Curious: When parking, what do YOU do?

Have had the car about a month now. At first I pushed park and then power. In the first week I got distracted and left the car on for about and hour. After that I changed to being a power button only person. Eliminates possibility of repeating that mistake again.

Roger

 

I put it in park, set the emergency brake, and turn the ignition key to the off position. This allows the key to be removed from the ignition, and stored safely in my bag.

Oh, wait, I don't drive a Prius.

Never mind.

 

I just turn it off. This sets it in park. It is one of the nice conveniences of the Prius.

Tom G.

 

I believe the manual of the GII Prius advised that it's preferable to press park before powering down. What does the GIII manual say?

 

i leave mine all the time so i can make a quick getaway. oh wait, i have a geetoo.

 

I always hit park, and then the power button.. Occassionally I do forget to hit park, but the power button takes care of it if I don't. I think I have only left the Prius on once.. However I have accidentally left the Volt on a couple times on accident as it does not beep or anything like the Prius does if you leave it on.

 

I am often reminded - by some beeping - to turn the power off - and this after I'm already out of the car.

So I guess I must hit "Park" first.

And that's when I'm not already being reminded by a different signal that I left the keys inside the car (with the power on).

 

I prefer to press park, P button when intending to park. I just like to get it out of gear soon to be safer. Could switch it up by setting parking brake, turning lights off, then pushing power button.

 

Actually just watched the 3rd gen quick reference DVD this evening. They demonstrate only using the power button when stopped as it sets the car in Park also. But, it's fine to push the P button first.

I think the reason I push the P button first when parkign is it gives me a second to think about what to turn off, like the radio, and lights before powering off. I prefer having it in Park rather than just having the parking brake set before powering off.

OTOH, getting distracted like reaching to pick something or trying to get out while in gear could be really bad!

 

Sometimes, I arrive at my destination in the middle of a phone conversation, and that's when I press Park. It kills the ICE if it's running and lets me either switch off Bluetooth or finish my call handsfree. This might sound like a corner case, but it happens a few times a week.

 

:focus: I've solved the problem by having my wife turn the Prius off. If you don't have one ( wife that is) I suggest you get one . They can be quite useful from time to time .......oh that hurt! ( wife is watching over my shoulder as I type this) ...really kidding

 

The process must have changed for 2011 because there's no mention in the owners manual of any alternate method of setting "P".

2-1. Driving Procedures (->P.152)

Parking the vehicle
With the shift position in “Dâ€, depress the brake pedal.
Set the parking brake. (→P. 182)
Push the “P†position switch. (→P. 176)
When parking on hill, if necessary, block the wheels.
Turn the “POWER†switch OFF and stop the hybrid system.
Lock the door, making sure that you have the electronic key
on your person.

 

The Prius DVD and the manual both say you can just hit the Power to turn it off. That automatically sets it in Park. Either way is fine, but for me, the less button pushing the better. Here's some info from the manual:

Stopping the hybrid system
Stop the vehicle.
Press the “POWER” switch.
Check that the shift position indicator on the instrument
cluster is set in “P”.
Set the parking brake. (→P. 179)
Release the brake pedal and check that the indicator on the
“POWER” switch is off.
If you stop the hybrid system without setting the shift position to
“P”, the shift position will be shifted to “P” automatically. You can
also shift the shift position to “P” by pressing the “P” position
switch.