Disabling a Prius to deter theft...Two sure fire methods...

In the old days, it was as easy to remove and take the coil wire with you to positively deter anyone from hot wiring the car and driving away with it.

It is not as easy at that with a Prius that has Smart Key and push button start.

The first method requires opening that hood and taking the main power relay out of the fuse box. In the Gen 3, the part number is 90987-02025 (Toyota) 156700-2540 (DENSO) printed on the side of the case.

The second method is purchasing a salvaged push start switch off of eBay for about $20. They are cheap, since they almost never fail. Pry and slide off the blue cover, pull out the circuit board by rocking it out at the pins. This will break the two connection the board that is connected to the antennas. The antennas are used to sense the RFID chip on the back of the key fob under the silver colored Toyota logo, should the batter die.

Slide the blue cover back on, and you have a dummy non-functional start button.

On my Prius v, all I have to do is to pull the silver switch panel up at the bottom with my fingers, unsnap the connector and squeeze the two tabs at the back of the switch to pull it out the front.

If you take either the relay or the witch with you, the only was the car can be stolen is with a flat bed wrecker.