Member

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    @Gen 2 Tom

    More reading material, if you're curious:
     
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  7. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    Gen 3 is the same though.
    If you press power...it automatically turns off and goes into park. No need to hit park first or separately.

    When I first got my Prius, the old habit of "shifting" into park was with me. But after a while, and some conscious practice I got so I trusted that just hitting power was fine.

    Now I hardly ever use The Park Button, unless I'm outside on a hot day, and want to "Park" with the engine and air conditioning running...and the brake set. Otherwise it's a seldom used button.

    Oddly...however it's the one button in which the decal has faded.
     
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