'06 Prius starts by itself

My car restarts itself FREQUENTLY. It is NOT, I repeat, NOT that I have left it on unintentionally. I power the car completely off and it will restart itself (a 2005 model where the key must be in the console if one WANTS to start it). I have come out of stores or my house to find it running. It restarts itself whether the key is in it or not, but not consistently. I can't sell the car as it is, as that would be unethical, and the car mechanics just tell me it can't be happening. They haven't been able to replicate it themselves, yet. The 12v battery is now dead. I drove it this morning and I tried to drive it this afternoon and apparently it started itself and ran the battery down. (This morning I had turned it off and went in to get coffee and when I came out, the car was running.) I'll have to have it towed to the dealership to replace the battery as the hatchback won't open when the 12v is completely dead.

 

When you say "running", do you mean that the car is displaying "Ready"? Since the 12V is discharged, then I would guess it is in ACC mode. How old is the 12V battery that is in the car now?

Note that you can get in to the car to release the hood latch. That allows one to jump the car from the engine room connection, and then release the hatch, which will be cheaper than towing. But make absolutely sure that the polarity is correct.

 

how many miles on her?

 

nope.

 

My 2012 prius plug in started itself and later shut off. No key fob near the car and dash said no key.

 

i wonder what happened to annwithprius? i guess she experienced it, didn't she.