Keyless remote question

Imagine having to use a key to lock or unlock a car! How primitive!

 

Indeed.

 

Turning back the clock 50 years.

 

Make sure you try using the lock before you actually need to. I've seen some that were never used for years due to "keyless" features and once the fob battery or car battery goes dead, the key won't go in or won't turn. You should lube it once in a while like with good latch, door hinges, or something. Not as regularly as changing oil, but wouldn't hurt to check it that often.

 

in 10 years, i have never put the key in the lock.

 

+1

 

I put the key in the lock regularly during hot weather. It's the only way to lock/unlock the doors with the car left in READY...

Electric air conditioning on a Toyota Hybrid is fantastic. You can leave it running while you shop, eat, whatever. The engine cycles on/off as necessary to keep the battery charged up. Car is cool even if the outside is hot. Just put the car in Park, leave it in READY, and lock it with the mechanical key.

 

One broken window and goodbye car. Or a coat hanger through the top of the window and a little push on the down-window button and.....

 

Sorry about your neighborhood ...

Consider what a thief would have after breaking a window to gain entrance. First off, a broken window. And a car that will run until it is turned off (or runs out of gas). Without the keyfob, the thief can't restart the car once it has been turned off. And anyway, how many low lifes actually want a Prius?

 

So if the fob isn't in the car why not just lock/unlock with the fob instead of the key?

 

Fob doesn't work when the car is in READY. I think they do that so people don't just assume that the car is OFF when in fact it is READY with the engine currently stopped. But the mechanical key still works...

 

this is illegal in ma.

 

Only if they could tell if the PiP was running.

 

true. of course, my a/c from the outside sounds like a hemi.

 

In California, it is illegal to leave a vehicle idling on the road. It is perfectly legal to do it on private property, such as the driveway in front of your house, or the parking lot at a shopping center.

Ever stop at a truck stop or roadside rest area? Lots of trucks idling, not all of them occupied.

 

I wonder how the law would be interpreted for a hybrid. What the lawmakers had in mind was an engine idling, producing pollution. OTOH, with a hybrid such as the Prius, with the car just sitting in READY mode, the engine isn't running except for possible occasional charging of the battery. So under the law, is a Prius sitting in READY mode with the engine off considered to "idling"??

 

strange for a state with pollution concerns.

 

I like your logic.

The Prius never idles. If the engine is running, it's doing something useful. Warming up, charging the battery, moving the car. If there's nothing useful to do, the engine stops. Exactly what the law prescribes.

 

Er, I believe the California law was based on life safety concerns. Like leaving a car running with a child or pet inside.

 

I'm not sure about this, but can you take a Prius out of Park without pressing the brake pedal? I presume that the safety concern would be for the car to be put into drive by the child/pet.