Turn the Sensors to OFF

Discussion in 'Gen 5 Prius Main Forum' started by CoolPriusXLE, Apr 22, 2026 at 7:37 PM.

  1. CoolPriusXLE

    CoolPriusXLE Member

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    Is there a way to disable the sensors when going through a car wash.
     
  2. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Yes... As with all brand new modern cars you need to go through every possible menu item and make of list of things you'll know you'll want to use later and practice accessing so it becomes commited to memory... This is alot of homework, of more than an hour of sitting in your car going nowhere figuring out how stuff works. People who don't do this will be way more stressed about their vehicle for many years to come. People who do this will enjoy their car much more than others for years to come. Don't be the dumb school kid on the side of the road with problems of their own making simply because they didn't want to do homework.
     
  3. KH111

    KH111 Member

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    Maybe someone could post the exact steps on the menus to turn off the sensors? I suspect that is what the OP was asking? I would like to have a quick guide on that myself.

    KH
     
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  4. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace 2025 Camry XLE FWD

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    You forgot to mention, many things are reenabled when next started, even though there are options to disable them. Toyota nanny knows best, apparently. :(

    At least, that is the case on my 2025 Camry XLE with TSS 3.0.
     
    #4 Prodigyplace, Apr 23, 2026 at 7:19 AM
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2026 at 7:30 AM
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  5. CoolPriusXLE

    CoolPriusXLE Member

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    KH111 that is not going to happen! That is the only advise they can give because they don't know the answer but they want everyone to know by their "non" answer they do. LOL. These are the little people. They appoint themselves the forum experts.

    For the record I have gone through my Owner's Manual and either the answer to my question is not in the manual or I missed it after hours of searching. So I come here only to be told by certain people to read the manual. Experience has taught me to put these people on Ignore if the forum has such or I keep a mental log and never read another post or reply by these self empowered people.
     
  6. CoolPriusXLE

    CoolPriusXLE Member

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    PriusCamper I will not thank you for a non answer or was that a Lecture?
     
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  7. VelvetFoot

    VelvetFoot Senior Member

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    I know it's pain, but I just suck it up.
    The car wash is so noisy, I barely hear the beeps.
    For a couple minutes, I can take it.
    Looking at the manual, starting on page 215, I'm even sure you can disable those alerts.
    I'm talking about the alerts similar, say, when you're pulling into your garage.
    Now, you having an XLE, it may have more radars (side), sensors for parking assist, cameras, or whatever.
    The systems you can defeat start on page 215. You do it from the steering wheel.
    The funny thing is is the manual says to turn off Safety Sense when going through an automatic car wash, but it doesn't tell you how.
    Perhaps it's on the web....somewhere.
    Again, I'm not even sure those beeps for nearby things are part of Safety Sense.
    The web says hit OK on the left side of the steering wheel. I've tried on the infotainment screen. I'll probably wash the car later and try it.

    upload_2026-4-23_8-5-21.png
     
    #7 VelvetFoot, Apr 23, 2026 at 8:07 AM
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2026 at 8:18 AM
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  8. VelvetFoot

    VelvetFoot Senior Member

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    Okay, I went in and out of my garage a few times. :)
    Turning off Parking Assist seems to disable the beeps and screen warnings I usually hear/see in the car wash.
    You do that with the controls on the left side of the steering wheel.
    I've hit the X or Mute 'buttons' on the infotainment screen, but the way the brushes move in and out, water spray, or whatever, it just lasts for a few seconds and then it comes back again.
    Forget about the OK button.
     
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk MMX GEN III

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    I had a couple of digital-single-lens-reflex cameras: a Canon 5D, and a 5DIII. Both have “menus”. The first has all menu items in a single column. The second seems to have at least double the menu items, and they’re in multiple category columns, you need to first pick a column, then drill down. This process requires maneuvers with various buttons, rocker-pads, hard to remember, master.

    with the 5D I could get to, and adjust most anything, easily. With the 5DIII, the volume, complexity and dexterity requirements seemed to exceed some “critical mass”: most every time I needed to make an adjustment the tome of a manual was needed, and that was always a journey as well.
     
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  10. VelvetFoot

    VelvetFoot Senior Member

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    I understand the analogy, but why derail the thread?
     
  11. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk MMX GEN III

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  12. VelvetFoot

    VelvetFoot Senior Member

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    Hey, I'm trying to formulate my car wash gyrations for later in the day. :)
     
  13. Hammersmith

    Hammersmith Senior Member

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    Question: What kind of car wash? The stationary kind where you put the car in P, or the rolling kind where you put it in N?
     
  14. CoolPriusXLE

    CoolPriusXLE Member

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    Put in N and let the force take you!
     
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  15. Hammersmith

    Hammersmith Senior Member

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    Okay, that makes it tougher(several of the warning systems are disabled automatically when the car's in P).

    Velvetfoot's method is the best. It should get rid of the bulk of the warnings. Using the buttons on the left side of the steering wheel, use down to get to settings(the cog wheel). Then use right to get to Parking Assist. It's a big P with radar lines hitting a traffic cone. Turn that setting off.

    There are a bunch of other settings that may or may not give you trouble in a car wash. If your car ever tries to use the brake in the car wash, you're looking for PKSB(ParKing System w/ Braking). The icon is a little car with a traffic cone behind it and an impact symbol above and between the two.

    Personally, I'm with Velvet when he says don't bother and just ignore them all. It would be nice if Toyota gave a simple quick button for car washes, but they don't. I don't know if it's worth the trouble to go through a bunch of settings every time you're in a wash. At least restoring everything back to defaults is easy. Just shut the car off and restart it. Might be faster than trying to go back through the menus and reenabling everything.
     
  16. VelvetFoot

    VelvetFoot Senior Member

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    I think the changes you make stick.
     
  17. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    At least I didn't threaten you with reading owner's manual!!!!

    Point being, you're wasting time getting an answer when there's all kinds of way faster ways right in front of you if you actually could handle teaching yourself rather than depending on people on social media that think its funny that you're asking for help because you're too lazy to learn how most of the functions in your Prius work.
     
  18. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace 2025 Camry XLE FWD

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    Just make those menu items random 3 letters and you have the TSS3 menu system.