This has to do with Gen III rear hatch. This evening after shopping and putting package into rear cargo area and closing hatch, we drove to another shop and had, (all at the same moment, while driving) all the interior lights came on, the headlights dimmed, the triangular yellow warning light came on near the ready light/gas gauge, and the MFD changed and just said "key detected in car". The first thought is that the car has shut off/died, etc. But the ready light stayed on and it still had power! We went on to another shop, getting in and out of passenger doors, locking car, and coming back to it and unlocking it just as normal. On the way home from shops it did this several times and I became concerned that there was an electrical problem. Later that evening, after calling the Toyota dealer and they saying they had never heard of such a problem, and to bring it in,------we remembered that the car still held the package from the first shop we visited. My wife went into the garage to get the package and came back stating that the hatch wasn't "latched"...... Now let me say here,....there isn't going to be any rear view mirror falling off the windshield from the closing of the hatch,.....it closes easy and I and my wife never let it "fall" from on high,.....I don't like slamming doors! But this was a bulky package left near the rear of the compartment,..I must have thought it latched, but it didn't. Took the car out and drove it again and couldn't get it to replicate the previous problem. Came home and tried an experiment. The hatch has two latches, a secondary, and a primary. You can set the hatch down carefully and it will catch on the secondary latch, at which time you can lock, and unlock the car by either the remote or the front doors and get no solid tone, like you do when a door is open. Soooo will give it another test tomorrow, but at this point I think my problem may have been related to the hatch not being closed properly !? I was prepared to take it to the dealer tomorrow, but now will give it more time. Anyone else had this problem? I found no existing thread on it with a quick look before I posted this. If this hatch is the problem, just knowing what can happen may help someone, as I never got that red symbol on the dash that shows a car with a door open!
Yes, it's the latch not being closed properly. I did find another thread about it when it happened to me. In my case, I was taking our dog to the vet. I lifted the dog into the back and because the dog was very ill I was particularly cautious about closing the hatch. I think it's just that the error message is wrong. The programming may assume that if the car can't lock the doors properly and the key is present it's because of the presence of the key rather than the latch not being secure.
Hatch must be closed properly otherwise you will get lights and stuff on the dash. Happened to me once as well as my dads car.
Yep. Same thing happened to me. Hatch wasn't completly closed. Don't know why Toyota didn't just have some sort of a door ajar alarm for the rear hatch. Would have been a lot easier to figure out problem instead of the dash lights going all spastic. Either way, this will only happen to you once and you will remember what the problem is the next time it happens to you.
Does it not also give some warning about being in park? That has happened to me a couple times and each time I just go out and reclose the hatch.
There's a thread on the UK Prius forum about the knock-on effect of this: if the hatch is not closed properly when the vehicle is parked, the interior hatch light can drain the car's 12v battery flat in six hours.
Hi GC, I have commented on the rear hatch several times over the years. I even commented last night, yet again, regarding a run down 12 V battery that the Hatch not being closed was responsible. When the Prius is new, yea, you gotta bring that hatch down with some force to get both latches to engage, and for the lights to turn off. I first noticed this on my 2006, when , just like you I was trying to not slam the hatch down, and had a very weak 12 V battery the next morning. This is a well known issue with experienced Prius owners. Most of us just figure it out on our own, and after a month of ownership, we are all pretty much used to it, and use the car without further incident. The trick is to always lock the car when you leave it, and it should blink once (blink and beep on 2010). If it blinks or beeps twice, there is a door ajar.
dont you people lock your car? when i do that and do not have the hatch closed the car beeps! as a standard not a option
Same thing happened to me during my qualification flights. I use my hatch every time I drive the vehicle, since it's a work car. You don't have to slam the hatch, but you do have to close it firmly, and make sure that the latch engages. Not a big deal really, just one of the many joys of being a Prius owner.
I keep an old blanket in my cargo area that once in a while gets caught in the hatch closing mechanism. When this happens, I get a warning beep and red light indicator on my dash. The first time it happened, it took me quite a while to figure out what was wrong. Once I found the problem, and closed the hatch securely, the dash warning indicators went away. I never left the hatch unsecured long enough to cause the yellow triangle to appear or dim out the interior lights, so maybe "greenclipper" has something else is going on electrically? Happy Motoring, Tom
At least your hatch didn't pop open. My result from The Richmond Incident was a scuff on the spoiler.
