I had a blinking red light - looked like a lock - in the lower right corner of the panel when the car was parked and locked. I could figure no way to shut it off. I have not seen it before. I've had the vehicle for nearly 7 years. After a couple days it stopped. Is this something to concern me? I read some things suggesting it should be happening every time I lock the door (sign the car is locked) and others saying no idea what it is. I don't see it in the manual.
What does that mean? And is the fact that it went away a good sign? I'm going to be going back to the dealer over the tire sensor light they failed to notice. I need to know because they are likely to tell me lies.
See the manual (same for 2013): Theft Deterrent System; Immobilizer System - Toyota Prius V 2012 Quick Reference Manual [Page 149] | ManualsLib
You can ignore it; it's always blinking (or should be) when the car's off-and-locked. It's kinda pointless.
So, I'm thinking another little error in a light... The car was off, locked and no key anywhere near. Since I assumed it was something about the lock I tried to open the door with no luck. If they tell me my warning system has some glitches maybe I should listen?
Lights like that have been a feature of car security systems pretty much for as long as there have been such. The idea is they blink all the time when the car is locked and armed, and that's supposed to say to car thieves, "hey look here, thief, this car has a security system, go steal that one over there." It is funny how many people will own the car for years without noticing, and then suddenly start a thread wondering why this red light is blinking. This is from page 119 of your 2013 Prius v owner's manual: As you can see, by design it never stops blinking until you come back and power the car. If it ever stopped, some car thief might not know you had a security system, and steal your car. So the only thing you've mentioned here that could be a possible problem is where you said it stopped after a while. It's not supposed to do that.
I understand. I don't think it has been blinking before because I have seen that in other people's cars, wondered why I didn't have it. I didn't look under immobilizer though. It is definitely not blinking now. It makes an annoying noise if I leave the fob in the car so I know that is not an issue. I've had several blinking light issues, on when they shouldn't be, off when they shouldn't be. I will be going to the dealer but the local dealers are noted for finding "issues" you don't have (and being an older woman I seem to be a target) and it seems to worse lately when they have fewer vehicles to sell. I try to get as much information from the people here as I can before I go.
It is possible that when it is NOT blinking and you think it is locked, it is NOT fully secure. Like, maybe one of the door lock actuators is failing and not locking all the time. Just a wild guess.
Mine (liftback, not 'v') blinks even when the doors are fully unlocked and even open. It just needs the ignition system to be fully shut down, that is what seems to set the immobilizer.
