Pat, with an SKS system the car also beeps if it's READY and you open the door. The easiest way to positively confirm your car is off is to lock it when you get out. If you can lock it with the fob button or the SKS door handle black button, your car is off. If you're the type for both belt and suspenders, try opening the back door after you've locked it.
So maybe the dealer could fit a strobe light in the car to alert a driver the system is in ready mode when the door is open. So with a strobe and a beeper now we have covered the deaf or blind driver but dumb ...
With SKS there is a soft little beep when you exit the running car with the key, but the fireworks don't start until you try to lock it. When I investigated Fiona's protest more thoroughly, I could hear the little urgent beep, but the ambient noise of the hardware store parking lot next to the expressway prevented me from hearing her first gentle protest. (After all, she IS a princess.) :drama:
The bigger risk to you which is far above the small amount of fuel you might burn is that a) you can't lock the vehicle when it's running and you have the fob outside the vehicle, thus.... b) anyone who knows how to drive the vehicle can just get into it and drive it away. Do Prius' have any value in today's market? So............. I direct all my clients to remember this simple procedure PARK, POWER, OUT! PARK, POWER, OUT! PARK, POWER, OUT! Put it in PARK, POWER off, get OUT!
It's not only newbs. Last month after 30 months of driving I left it running in the parking lot all day while I was at work.
This is easy to do especially when you are in a hurry with too much going on in your head. If you don't want to spend unnecessary dollars for repair, do not forget to Power off your Prius. They just don't like being left on alone.
Your princess may be quiet, but mine complains a bit more. I, too, have the SKS, and when I walk away while the car is in Ready mode, it will beep three times. There is no mistaking that you've done something wrong. In fact, I have a more difficult time hearing the single confirming beep than the three-beep "Don't-Leave-Me!" sound.
+1 although i admit, i did leave the car one once while having lunch with some friends, i guess i was just too hungry to realize when i got back to the car i was like OMG Wth!!!
I don't have SKS, so it's not an issue. Yesterday, I met one of the kids at the chiropractor's office. When I went out to leave, I discovered he'd left the Buick running. Um... huh?
I look at the lights on the dash. If they are all "off" and the "Park" light goes on automatically, then I am confident the engine is off. Although the electric motor will still run for awhile afterwards as the engine shuts down. It is unnerving to walk away while I can still hear a humming, whining sound.
So, the airport guy left it running for a week, and Dusty runs out of gas during dinner ... How long were eating Dusty? Had comparable confusions in my 1st few months -- Stomping on a phantom clutch pedal & trying to shift the little knoblet into gear. Starting the car; hearing the ICE go on, then off; thinking it stalled out, so pressed the PWR button & brake to turn it back on ... I still sometimes forget to press "P" before shut-down ...
Heres a workaround: Disable the SKS. Then it'll start beepin at you the instant you open the door with the keys in the slot
That little motor you hear is the coolant pump filling the thermous with hot coolent for the next start-up. This message comes to you from near St. Louis --- half way to Hybridfest. Mileage for this part of the trip: 48.7 mpg. Speed at speed limits, 75 in Oklahoma and 70 in Missouri.
Simply push POWER button when you are ready to leave. Forget 'bout the PARKING button. I push PARK only when i want the car to idle so i dont have to step on the brake. Otherwise, POWER on, POWER off
