what if smart key battery dies? can I start the car?

you would use the metal key to enter the car. you would then use the fob, stuck into the dash, to start it. it runs electricity through the fob once it's inserted.

 

All true. Note that inserting the fob into the dash does not recharge the fob battery.

 

You have found the metal key, right? In the fob, there a little release slider that gives you a real key that opens the driver's side door. My dealer had no clue it was there; I only found it after reading the manual. [edit: sorry I see now that you know it's there]. Once inside the car, you insert the fob in the dashboard slot and even with a dead battery, it should work. I say *should*, since I have a 2005 and have never inserted my fob into the dash (nor had a dead fob battery.)

BTW, since I'm the only driver in my household, I actually hide the metal key from my 2nd fob on the exterior of the car and a my foil-wrapped 2nd fob inside the car... won't tell you where, though. That way, if I actually lose my purse/keys, I can use my car. Haven't had to access that yet, and there are those who say any hiding place isn't secure, but it would take a VERY thorough interior search to leave with my car.

 

I had a flat metal door key made for the Pri, which lives in my wallet (the key, not the Pri), and I also have the second fob secreted in the car wrapped in tinfoil.

 

what's the reasoning behind wrapping the FOB in tin foil? (conspiracy FOB)

My suggestion would be if your really that worried, just keep a spare watch battery in your clovebox, no big deal.

 

Wrapping a keyfob in foil makes it invisible to the SKS system. If you don't do that, then you can't lock the car with the fob left inside. Except with a mechanical key.

I keep a batteryless keyfob hidden inside the car. It's a cheap eBay one with only the transponder programmed (buttons don't work). And no mechanical key.

When I go trail running, I leave the smart keyfob at home and carry just a mechanical key. The mechanical key gets me in the door, and the batteryless keyfob plugs into the dash to unlock the Power button. Losing a $2 mechanical key worries me much less than losing a $200 smart keyfob.

 

No electricity runs through the fob, it has a passive proximity chip in it like the ones in those magic ID cards that open doors in commercial and government buildings have in them. By sending a radio signal through it when you press the power button there is enough power for the chip to transmit its code to the reciever built into the slot allowing the car to identify the chip and boot the system.

 

thanks for clearing that up. rob do you have a link for this transponder fob?

thanks

 

It is highly unlikely that the battery would ever suddenly die.

There is a low-battery alert, a difficult to miss beep when shutting down the car. Mine sounded for weeks.

The FOB sensitivity is reduced as the battery power falls too. So it would be hard not to notice.

.

 

The battery in my SmartKey for our '04 died a week or two ago, so this may give you an idea of the life of the battery. All worked according to plan-- metal key to get into car and then fob in the slot to start. Now, that John1701a mentions it, I do recall a puzzling beeping sound when shutting down the last week or two, but I don't recall anything that told me what that beeping sound may be pointing to. Or is that in the manual too?

PA P

 

I hadn't ever encountered mention of that beep; however, it will be added to the User-Guide along with photos of the change process.

So, owners will still have another offline resource to turn to as time progresses. We do a pretty darn good job here of pointing out new stuff as older Prius encounter it.

.

 

The Prius has a beep warning for pretty much everything, which is part of the problem. Unless you are R2D2, you're not likely to recognize a particular beep and associate it to particular event. I find myself saying: "Now what's it beeping about?"

Tom