I am considering trying car camping in my 2010 Prius and I have a question about the locking system. I don't fully understand the technology, but of course I see that every time I approach my car with the keyfob, the door unlocks. So my assumption is presence of the keyfob causes the car to automatically unlock the door. Is there a way to prevent this from happening when you are inside the car? I know there is a lock button on the driver's side. So if I lock the car from the inside, will it stay locked even if someone were to try to open it from outside? Or will the fact I have the keyfob with me inside trigger the car to open the door? Depending on weather conditions, I might want to keep the car in "ready" mode to provide heat. - I don't know if having the car turned off or in "ready," makes a difference to the locking system? But thought I should mention it. Thanks for your help.
Inside and outside fob detections are separated. When a fob is detected inside, the car should not be paying any attention to what is happening or approaching outside. Just hit the lock button on the door, and it should stay locked. At least, that is how I believe my Gen3 operates. I have disabled the unlock-on-Park feature, and after driving, my doors don't unlock until I make them do so.
Thanks Fuzzy. Good to know that all I need to do is lock it from the inside and no more worries. While researching this topic I had come across a couple internet posts where people were talking about wrapping the fob in foil and things like that - seemed like a big hassle, so I'm glad none of that is necessary.
I do feel like if you lock the car from the inside with the key fob, then try to open the door from the inside, the alarm goes off (probably only when the car is off). I could be wrong, but something to keep in mind. Not sure if it's the same when using the door switch. I learned this while testing your exact question, which I think the result was that yes the door stays locked, as mentioned by fuzzy1.
While inside, I've never tried locking with the fob, only with the door switch. At least this way, there is no alarm problem when opening the door from the inside.
My experience with both Gen III and Gen IV is that approaching the car with the fob in my pocket allows the car to be unlocked using the door handle touch points. It does not automatically unlock the door.
