How to turn on A/c without pressing the break?

tpfun,

You are exactly right, this POWER button is way too complicated, FOR YOU !

It is a good thing that you do not own one. It is probably in your best interest, and to the rest of the Prius owners, to keep it that way.

 

How many times should you put your car in ACC before the engine starts?

Right, it should NEVER start unless you turn the key to start.

The Prius engine should NEVER start unless you press START with your foot on the brake. No matter how many times you put it in some other mode, you do not want it to start.

At this very moment Volt owners are panicing because the Volt engine CAN start if you turn on the cabin preheater, even though you are not there to supervise it. Neither the Leaf not Prius PHV do this. Nor shouild they. (and face it, the Leaf has no engine to start, so that was easy)

 

What you are saying is, on the Prius, the START button doesn't mean starting the engine.
Not only that, pressing START once is different from pressing START twice.

This is a mess.
How about going back to the tried and true multiposition toggle switch ?

 

Cost me a fortune, but worth it in Canada.

Non-Toyota (but installed by Toyota) remote starter. Expensive because it requires an additional FOB, it cost me near 800$.

So in sub-zero climes I can remotely start the car for heat, and when it hits above 90 the A/C kicks in.

Assuming, of course, that you put the controls in the 'appropriate' settings before you leave the car.

 

Actually remote start is available from Toyota. I believe it is a Port Installed option. It can also be installed by the dealer. Here is the thread that discusses it: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...15-remote-engine-start-2010-toyota-prius.html

 

You have a car where the key only has one position? No Accessory, no ON, no Starter? Very odd you should be confused that the Prius has 3 modes. Surely you have noticed that when you switch a keyed car to ON, the engine does not run, you have to put the key in START.

(JPphun would wail "I not only have to turn the key one position, I have to turn it again to a second position? And then I have to turn it to third position? And it makes a dangerous racket until I turn it BACK to the second position? Who thought of that?)

You can turn a Prius ON, but unless you have your foot on the Brake when you do so, the engine will not start. No A/C when the car is not running is just like any other car.

 

Wow, guys. You have WAY over-complicated this. It's this simple, in ANY vehicle the car has to be running for the AC to kick on. Osa, no- you have to "start" the Prius for the AC to work, deal with it. Set your son down to press the brake pedal and start the damn thing. You said it's garage-kept anyways right? No threat of him running out in the road in the 1/2 second it takes to do this. I know what you're saying tough, I have a 2-year-old as well. I live in the heart of WI, where I have to warm my vehicle up for 10-25 minutes before I go anywhere from November to March, so it's not like I can hop in and go. The car won't start without the brake depressed, it is a safety feature, deal with it. If you don't like it, look into how to trick the car into thinking it is depressed (i.e. a brake sensor of some sort). And for the other guy (tpfun), you are the only one complicating this! It's easy- push the god-damn button with your foot on the brake to start it, push it twice without your foot on the brake to put it into accessory mode. What is so hard to understand about that? I agree with whoever said it was a good thing you don't own one! Which brings up a question: why are you a member of PRIUSCHAT, if you don't own a Prius? You don't see me joining Dodgechat, do you?

 

For the OP, the needs of a child outweigh those of a car.
Clearly, there's an extra inconvenience factor having to sit down on the driver side while dealing with the child, very understandable. No need to be judgmental, it's a valid point.

Part of the discussion is about the pros and cons of this "safety" feature which is not found in any other car.

 

Was your previous car able to run A/C without starting engine?
I believe the answer is no.

Starting engine on a conventional car means moving to READY mode on Prius.

Ken@Japan

 

To summarize:
- use the remote and get up to 3 minutes of A/C
- start the car as usual, leave it in Park, and run the A/C as long as you want.

 

One more option is to buy an after market remote start. They will start the car from 1 mile away and run the car for up to an hour.

 

Remote start is the only way to turn on the air without stepping on the brake. This will also get your car much cooler. Too bad it is expensive.

This is not a safety feature. There is remote air and remote start that are perfectly safe. The car is in park when the car is started. It is just the way the start button is designed. It is hollow to claim that the car would be unsafe if you could start it from the passenger seat just like a car wit a metal key.

Its really just two priuschatters making up stuff. No one that owns a leaf is panicking that remote start turns on the engine.

No reason to make things up. Its the way the smart key works. 99% of drivers get along with Toyota's keyless ignition.

 

Nor did I say they were.

 

Feel free to name cars you can turn on the A/C without turning on the car.

 

Since the button you hit to preheat the cabin is remote start, you are claiming it is causing panic. Of course this is just silly hearsay. You can find owners that were suprised that if it was very cold the remote start started the engine for a short time to heat it even when it was plugged in. No panic, just a few questioning if this was the way it was suposed to work. The panic was made up from people that just hate the car. I know your comments are fair. Don't just repeat the FUD.

 

Tesla, leaf, prius with solar roof. Do I win? The op did want to start the car, just without getting in on the driver's side. AFAIK you can't do that on a car with keyless ignition (push button start) without a remote starter. The cars I listed above include remote starters that let you start a subset of the car. Finally it is just the way keyless ignitions are, it has nothing to do with safety. It is safe to start a car in park, even from the passengers door.

 

I have a remote starter for my Prius. It was $80 and the range is about 1500 feet. the only thing you have to do is put a relay to engage the power button and the brake pedal at the same time. It's not very complicated and $800 to install one is ridiculous. If that's the going rate, I'm in New Jersey and will install a remote starter on any Gen II Prius.

Having said that, I haven't installed it yet. I plan to do it sometime in the next two weeks.

 

Your solution requires the Keyfob to stay in the car.

 

Or the key.....