I'm leaving on vacation shortly and have to leave the Prius at the airport. I am concerned about draining the battery and having to be towed home. I will be gone for 18 days. Will this be a problem, or am I over-reacting?
If you have the smartkey, turn it OFF under the steering wheel. Make sure that you've turned off the little light in the hatch. In fact, I'd turn off all the light switches, so they won't come on when you open doors. I think 18 days should be fine, as long as everything is turned off.
Owners manual page 33; deactivate the smart function if you do not intend to drive your vehicle for a long time, push the cancel switch in to deactivate (below the steering wheel, the leftmost of the 3). Use the mechanical key to open the car when you return, insert the smart key into the key slot to start, activate the smart function by pushing the cancel button so it is out not in. and there you have it!
I left my car unattended for more than 3 weeks and my car turn on with out problems Like everyone says if your Prius equipped with Smart Key system just turn off main switch.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Speedracer @ Aug 14 2007, 11:40 PM) [snapback]495890[/snapback]</div> Do as stated above. I've parked my car at Seatac for a week and a half and forgot to disable SKS... I did not have any issues... Your results may vary.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mayathystle @ Aug 14 2007, 07:18 PM) [snapback]495809[/snapback]</div> My dealer gave me a 30-odd page laser-printed guide in addition to the standard Toyota manuals. In there, they recommend pulling the "dome" fuse (sorry, don't remember the number) if storing the Prius for more than two weeks. This disables the smart-key system, audio, nav and a few other things. The car is still drivable but this reduces the power drain with the ignition off. I was recently away for three weeks and did this. Had no trouble starting the car upon my return. (Not that I can say that I'd have trouble if I hadn't done this.)
If you ever did leave the car long enough to drain the battery, you don't need to tow it anywhere -- just need to jumpstart it, which can be done under the hood (no need to reach the battery in back, which is virtually impossible since you can't open the hatch without battery power).
I've left my Prius sitting for 18 days straight with the SKS system still on and had no trouble starting it when I returned home.
It sounds like I shouldn't have any trouble leaving it for this period of time. If I do have to jumpstart it, can't that be dangerous? That may be a Prius myth that I heard somewhere. Does anyone know?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mayathystle @ Aug 15 2007, 06:17 PM) [snapback]496434[/snapback]</div> RTFM. There's a section in the manual about completing a [normal 12V] jump start. However, you shouldn't have any problems.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mayathystle @ Aug 15 2007, 03:17 PM) [snapback]496434[/snapback]</div> You probably heard warnings about jumping starting other cars with the Prius, and those warnings are warranted. I bought one of those $50 combo jump starter/compressor/safety light/AC converters at Costco and leave it in my Prius in case I need to jump start another car.
Dangerous? If you do it with the polarity reversed, it can do thousands of dollars worth of damage by blowing up computers and burning up wiring harnesses. But this is about the same as with many modern cars. Turn off the SKS, remember to lock it, and you'll be fine.
