What if I forget to turn the car off?

Then the car will beep at you when you try to lock it and you'll go back in to turn it off. You'll have to learn to make it a habit. Your house doesn't make any noise before you lock the door when you leave either.

 

Try it. It will panic and you will be unable to lock it. So much for the perfect Prius.

 

Really long annoying beep and you can't lock it at all. Same thing when you attempt to get out of the running car without first putting in park, which is why I recommend skipping the park button when powering off in case you get distracted and forget.

 

agreed. but there are a lot more old houses out there with garages under (bedroom?) than new houses in our neck o the wood and if you pulled in on a cold night and went to bed with the heat set on, i would rather make sure i shut the car off.

 

Attention Toyota Engineers:

We need a Prius that will when idle for 25 minutes......whenever it's left in the "Ready" mode, in "Park".....with no movements...no one entering or exiting the car.....providing that the key fob is not in the car. Shut down the Prius & lock all the doors.

 

Why do they call it a "smart key" again?
I forgot.

Anyway, I just learned to hit the power switch when I'm done driving.

No problems so far.

If you loose a key fob....THEN you have problems!!!

 

Mine doesn't beep. No warning or reminder. Thought I hit the power button hard enough to turn it off, but apparently not because it was still running this morning.

 

Actually mine doesn't do that. Left it on all night last night.

 

Mine doesn't beep at all. Left it on all night last night. Walked up the driveway last night after I thought I turned the car off and no beeps. Toyota should do something about this.

 

They all beep if left in READY. This isn't an option, it just happens.

 

maybe it's not a prius.

 

It will hurt your FE!

 

I have noticed that the car will not lock if its running and the key is outside the vehicle.... thought that was a nice feature since sometimes you can't tell if its running or not, LOL

 

I have a startup routine I go through: check ebrake, lights, Ev mode, look, drive

When leaving car: park, lights, brake, power.

I kinda say the words in my mind, and it becomes like a pattern.

I have the same thing I use for my purse when I leave home. I have gone thru the same checklist every time i leave, for the past few years. Even my friends know it now

Then you just don't forget things or skip a step.

 

I have done this when I went shopping at a small supermarket shortly after I got my 2011. The Prius was new to me and I ran off quickly forgetting to turn the power off. I hit lock on my key fob and nothing happened but heard a chirping and thought nothing of it and kept walking.
I was in the store for about 30 minutes, came back to the car went to press the button and noticed it was on.
Another thing I did when I first got the car was hit "Park" while going around 50-55 mph when entering the freeway haha. I went to hit power mode and I hit the park instead.
The car went into Neutral, thank goodness.

 

If it is parked you CAN not put it into drive if the key is not around .... it happened to me once. Wife's key in her handbag mine somewhere at home (accidentally). So we happily left one key was in the car..... dropped her off and rolled away ... had to stop for another reason (security check) put it in park and then warning sign key is not detected ... car/engine still running but couldn't put it in drive ... thankfully I had my cell and she was still walking distance .... I am not 100% it was only the missing key or I had to step out as well ... so it worth a try one of these days.

But if you turned everything off except the car engine will not run that much at all. And use very little gas so you may find you prius running even couple of days.

 

Unless your car is special, just putting it into Park won't leave you stranded if you don't have a key. It will complain that the key isn't detected, yes, but it won't prevent you from shifting.