Soon to be new owner with questions

<<The first deals with the fob. The salesman said when it's battery becomes weak, you may need to set it above the start button and it will start the car probably one more time. You'd then need to get to a dealer and purchase a new one which would be programmed for the vehicle. Does any one have a concern about this? What if you're on vacation or something early into an extended weekend and you'll have to shut the car off several times before you can get it to a dealer? I understand the Road Assistance Program will help during the warranty period, but it seems this could be an expensive and major inconvenience down the road.>>

I'm certainly not a Prius expert--have only had mine since the middle of May. But my understanding is that when the battery goes weak/dead on the key fob, all you do is get a new battery to put in it. I'm not sure what kind of battery goes in it. In the manual it looks like a little watch battery.

Barb in Lebanon PA

 

My llimited understanding of fob operation is that the battery "powers" the SKS, so when the battery dies, you have a "normal" fob. You can use the embedded key to get in the car, and stick the fob in the slot in the dash to operate the car....am I wrong?

 

The owners manual explains how to replace the battery in the fob. A battery costs less than $3 at Radio Shack. It also explains how to use the fob/key manually if the battery is dead.

 

If your fob battery is completely dead, you open your doors with the manual key in the drivers door and start the car by putting the key in the slot, just liike the non-SKS cars do. The computer can read the key even with a dead battery when it's in the slot, a new battery is very cheap and common, I think it's a CR2032 that you'd buy at Target or wherever.

 

If you don't have to give your other fob to anyone,
the suggestion on the board is to use it as your
spare-if-the-other-gets-smooshed.
What I did was take the physical key and
put it in my purse. I took the battery out of
the extra fob and put the extra in my car in a
place that wouldn't be easily found by a thief.
The great advantage to this is that now I've
got an extra battery for when mine dies. I've
also got a way in and to start my car should my
fob get crushed by a meteor (it could happen ).

Esther

 

Can I have the name and location of the dealer so I can go over and laugh at them, while I show them the truth in the OWNER'S MANUAL?

 

that's one of the more ridiculous dealership experiences i've heard.

most places have no clue about the prius, they hand you the fob and hopw you know how to drive it away...

come to us before going to your dealer, chances are you'll save some money. there are a lot of experts here and not so many at dealers!

knowledge by experience, ya know.
except DanMan, who's just prius-knowledge-inclined to begin with.

 

Actually, I gleaned alot of information from here, from John's site, and from Grahm's site. I think Grahm was the first. I had no idea about the PSD, but it was fascinating. Then, after being on this site and PriusOnline, I decided to go for it and get the PDFs from Toyota. Best $20 and 2 weeks I ever spent.

It did help that I have a background it electronics and computers, and since my dad was an automechanic as well as Jack of all trades, I have a broad background on how things work. Not so clued in on how a conventional automatic transmission works though, other than the torque converter.