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No Key Required

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by priusjunky, Apr 11, 2005.

  1. priusjunky

    priusjunky Junior Member

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    Hello All,
    Just got a call from my son. My wife was able to drive her car without the key. She left her keys in her desk, walked to the parking lot started and drove the car with no problem. Drove a short distance, shut off the car. When she tried to start the car again, she got the no key icon and then she realized that she had left her keys in the desk. A short walk and she got her keys back and the car started.
    Has anyone else experienced this? Her desk is at least 30 yards away from the parking lot.
    Lou
     
    #1 priusjunky, Apr 11, 2005
  2. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    wait wait wait. She unlocked and started the car with the keys on her desk? Hmm, well 30 yards means nothing to me but I can explain the other part. If the car was started and the key removed from the car (with SKS), it is possible to drive on without it (you'll just get the no key icon) and once you power off, you can't power on until the key's back in the car
     
    #2 Tideland Prius, Apr 11, 2005
  3. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Any chance that she left the car on?
     
    #3 richard schumacher, Apr 11, 2005
  4. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius\";p=\"80308)</div>
    Note that no part of the original post mentions unlocking the car.

    Junky, did she have to unlock the car? That's a very important part of the story. It's possible that - as Richard said - that she actually didn't shut the car off. Before you say something like, "that's proposterous" I'll admit that I've done it. The damned thing's just too quiet when the engines off.
     
    #4 TonyPSchaefer, Apr 11, 2005
  5. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    ohh I see. That makes more sense. Yes, it is possible to leave it on. I am also guilty of that charge. Fortunately, I found out before leaving the car on its own
     
    #5 Tideland Prius, Apr 12, 2005
  6. priusjunky

    priusjunky Junior Member

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    She does not lock the car while at work. If she had left it on, I guess the car would keep the battery charged by cycling as needed through out the day.
    Thanks,
    Lou
     
    #6 priusjunky, Apr 12, 2005
  7. naterprius

    naterprius Senior Member

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    Yes, the vehicle was likely left on. If not, this is very, very interesting.

    Nate
     
    #7 naterprius, Apr 12, 2005
  8. Greyskye

    Greyskye New Member

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    I would be willing to bet money that it was left on. I work with some new Prius owners who did pretty much the same thing 2 days after they picked theirs up. They put it in park, but didn't power it off. As they were walking away, he tried to use the fob to lock the doors, and just trusted that it worked even though there was a lot of traffic noise around him at the time, so he didn't hear any audio confirmations or warnings. When he went out later to get something out of the car, he was astonished to find that the car was unlocked, and powered up. They'll never do that again!
     
    #8 Greyskye, Apr 12, 2005
  9. DanMan32

    DanMan32 Senior Member

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    Sure, you could leave it on, but when you close the door, it will beep outside 3 times, as well as display the yellow 'missing key' light on the dash and would refuse to lock. I suppose if it is noisy outside, you might not hear the beep.
     
    #9 DanMan32, Apr 12, 2005
  10. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Dan, you beat me to it. I've been offline for a couple days. I thought of that the other day when I got out and mailed a letter. Priapus beeped at me when the smart key left the vehicle.

    And then just this morning I opened the door and hit the armrest lock button only to have the locks toggle locked then unlocked. I actually performed this cycle three times before realizing that I had been so wrapped up in listening to the radio and checking my tank mileage that I'd failed to power down.
     
    #10 TonyPSchaefer, Apr 13, 2005
  11. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    "This sort of thing has cropped up before, and it has always been due to human error."
     
    #11 richard schumacher, Apr 15, 2005
  12. JJMan

    JJMan New Member

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    Which begs the question, why doesn't it power off if the key walks off?

    I've taken to using the power button to 'park' the car to ensure that I've turned it off
     
    #12 JJMan, Apr 16, 2005
  13. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Two excellent points, JJ. However, sometimes I forget things in the house and it's great to just hop out of the car and run into the house. Since I don't have to use the key for the car, I can painlessly get out of the car, get the keys from my pocket, and get into the house. Instances such as that, I appreciate that I don't have to go through the start-up procedure again. Also, dropping off books in the outside drop box at the library, returning videos at the drop off, donating items at the Salvation Army, mailing letters, and a myriad other times when "I'll be right back".

    Secondly, using the (POWER) button to park the car is pretty foolproof and probably a good idea for someone as forgetful as I. I'm still using my 20th-century thinking when I feel that I have to "Park" the car before I "shut off" the car.
     
    #13 TonyPSchaefer, Apr 16, 2005
  14. BoBraxton

    BoBraxton New Member

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    From sinking feeling to funny -- DW put her foot on the pedal and pressed the Power button as usual -- nothing. Retried -- nothing. Her sister got out all the instructions and read through them. I suggested there is a phone number for calling Toyota, then suggested we all get out (three doors) and start over. Let _us_ stay outside, you get in and start the car and then we will get in.
    We were in a lighted area. It was then that DW (who is a Reverend) discovered that tonight she has the fob in her left side pocket and had used her CHURCH key, which has a plastic holder which is actually a mercury thermometer. The P* certainly was not fooled and displayed the "being stolen" icon. The real fob works a whole lot better and, just a short while ago, we were on our way back to the house (5.5 miles round trip). This is the Silver Pkg# 2 she purchased on 27th March, just starting on first purchased tank of gasoline.
     
    #14 BoBraxton, Apr 16, 2005
  15. JJMan

    JJMan New Member

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    I disagree here. The start-up procedure consists of pushing power, right? I can be in gear and moving within 2 seconds of pressing that button. Press power, put my seatbelt on, put it in gear and off I go.

    By leaving the car on, the doors won't lock and it WILL drive away, just not start up again (as seen by the first post in this thread). So anyone can jump in and drive away. They may not be able to start it again, but that doesn't do me any good as I'm walking to the police station and they're at their shop stripping my car. :(

    So my opinion is still that the car should diable the engine if the key walks off. But that's just my 2 cents.
     
    #15 JJMan, Apr 16, 2005
  16. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    The issue of the transponder keyfob and when to disable the car has been brought up before.

    True, it would be better if the car was disabled once the keyfob left the car. But you would need additional logic to ensure that never happened at highway speeds, or it could cause a crash if the keyfob battery went dead.

    A good logic test would be if the car was stationary, in P, keyfob out of car, and door opened then closed again: shutdown.
     
    #16 jayman, Apr 17, 2005
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