duration of fob battery

The fob battery will last for years and is a common, inexpensive battery. So don't worry about which way will make the battery last longer, and just go with whichever way you prefer.

 

You can lock a second smartkey fob in the car by pressing the "Lock" button on the fob you take with you. When you return to the car, you must use the "Unlock" button on the fob you have with you to unlock the car. No one, including yourself, will be able to walk up to the car and unlock it with the door handle. However, if they were to break into the car, then they could start it and drive off.

You could take the battery out. Others have suggested putting it in a metal Altoids box (assuming you have such in Italy), but I haven't tried that.

 

An Altoids box (or something similar) would work and it could be stored in the hidden compartment. Of course, if you lose the fob you're carrying, you'd still have to get to that second fob (which is now locked inside the car). I suppose one method would be to remove the key from the second fob and hide it somewhere on the *outside* of the car.

 

Why cannot you take both keys when you go outside? It's a small thing, keep both in your purse/pockets. When I go on trips with friends (anywhere out of town), I always take both keys and give the extra key to a friend to keep in his pocket.

 

I think you have the best solution there, Michgal, but provided you're with a friend or friends. From what I could glean from RRB's post, it appears as if he (she?) travels alone, presumably on business trips. In that event, carrying *both* fobs yourself might be unwise. Also, I can understand being hesitant to ask a client to hold a spare fob.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RRB @ Jun 6 2007, 05:32 PM) [snapback]456848[/snapback]</div>

Hello Robert,

1) How to say this politely? On this area, you are unfortunately (or fortunately) mistaken. But not about you name or gender, I hope.

Look at the FOB like any other Remote key set. (But MUCH more expensive and complex.) You can lock with FOB1, then unlock with FOB2, then even start with FOB3.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RRB @ Jun 6 2007, 05:32 PM) [snapback]456848[/snapback]</div>

2) Removing the battery is not TOO difficult, if you don't have a short temper. like I have. B) There is a good step-by-step procedure in the Owner's Manual. You just remove the battery, and can then store the battery in a small envelope in your glove box.

If you lose your primary FOB, once you get into your car, you can still start and drive the car even if the back-up FOB is missing its battery. -- Neat.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RRB @ Jun 6 2007, 05:32 PM) [snapback]456848[/snapback]</div>

3) Altoids are breath mints (I believe from England). They come in small tins, that way they can charge a lot more for them than "normal" breath mints. B) But yes, any small tin (or even aluminium foil wrap) will do.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RRB @ Jun 6 2007, 05:32 PM) [snapback]456848[/snapback]</div>

4) In this case, you can lock the car using the lock/unlock buttons on the FOB like any remote control. Here, even though the system knows there is a FOB in the cabin, it will still lock the door (because you MUST have another FOB since you ordered the door locked from outside the car).

I hope this information clears up any confusion.

An important item concerning Prius' and FOBs: Appareantly if you lose BOTH your FOBs, then it is EXPENSIVE to get you system reprogrammed to completely new FOBs. I'm a Camry Hybrid driver/owner, <_< but I know that has been mentioned MANY times in these forums. A real Prius owner will likely step in an go into this in more depth.