Smart Key and Door Locking System

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusmaybe @ May 2 2007, 04:45 PM) [snapback]434343[/snapback]</div>

No, push the little square black button on the front door handles or the hatch door to lock the car.

 

Don't feel bad! I expected thing to lock itself just by walking away with the fob! At least you realized you had to touch *something*. In my defense a friend of mine had a similar aftermarket system installed that DID lock the doors when you went out of range with the transponder. I just assumed the Prius would do the same thing, and ended up leaving the car unlocked every time I used it for the first couple of days.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusmaybe @ May 2 2007, 07:03 PM) [snapback]434355[/snapback]</div>

Any chance the other key fob is in the car? The car will not allow you to lock your key in the car.

Springtime

 

There is also a little button about a foot below the steering column that you can push in to turn off the smart key system. You may want to check that.

I bought my car Monday of this week and also thought it would lock when I walked away. I left my key in the house and walked back to the car and found it unlocked. My little black button does work, but I learned that by pushing the lock and panic button on the fob and holding both for about 5 seconds (while the car is off) will change the setting for which doors unlock with the smart key. Repeating the process will cycle through from just the driver door unlocking, to setting it so all the doors will unlock, and there is one other combination.

 

In fact, the SmartKey system was modified by Lexus (a.k.a Toyota) when they imported it to
the US (due to potnetial of lawsuit, what else?!). Read the introduction from Tokai-Rika,
the Japanese company that manufacture the SmartKey system for Toyota.

>>>
We developed the Smart Entry system, which automatically unlocks the front door as you approach with the Smart key and locks the door after you leave and also the push start system that starts the engine without inserting the key by only pushing the start switch.
<<<

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusmaybe @ May 2 2007, 09:42 PM) [snapback]434454[/snapback]</div>

Wait. The car unlocks with the black button? Meaning the one on the door handle? Are you sure you're just not touching the inside of the door handle?

To unlock the car, you just need to touch the inside of the (front) door handles. In order to lock it, you have to push (as in it's a physical button) one of the little black squares on the outside of the handles or the hatch.

 

Could it be you are putting your hand through the door handle while you push the black button? Not sure if that would effect it but could be.
My wife had a bit of a difficult time with the button at first. You need to hold it down for a good 1/2 second or it might not take. It's kinda "touchy".

As somebody else mentioned above, some aftermarket alarms will set themselves. We just bought a used Subaru with a Viper system installed and we had a hard time figuring out why the alarm kept going off when we didn't even set it. Turns out it has a "passive mode" which means it automatically sets :30 seconds after the doors are closed. Kind of a nice feature really. Would like to see that in the next Prius.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusmaybe @ May 2 2007, 08:03 PM) [snapback]434355[/snapback]</div>

Keep in mind pressing the black button on the door handle will only lock the doors if you have the fob within range (~4 feet). If the fob is not present, nothing will happen, which is a good thing, so people don't mess with the car and pressing the button to make it beep. <_<

With fob in hand, if you attempt to lock the door with the black button and your other fob is in the car, you will receive a long beep telling you the fob is inside. It's a very smart car.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bohous @ May 2 2007, 11:17 PM) [snapback]434483[/snapback]</div>

Just yesterday I hit the lock button and forgot my jacket on the front seat with the smart key in the pocket. It beeped once and I walked away, got ten feet, then remembered what I had done. Used the second key in the house to unlock when I went back to work, BUT was it really locked? Didn't think to check if the door was still open. I had my Corolla set to passive alarm and liked it that way. I miss that - but it's still worth it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Neicy @ May 3 2007, 06:33 AM) [snapback]434610[/snapback]</div>

Normally, pressing the lock button on the handle without the fob in your possession will do nothing (no beep). Similarly, if a fob is inside the car and (with the second fob in your pocket) you press the lock button on the handle, the car will emit a distinctly different long beep, and will not lock. The difference between these beeps should be obvious.

If you did indeed leave the fob in the car and it still locked, it sounds like the car mis-read the location of the fob as being outside the car rather than inside. That's never happened to me, so far. Of course, I don't make a habit of trying to lock my keys in the car.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Betelgeuse @ May 2 2007, 08:08 PM) [snapback]434475[/snapback]</div>

And don't grab the handle at the same time. When I got the car I thought the button unlocked and you grabbed the handle at the same time to open. The poor car was trying to do both until I learned how to operate it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusmaybe @ May 2 2007, 10:42 PM) [snapback]434454[/snapback]</div>

The SKS Prius LOCKS with the black buttons; unlocking is done by grasping either front door handle or the hatch handle. Keep in mind that the hatch handle is a pressure switch, so it takes a little pull to activate it. The front door handles only require a touch.

Tom

 

<_< I was kinda like Bohaus... and others in this thread...

When I bought my first Prius (2004) trying to unlock using the Smart Key, I kept grasping the handle and pressing the black button... didn't work! I was actually re-locking the car pressing the button. The previous owner couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. I soon found that to LOCK the Prius, just press the black button on the handle WITHOUT GRASPING THE HANDLE... and to UNLOCK, just touch the inside of the handle (with the Smart Key system).

My locking procedure now is to simply press the LOCK button on the arm rest after all have exited the Prius and close the doors. It is easy to get confused at first.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Charles Suitt @ May 4 2007, 02:12 PM) [snapback]435667[/snapback]</div>

Good suggestion, Charles. Thanks!!! I have become very accustomed to keeping the key in my pocket, but have problems remembering whether I've locked the car by pressing on one of the black buttons. The procedure you use makes it easier to remember.

By the way, my wife thinks that locking with the black button is a very cool feature.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusmaybe @ May 2 2007, 07:42 PM) [snapback]434454[/snapback]</div>

My first day with the car was really confusing. At first I thought you walked away and it locked automatically - having read that somewhere. So then I assumed that the black button was for unlocking the car.

Then I learned to listen for the clunk of the power locks engaging and the accompanying short beep and flash of the parking lights after pushing the black button.

But then I would stupidly try to pull on the handle to see if the door was locked and of course couldn't 'tell from that because the door would unlock so quickly - so I was never really sure if it was locked in the first place. Now I know that if the car was locked and I touch the inside of the door handle that there is a beep and clunk as it unlocks the door(s).

Before I had it all figured out, I would have to put my fob on the ground far enough away, our of range before pulling on the door handle to see if the care was locked. Riot.