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Funny Thing Happen on the Way to Mall

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by tiger64, Jun 4, 2011.

  1. tiger64

    tiger64 Junior Member

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    Funny thing happen dropping my wife off at the Mall this weekend. Since I wanted to drive the Prius (her car). I dropped her off so she could take her time shopping while I enjoy driving the Prius. A few minutes after leaving I noticed a yellow triangle on the dash. Then a notice came on stating that I was driving without a key. (I mistakenly had taken keys to my car.) Since the Prius is still new (3 months old) I wasn't sure exactly what to do. So pulled off the road and called her to see if she had her key, which she said yes. Not sure whether or not to turn the car off this point, I decided to drive back to the mall where she was impatiently waiting (I interrupted her shopping). Now the questions are.. (1)if I had turned off the car at the time of the warning I would have been in big trouble.(?) (2) If I would have driven any extended period of time without a key would it have caused any problems? Anyway everything is ok now, except for the large bill she ran up while shopping.
    I still love this car. If only I could get her to switch cars with me or maybe when things stabilize hopefully next year I could get a Prius V.

    Best regards to all for making the Prius forum the best there is.
     
    #1 tiger64, Jun 4, 2011
  2. macmaster05

    macmaster05 Senor Member

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    The Prius is a pretty smart car so you got that yellow warning for great reason.

    (1) Yes you'd be in big trouble, if you had shut off the car you would not be able to turn it on again.
    (2) You could've driven as far as you wanted, as long as you didn't shut off the car.
     
    #2 macmaster05, Jun 4, 2011
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  3. phoenixgreg

    phoenixgreg Senior member

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    You should have also gotten an error message in the MFD saying "Key not detected" with a rectangular border.
     
    #3 phoenixgreg, Jun 4, 2011
  4. tiger64

    tiger64 Junior Member

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    Thanks for the replies. Yep, that was the message. I was so surprised to see any warning at all since I thought I had my key.
     
    #4 tiger64, Jun 4, 2011
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    now you know what happens if you leave your car on and somebody steals it.
     
    #5 bisco, Jun 4, 2011
  6. mad-dog-one

    mad-dog-one Prius Enthusiast

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    Knowledge is Power: Having the smartkey interrupt your wife's shopping might have saved you some serious money. Now that you've discovered this trick, you can repeat this scenario to offset the cost of your new V. :cool:
     
    #6 mad-dog-one, Jun 4, 2011
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  7. JeffyJosephNorCal

    JeffyJosephNorCal Formerly JeffyJosephNCa

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    Good thing you didn't turn it off! :)
     
    #7 JeffyJosephNorCal, Jun 5, 2011
  8. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Fear not, tiger. You're not the first and most likely will not be the last.
    There have been similar reports but the one that jumps out at me was the guy who dropped his wife off at the airport. She wanted to drive the Prius so she drove to the airport and he drove home.

    You could imagine how bad it would have been for him had he stopped along the way. She'd possibly had been up in the air by the time he realized he couldn't start the car.
     
    #8 TonyPSchaefer, Jun 5, 2011
  9. s3nfo

    s3nfo Member

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    We've got 2 SKS equipped Prius', I'm constantly going to the garage with the wrong key. Wish I could change the MFD alert to say "you've got the wrong key again stupid".
     
    #9 s3nfo, Jun 5, 2011
  10. ItsNotAboutTheMoney

    ItsNotAboutTheMoney EditProfOptInfoCustomUser Title

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    I did that one time. My wife, her son and I were returning from somewhere. We needed some groceries so we stopped at a supermarket and I said I'd walk home (about a mile) for some exercise. I was in the supermarket and her son came running in saying that I'd taken the key. My wife had left hers at home.
     
    #10 ItsNotAboutTheMoney, Jun 5, 2011
  11. SW03ES

    SW03ES Senior Member

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    Why not just put all your keys on the same keyring? My keyring has the smart key for the Prius and the smart key for the Lexus, so I always have what I need...
     
    #11 SW03ES, Jun 5, 2011
  12. tiger64

    tiger64 Junior Member

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    Well, I guess this is one time I had wished all my keys were on one ring; however, my existing ring for the other car has so much stuff I couldn't fit it on without getting a Bigger ring. I guess you could say bigger is better this time. By the way she traded her Lexus RX330 for the Prius but it didn't have the smart keys. She is happy and that is what counts.
     
    #12 tiger64, Jun 5, 2011
  13. tiger64

    tiger64 Junior Member

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    Yep, the Prius is smart, it was the driver that was not so smart but dumb. Hope I learn from my mistakes.
     
    #13 tiger64, Jun 5, 2011
  14. gmalis1

    gmalis1 New Member

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    Hey I feel for you.

    Getting my car washed early in the game after I had my Prius for a couple of weeks, the attendant took my car and I went to the "end of the line" for them to finish and dry the Prius.

    Frantically, the horrified guy on the line was motioning that he had accidentally turned off the car and of course couldn't start it up again because I had the SmartKey in my pocket. My Prius had just gotten off the line, but other cars were right behind, and he had no way of starting my car.

    Luckily, someone else who spoke Spanish got over to the emergency shut off before the next car came crashing into mine.

    I have to remind myself every time I get my car washed...and giving my car to a valet...to leave the SmartKey in the cupholder or under the mat. Otherwise it won't go.

    I can laugh about it now, but it wouldn't have been too funny to have my two week old Prius smashed into from behind.
     
    #14 gmalis1, Jun 5, 2011
  15. mad-dog-one

    mad-dog-one Prius Enthusiast

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    We are a 2 Prii family too. Wouldn't it be nice if the SKS could be programmed so both cars could use the same smartkey(s). I'm sure this could cause problems for some, but having one smartkey for both cars would make our lives a bit simpler.
     
    #15 mad-dog-one, Jun 6, 2011
  16. Airboss

    Airboss Junior Member

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    My dealer sells key fob covers, made of a soft material like iPod covers. They are 5 or 6 dollars, in various colors. Maybe this would help to bring the correct keys. Color code each car differently.

     
    #16 Airboss, Jul 26, 2011
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