new Louisiana member

My name is Gene Lueg and just got a '05 Prius from my FIL. I have a wife who couldn't start it this morning and a 7 yr old who wants to drive it. Actually the reason we got the car is because my MIL will not own a car she can't trust to start and they had called a wreaker 3 or 4 times when the car wouldn't start. Last week just before they decided to go ahead and buy a new car (Acura, yeah, OK huh , think I will get on the list for that one too!) the wreaker driver started the car by inserting the remote into the slot on the dash. My inlaws did not know about that, never read the book I guess. They towed it and charged for battery analysis anyway.
Why does the car do this? I had just taken our daughter to school in the car and a few minutes later my wife gets in the car to go to town. No go. I finally inserted the remote into the slot and it worked. She had the remote in her purse on the passenger seat. When this happens the display comes on so it must be receiving a signal from the remote. The instrumentation does not come on and it will not run.

Gene in Louisiana