I'm sure there are already threads on this, but I couldn't find anything worthwhile. But anyway... If I am just running into a friend's house for about 5 minutes in a very safe neighborhood, is it better to leave the car on or should I turn it off? My thinking was leaving it on might allow it to skip a couple warm up stages that it might otherwise do. Thoughts? Thanks! Stupid side question...can you leave it running for a little while but still take the key with you?
The smartkey system lets you leave the car running even if you have the fob on you and you exit the car. The problem is- you can't lock the car from the outside via remote or handle sensor if it's still running. So- you leave the car running- leave with the key- someone can just get in the car and drive it away- of course the first time they turn it off will be the end of their ride because it won't restart without the fob. Don't know if you can manually lock the doors with the real key from the outside with it running? If so- that's your solution.
I would recommend turning it off to make certain it is still there when you get back. Whether you are concerned about theft, or not, turning it off can prevent a tragedy with a curious child.
Yes, he makes an excellent point. Makes sense to everyone, yet it's something some of us might overlook when we're in a hurry.
In the area where we live, many homes are not locked. Our home was only locked briefly when I installed the doors, since then our home has never been locked. My truck keys are kept in my truck. My tractor keys are in my tractor. Neither of us carry 'keys'. Now we have a vehicle [Prius] with a fob. It has taken some getting used to. My Dw keeps her fob in her purse. She never goes anywhere without her purse, so for her it works and her fob is always with her. I think that it is really up to you, and how comfortable you feel with the crime-rate in your area. As other posters have said, their areas have clearly too high a crime-rate to be able to feel comfortable leaving their fob in their vehicle.
Never try to save a minute(actually not if you just shut it down for this short time) of warm up time and put your valuable car at risk. In tragedy or gone in a few seconds.
BTW...it is illegal to leave your running car unattended in most states. And it's unwise.....and you waste fuel, other than those things, why not?
I don't see a good reason to leave the car on if we don't need to use it... I only leave it on when I'm waiting for someone inside the car, so that I can listen to the radio, leave parking lights on, etc. without taking the risk of the 12V battery run out.
Ok, I get by now and fully understand all of the safety/theft implications. I was thinking with a mindset of a pure hypermiler. Not that I'm going to do it...just theoretical.
You know what I am going to say. If SOC is fairly high then you can turn off the SKS (GenII only?) and manually lock the doors then run inside for a few minutes. This will reduce the issue of another warm up period. If SOC is low then this may be pointless but it really depends. Thankfully the warmup period is very short when the car is still effectively hot but from a hypermiler's standpoint you could lose a few miles worth of higher efficiency due to this warm up phase. It all really boils down to what you are comfortable with and the type of area you are in (is it safe?). This would be a moot point if the GenIII can disable the SKS and allow you to manually lock the doors with the car on. I know my GenII could do it.
I'm surprised that the car doesn't just shut off after the key is out of range... I think that's the way most key-less fobs work.
"There are no stupid questions unless I ask them." quote Groucho Marx. But seriously; someone gave me this suggestion via email about a year ago: I leave car on for "short-stop needs" depending upon the security of the situation. With fob in my pocket, I roll down driver's window, get out, shut door, reach in and push lock button; then engage window "auto close button", and get my arm out of the way as window closes. Car is locked all away around; system still on. When I return, I take the manual key shaft out of the fob, unlock driver's door manually, and go on about my business.
The way I found around not being able to lock the car with the fob on you is to roll the driver side window down. Get out of the car. Lock the car by reaching in and hitting the lock button. Then roll up the window by using the auto roll up. When I return to the car I just use the actual key to unlock the door.
Dang, I have the exact opposite problem. I want to turn the car off when I leave and find I have stepped out with it still on (way too often). Doing my best to cure that problem.
I always turn it off if I leave the car. The three warning beeps are annoying. The only way around that is to leave the fob in the car, which is even more risky.
Imagine yourself enjoying your Prius on a long trip. Your fob battery is weak and goes dead during the drive. Don't want my car to "turn off" because the dead fob is akin to an out of range one. It is believed that for this reason we are all to turn the car off when we leave it. Roland
