Is my door locked? Is my alarm armed?

Look at the passenger side handle. If that side is locked, you can assume the driver's side is locked, too. Of course, to be 100% sure, just go to the passenger side and look to see if the driver's side is indeed locked. I admit that would be a pain, but not as much of a pain as getting rid of the SKS.

 

I always lock the car using the external button. The car beeps and the interior light shuts off. Using any other method always left me worried that the car was unlocked. I don't even think about it anymore, and can't even begin to express how much we love the smartkey, as we are loadking/unloading stuff for Megan to take to her classroom everyday.

I also believe that when you approach it with the smartkey, even though the light comes one, the car does not actually unlock until you pull on one of the door/hatchback handles.

 

Remember that you have to press a button to lock the doors- they don't lock automatically when you walk away from the car. Having said that, when you press the button on the door, or the button on your key fob, you should be able to hear a single chirp signifying you've locked the door. You'll also hear the doors physically locking.

Also, if you look closely at the locks, you'll see a red sticker on the little latch by the handle. If its red, it's unlocked. If its black, it's locked.

 

In fact, if you lock the door thru SKS button on the door handle, it will not unlock the door even if you try to pull it within a few seconds (10 maybe?). I always lock the door thru the SKS black buttons on the door handle and pull it right after to make sure it is locked.

 

Pull the handle within 3 seconds of locking the door. The smart key system will not unlock the door during that interval. It does this for the very reason you ask; so you can verify that it is locked.

See the manual for more information.

I believe that you can have the dealer increase the delay to something greater than 3 seconds.

 

You can always try to open a rear door, which doesn't have the SKS sensor. Not 100% foolproof, but if the back doors are locked, the front ones probably are too, if you used the door or fob button.

 

All good advice from the others. I do think that you're missing the part where SKS does NOT lock the doors for you. You must press the little black button on the front doors, or the hatch... OR use the button on the remote. When you do that you can hear and see the locking happening. You'll get used to the sound once you start locking the car.

I'm smiling because I thought the SKS would lock the car for me as I walked away as well. It doesn't!

You also asked about setting the alarm. The Prius does not come from the factory with an alarm.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Feb 15 2007, 10:30 PM) [snapback]391306[/snapback]</div>

If I open the windows, close the doors and lock them, then reach in through a window and open a door from the inside, all sorts of noise starts happening. Not alarming?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bill Merchant @ Feb 16 2007, 02:44 AM) [snapback]391312[/snapback]</div>

If the OP has a 2007 package #2, it won't have the anti-theft system, as that's part of package #3, so I'm assuming all the noise wouldn't happen. I have to admit, when I first got the car, I was a little confused about how I "set" the alarm, until I read the manual and found out it set automatically.

 

Once in a while there will be a lot of street noise and I can't hear the beep, or see the lights flash from my position at the side of the car. So I think even if the OP is not confused about the doors not automatically locking, it's a valid question.

I didn't realize I could pull the handle right away after pushing the lock button, so thanks for that tip! That will save me the trouble of pushing it a few times or hitting the remote lock as I walk away and watch the lights just to verify that it's locked.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(harsh (pri touring '07) @ Feb 16 2007, 04:35 PM) [snapback]391686[/snapback]</div>

If I wanted to check that say, a relative, friend, etc, that I had loaned the car to had locked, I'd just try to open a door without the fob on me.

Don't really know why, if you're locking the car, you would want the alarm disabled.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bill Merchant @ Feb 15 2007, 10:44 PM) [snapback]391312[/snapback]</div>

Ah. Because you don't have the OP's car. You got one WITH an alarm, I guess!

I should have wirtten "YOUR" Prius didn't come from the factory with an alarm (to the OP).

 

Sometimes when I'm not sure, I just hit one of the little black button again. It doesn't seem to hurt pressing it while the car's locked.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kinghuang @ Feb 16 2007, 06:40 PM) [snapback]391774[/snapback]</div>

So bummed, just found out from my dealer that my base prius with no SKS cannot be set to chirp or beep when looking the doors, I'll have to check manually...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(luckyboy @ Mar 2 2007, 11:27 AM) [snapback]399168[/snapback]</div>

You can absolutely do this yourself by adding a buzzer to the 12V feed to one of the lock solenoids. I did exactly this with my Rav4EV
http://evnut.com/rav_lock_chirp.htm

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(darelldd @ Mar 2 2007, 02:59 PM) [snapback]399186[/snapback]</div>

Thanks for the link, I'll have to look into it

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(harsh (pri touring '07) @ Feb 15 2007, 09:36 AM) [snapback]390923[/snapback]</div>

It's not too difficult to pull the handle out from above and below the black bar, so that it doesn't activate SKS.

 

Three more ways to check if the car was locked:

All with Key Fob in hand and approaching driver door:

1) If the door is locked, the power button and dome light will come on. If the door is not locked, they won't.

2) Within approximately three feet of the door, the little red LED on the Key Fob will flash if the door is locked, if it doesn't flash the driver door is unlocked.

3) If it is daytime and you did not see any of the lights, grab the door handle, but do not pull. <blockquote>a.) If you do NOT hear the door unlock, the car was unlocked to begin with.
b.) If you DO hear the door unlock, it WAS locked, but is now no longer locked . . . BUT, you don't need to lock them again . . . just walk away and they will automatically re-lock themselves in about 20 seconds.</blockquote>
With the driver door unlocked, if you approach the front passenger door, the start button and dome light will come on and the little red LED on the KEY FOB will flash if the passenger door is locked . . . provided the driver has not started the car . . . in that case, all exterior SKS functions are disabled. The front passenger door is not a reliable indicator if the driver door is locked or unlocked.

I have not tested the above with scenarios such as, "what if a passenger door is unlocked and you approach a locked driver or front passenger door?"
If that is your worry, just repeatedly hit the lock buttons on the car's exterior, or the lock button on the Key Fob . . . the car will repeatedly try to lock itself as many times as you hit the buttons and the batteries' charges allow. :blink: