Driving your Prius without the smart key

Hi all,

I am planning a trip and want to take the Prius with me but, am nervous about loosing the Smart Key or misplacing it or something awful. So, I went about thinking how the car can still be safe and be driveable without the Smart Key present. It can be done!

Of course you still have to get into the car first. This can be done with a spare key hidden on the vehicle somewhere. Or, this little device called a Tap Lock. (E-bay) You simply tap on the window in a preset patten and the driver door unlocks. Pretty cool.

Secondly this part is a little more complex. As being an automotive installer by trade I installed part of a remote start system. No remote starter present but the transponder bypass kit is. Flip a hidden switch put your foot on the brake and press "start" and the vehicle comes to life. Best part is all the smart keys continue to function as they do now and nothing is lost.

Ahh technology. I hope I never need to use this but it's nice piece of mind I won't get stranded somewhere because of a misplaced/lost Smart Key.

If anybody wants information PM me and I'll discuss it further with you.

Jon

 

Hi

This information is available on the web but they kit requires programming to your vehicle with your original smart key. This isn't something that a casual thief is going to easily duplicate and steal push to start cars. If they wanted to steal your Prius they'd be better off towing it. Another thing about this particular kit is that it works only with the vehicle it's installed in. It cannot be reprogrammed for other vehicles once it is set up for the original vehicle.

Jon

 

The Taplock is super easy to install. 12V, ground, two blue wires which are for the unlocking and an ign wire. Ground and one of the blue wires go together and get attatched to ground in the driver kick panel. The other blue wire goes to the door harness wire that tests ground when the key is turned in the door handle. I think it was pink but I'd have to check again to be sure. 12v was also found in the door harnes it was white but there are a couple so these will have to be checked. All wires are found in the driver kick panel and the ign was a light green wire on the fuse block.

It took longer to play around with it to program. One thing I found annoying was that I had to lengthen all the wires to make a neat install. If anybody is interested I'll take pics of the install and wire locations. I bought my Taplock on e-bay for about $28 from wolf-com-usa. The item arrived within 3 days. It works pretty well like I said programming and getting used to it took some time.

Pay somebody to do it? Sure, it should take a competent stereo install shop no more than an hour. Less if all the wires are known.


Jon