Yep, dumb newbie question

I know I have had the car for a while, but the key fob thing is starting to make me mad.

Cell phone in left pocket, key fob in right pocket (with fresh battery), and the outside doors require me to take the key fob out of my pocket and hold it right next to the door to open.

I start walking away, I go to use the remote to lock the doors, and it wont lock them. I need to almost get back to the car for it to lock the doors.

This is BOTH remotes, with new batteries in each.

My Chevy locks the doors from 100 feet away, I should be able to lock my doors in the Prius from farther than 10 feet.

And yes, I have changed batteries repeatedly in the remotes to check them out.

Am I missing something??? I do know everything, I just dont always apply it :der:

Does your Prius have the Smart Key System, or the standard fobs?

Tom

Smartkey, thats what Im having issues with. Ive read the instruction manual, It works sometimes, but other times its like it isnt even on. I'm almost to the point of not using the smartkey.

Warranty....?

I have the smart key system and the range is pretty bad even when I hold it up to my chin. This is even after recharging the FOB in the little slot in the dash.

Where is the antenna/reciever located? Could it be we have something shielding it or disrupting the field?

Dman sales people! Damn me for not reading into it further. And here I thought I was all cool trying to recharge the battery in the dash. :doh:

That's two times in one day my misconceptions have been corrected.

Yeah... This guy blew it for me a few years back.

Newbie- 2008 Prius #2 package

My question about the smart key is. If I am by the driver's door, only the driver's door is unlocked. Yet when I am at the hatchback or the passenger door, all doors are unlocked! My logic is that all doors should be unlocked when near the driver's side. What am I missing?

Re: Newbie- 2008 Prius #2 package

Read your owners manual and it will tell you how to change this. From the factory it only unlocks the drivers side door when you are next to it. I would try to explain it but it was complicated enough when I was reading the manual. It's in there though.

Re: Newbie- 2008 Prius #2 package

I don't know if anybody's preconception is right or wrong, but in this case I suspect that the Toyota designers figured: if the driver's side is opened, it is likely just the driver; if any other door is opened first, it's more than one person.

(I wonder how the Avalon + SKS works, since they seem to have sensors / lock buttons on all doors?)

I've occasionally wanted the "driver's side touch opens all doors" behavior, but infrequently enough that it doesn't bother me. I never checked if changing the fob unlock preference would also change the door touch unlock pattern... anyone know?

For my U.S.A.-market (left-drive) Prius, I found that I had to keep my fob in my left pocket; if I kept it in my right pocket, it would be too close to the car, and the car would always sense it as being "inside the car" (and give me the long beep when I tried to lock it).

I'm having issues with fob range now, but my fobs are both 3 years old, so they might just be due for a battery change. You should be able to lock using the buttons from at least 10ft away, though; if you have to put the fob within a few inches of the car, that seems worth a complaint to the dealership.

Re: Newbie- 2008 Prius #2 package

It does. My reason for doing this and how I know it works is that I NEVER use the fob to unlock the car. I walk up to the drivers side door, grab the handle to open it, put my coffee inside the cupholder, and then I move to the rear door to place my backpack in the back seat area. It's almost a ritual on school days. lol

Prior to changing the programming I would have to open the drivers side door then hit the switch to unlock the rest of the doors.

Re: Newbie- 2008 Prius #2 package

Read your owner's manual. It's documented how to change this behavior around p31-32.

Re: Newbie- 2008 Prius #2 package

haha, i do EXACTLY the same thing except the coffee is a water bottle for me

Re: Newbie- 2008 Prius #2 package

LOL we rule! Or we are just the few Prius owners still in school.

Wait, that water bottle better be a Nalgene or Klean Kanteen reusable bottle! I use THIS to keep drinks cold or hot throughout a day of long classes. Works great!



Back on topic... Sorry

I'm in school--just on the other side, though.

Back on topic: one of the first things I changed was the setting to unlock all doors, since the Prius is our family car.

Is there anything else in your right pocket? Any mass of metal (coins, other keys) can interfere with the fob.

There is a way to change the setting for that. I can't remember the procedure, but it is in the Owner's Manual.