Gen 4 doors not staying locked...

The buttons on the FOB are reversed from my last 2 cars and it beeps differently, and a couple of times very early in owning it, I noticed I'd not locked it right. But I generally lock it with the touch thingy (a technical word) on the door handles. I've since set my mirrors to automatically fold when I lock the car - that way I can see at a glance if I've locked - or unlocked.

BUT - no idea why yours isn't locking satisfactorily - it sounds like you're doing it right. You don't happen to have the spare FOB in the car, or within range of the car?

 

I may have had that happen once too. I assumed that perhaps I forgot to lock it with the outside handle.

 

Now that you mention it ss, it's happened to me too. But I didn't bring it up in these forums because I thought people would think I'm nuts. Or just complaining again.

I always lock & unlock it like Alan does, I touch the door handle sensor. I never use the Fob, it just stays in my pocket. And I have the beep turned up to the maximum so I can hear it lock... or so I thought. But there have been a few times when I return to the car and I find that the driver's door is not locked. Weird. Another Prius Oddity for my list...

Now I'm starting to press the lock button on the inside of the door panel, before I close the door. The old fashioned way.

 

Old-fashioned would be to use the mechanical lock buttons which these cars are lacking. Perhaps you should retrofit some?

 

Actually, you can slide the mechanical lock button forward on the door panel. But I just press the power lock button, by the window switch.

 

This can be an early sign of a failing actuator on one of the doors.
Usually the drivers door fails first; no idea why.

BUT.......that would be rather strange on a '16 model I think.

When my C did this, the doors would attempt to lock and things appeared to work normally.......until about 2 seconds after that when there was a faint second "click" as the doors UNlocked, apparently because the computer sensed that something didn't work right.

Alas, that second click was NOT accompanied by any warning beep, which I think is a design oversight. The stupid thing BEEPS for every other reason under the sun; you would think that a failure to lock properly would be on that list too.

 

Thanks, Sam. That happened on my 2005 Camry, but it was an older car so I didn't mind so much.
The 2016 may just have a minor glitch. Technology is great and all, but the more electronics and computers you load these cars up with, the more chances there may be of glitches and failures. (A perfect example is all the owners that are already having a problem with their Entune system). And that's why I am not a fan of self–driven vehicles, unless I'm 90 years old and incapacitated.

I'm in the minority, and I'm not against technology, however I just want my car to get me from point A to point B in the simplest way possible. I don't need the pushbutton start. Or the "magic fob." Or the fancy touch sensor door locks. I'm perfectly fine with a mechanical key in my pocket, and a regular ignition. (Maybe I should have bought that stripped, $12,000 Nissan Versa! )

 

a bit of water on the section you grab to unlock the doors could do this assuming a fob is within range when it happens.

 

Well ss, at least you now know you're not alone. I've said this 100 times, my Prius is the strangest and weirdest car I've ever owned! I never know what is going to do from day-to-day. Maybe that will keep me young…

 

Maybe call Toyota corporate too, and they can document it as well, and give it a case number. I'm getting pretty tired of all the weirdness with this car. Should've never sold my beat-up Camry. It sucked gas, but there wasn't nothing weird about it.

 

800-331-4331
You might also check in your owners manual. There's a number in there.

That's the number for Toyota corporate headquarters, in Torrance California. That's the number I've used in the past, when I had to file a complaint about something. They don't do anything about it, but they politely listen.

 

I just tried that number and I have no idea what it is. But it didn't sound like Toyota. I just got that number off the Internet.