Hi all. Here is the story. I lost the only key to my Prius. Contacted Toyota dealer, they asked me to tow the Prius to dealer to program a new key. However, the tow truck couldn't do it because the car was parked in a corner and facing a wall. heading towards the wall. Not like other cars, the Prius cannot shift to Neutral without a key. now I am stuck.... the only progress I made is figured a way out to open the door without break the windows. now what? any suggestion?
You get it towed the same way they tow the car when you park in a fire lane.... dollys or flatbed (or dollyed onto a flatbed, i guess)
That can be a problem. The park pawl is electric, you'd have to remove some parts. A low-profile hydraulic floor jack will reach under the Prius. Jack it up, and the tow operator can either use a dolly, like this fancy one Self Loading Dolly Set- Aluminum Axles or a "skate" Carrier Skate - Hooks Towing & Recovery Supplies to pull the Prius up onto the flatbed wrecker with no damage to the park pawl
My Subaru's manual had a way of manually going to 2WD for emergency towing with the engine off as I recall, maybe the Prius has something similar. Have you carefully checked the manual? Also, there's threads on PriusChat about programming new fobs, not sure if that always requires a trip to the dealer or not, but you might want to check those out. Sorry if I didn't have any specific help.
The Prius cannot be safely flat or "dinghy" towed Oddly enough, neither can the FJ Cruiser. Even if you shift the transfer case into neutral, it cannot be flat towed
Subaru's AWD is an unrelated beast. By pulling a fuse in the auto version, you can turn off the electric clutches that power the rear wheels. Manual tranny Subies, such as on mine, lack this option. Prius's parking pawl requires an electric circuit and a controller to be turned on.
Yes, due to the way the transfer case is designed. Traditionally, a 4WD could be flat towed an unlimited distance, as long as the transfer case was in neutral. I don't think any of the current Toyota 4WD's can be flat towed Most of the Ford, GM, and Jeep models can still be flat towed, as long as the transfer case is in neutral. You will find the smaller models pulled by motorhomes
i had my 2004 Pri towed with flatbed. they had a skate that was rolled under the car. then it was jacked up, lifting car off the ground. the guy strapped the car onto the skate and winched it up onto the bed and was done.... now was all that necessary??...nope...car was totaled by ins company
I'm surprised the tow company couldn't do it. You need to get one that does repos. They'd have a lot of experience towing cars that they don't have the keys for.
