Well I'm feeling pretty stupid, but I'm finally frustrated enough to ask for help. We have a new '05 with package 6 and we absolutely love it. Somewhere in the last couple of days one of the smartkey fobs went missing. We looked all over the house for it and finally realized that it's lost somewhere in the car itself. We can't lock the car, and we don't dare take it anywhere we have to park it 'cause anyone who wants to can hop in push the power button and go. We've completely cleaned out the car, looked in all the cracks crevices, under the back seat etc. Has anyone else had this experience? Do you think a dealership would have an RFID sniffer that could find it? I'm thinking maybe it slid into an air vent or one of the cooling slots under the seat. My wife and I have spent a couple of hours today looking through the car. Help.......
Can't you just push the "Key" button under the steering wheel to disable the SKS and use your second key fob until you find the first one? I think that will let you lock the doors.
Here's a dumb idea that might just work: The fob blinks a red light once every 5 seconds when it's inside the car. Wait for nightfall, throw a blanket over the windows, get in, and wait for your eyes to adjust. Maybe you'll get lucky! On a more real-world level, don't forget to check the trunk and the center console! Good luck!
Thanks, I'll try that. I didn't know you could disable it with the key switch, though I vaguely remember the salesperson explaining something about it. I mostly had stars in my eyes the day we brought it home!
That's a good idea too. I've been through all to consoles, boxes drawers, down by the spare tire, and under the back seat too. I have a vague feeling it slid into one of the vents under the voice navigation box. If it will blink a red led then I should be able to see it in the dark.
Until you find the wayward Smartkey, you can drive the car, park it, and lock it. You just need to use your Prius like it doesn’t have the Smart Key System when you lock and unlock. In other words, use the buttons on the non-lost Smartkey fob to lock and unlock the doors. In fact, if the lost Smartkey is inside the car and within range to start the car, one of you can use just the metal key from the non-lost fob and still be able to drive, lock, and unlock. Both of you will still have the ability to drive without having to pass the fob back and forth. Both Smartkeys will still work for starting and stopping. When you lock the car and leave, the key warning light on the dash will still flash like normal - thereby warning any potential car thief/burglars, etc that “this car has an alarm thingy.†Chances of someone - just by chance - hopping into your locked Prius and pushing the start button is, well, as remote as your wayward keyfob. Did you by chance try looking in the key slot? That is about the last place I could imagine someone with the SKS would look. :huh:
just by chance push the seat cushion down where it goes under the back/upper part of the seat and feel in there if it slid under the upper part while you were sitting in the car. Also along the inner seat track down from the console either side I lost the one from our 2k1 there and really had to dig to find it.
Just to be clear about this: you *know* it's inside the car because you *can't* lock it using the other fob, right?
Actually I'm not 100% sure it's in the car. I first noticed that the car wouldn't lock with the black button on the door when I got out. Then I tried it with the fob in the house. Last night I left the one fob that I can locate in the kitchen, ran an errand, powered off the car and then came back, powered up and drove home all while the known fob was in the kitchen. I suppose this could be a malfunctioning SKS, but since I can't locate the other fob I think it's lost in the car somewhere.
Sounds like it must be in the car. If it slipped out of your hip pocket, most likely hiding place would be the narrow gap between the seat and the console. Also check under mats, cup holders and a possible gap under the bottom console drawer.
Why would you have taken it out of your pocket in the first place? I never take mine out for anything. Maybe remembering that will give you a tip as to where it is. P.S. -- I don't mean to make you feel dumb, but you HAVE checked your pockets, right? (heh-heh -- sorry, had to ask!) :lol:
It might have fallen between the seats. No matter how hard and throughly you look there, something can be pretty well hidden. Also, it helps me in situations where I've lost something, to make sure that I don't assume that it can't be somewhere. Mainly because that's where it ends up being, the place where I was sure it couldn't be.
I suspect that you will eventually find the fob... but in the mean time... you should disable SKS whenever you keep the car parked in an area of risk. You should probably also enable SKS when the car is parked in a secure location... such as in a garage so that eventually the missing key fob's battery will die. I am not sure how long this will take. As long as you still have a working battery in the fob... you will not be able to use SKS and still secure your car. I would rip apart the car again. It has to be hiding someplace! /Jim
Guys, this post is from October of last year. I would hope he found the FOB by now. Just a bit disappointed that after asking us for advice, he never checked back in on the subject... :mellow:
Hope things turned out all right for the original poster. ... and better than for us. I've joined the forum because the folks have a 2004 Prius and have LOST one of their Smartkeys. It's been the source of a lot of turmoil and finger-pointing as to what could have happened to it (a month ago). Here's the REALLY bad news: Toyota wants $225 for a new Smartkey and $45 to program it. I don't support any entrepreneur has come out with a replacement for the SK? Or can they actually save $45 by putting the key into the ignition and "resmarting" it to their car? There's going to have to be a lot of gas saved to make up for a $270+tax new key. Any suggestions?
This is still good info for when it happens to others. You don't even need the second fob.... for the immediate moment to drive. You could just disarm SKS under the steering wheel, get out.. lock the car with the key. When you go to drive.. get in with the key.. unlock SKS by pushing the button again to "on" under the steering wheel and push power and your off again!
That extra compartment in the back of the bottom glovebox is an ideal place to lose a SK and not find it. I didn't even know it was there for quite a while. :huh: