Just picked up new gen3 2011. Wife asked me what happens if the batt in the smartkey goes dead or how to tell if it is getting ready to do so. Good one as I have no idea
Assuming it behaves the same as the Prius Plug-in, the Multi-Information Display (MID) will give a warning message for low battery. If the battery is dead, you can use the mechanical emergency key to unlock the door, then touch the keyfob to the power button for identification, then push the power button to start the car. There's a section on what to do in various situations in the owner's manual, which you can find here: http://www.toyota.com/owners/web/pages/resources/owners-manuals
Thanks for the info. It's funny the sales person did not mention that to her or us but I should have looked it up. Your response was much quicker as I am not one for book reading. Thanks again diaedy
Thanks for the info. It's funny the sales person did not mention that to her or us but I should have looked it up. Your response was much quicker as I am not one for book reading. Thanks again diaedy :rockon:
...by the way check Amazon.com for button batts just got 5x2032 for $2 incl. ship. This compares to typical store 1 for ~$4
Your welcome and welcome to PriusChat. BTW, I mentioned the owner's manual, b/c it lists various other situations you may encounter and not have yet considered. It may be nice to glance at it so you are prepared if you ever encounter such situations.
-REAL- men don't read the manual unless they're lost! Even then, when possible, they get someone else to read it to them.
Read the manual. One of my favorite things to do when I purchase a vehicle, or anything that has an owners manual, is read the manual. I love to discover features or options and then test my reading comprehension skills in the real world. To each his own. But I actually look forward to manual reading.
I just replaced the batteries in both FOBs. The first one died about four years ago and I was too lazy to replace the battery, instead just digging the other one out of the safe. Four years later it died, so I looked around on PC for instructions. Very easy to replace. My 2004 let me know in advance that the battery was low. The key icon on the display would flash when I turned off the car. It would also give a beep. Once the battery died then the warnings stopped, but you are still able to use the key to start the car by inserting the fob into the slot on the dash. The biggest hassle was having to remove the door key from the FOB to unlock the door. I always use the smart entry and hardly ever pressed the remote buttons. Maybe that's why I was able to get four years of use on what started out to be a four year old battery.
AMEN to that! The manual is huge, but it is poorly written (as if by a teenager working for spare change). Back in the 1980's and 1990's, I worked with a lot of HP electronics. There manuals were superbly written. Today, everybody has a manual, but few have made the effort for it to be understandable. - I blame the problem on Punk lyrics and text messaging for contributing to the butchering of English.
