New prius - Fobs don't work well?

Hmm... Don't know. That's not the normal operation of the system. The SE should activate the instant you touch the door handle on either of the front doors.

Maybe it's a faulty fob or a low battery? Have you tried the second fob?

Dave

 

The smart entry system activates when you touch the black strip located on the inside of the door handle; walking up to or standing near the car won't do it. I programmed the SE mode while sitting inside the car; try that to see if it helps. Also, make sure the SE on/off switch (below the steering wheel) is on.

 

If the panic button does nothing, something is wrong. Take it to the dealer.

Very rarely, when I grab the door handle, nothing happens. I have to take my hand away and try again. But this is rare. From your description, there is a defect somewhere.

 

my car unlocks just as i'm reaching for the door handle. the only time i actually have to touch it is if i am opening the rear hatch first. i love it. sounds to me like there is something wrong with the system.

on the other hand, i have been waiting over 3 weeks for my dealer to get back to me regarding the problem with my nav screen. supposedly their toyota regional rep was on vacation. so good luck getting them to respond to a problem with something that's unique to the prius (sigh)

 

When you press any of the buttons on your fob, does a red led just to the right of the lock button come on? If it doesn't the problem is likely a dead battery.

 

The inside of the door handle doesn't require pressure to unlock, but dry hands may not conduct enough electricity to make the door work. I've barely touched the handle in the past and it unlocked, but sometimes a firm grab was ignored.

That no-panic panic button needs looking into...

 

When I took delivery of mine in January, they warned me that it might not work with gloves on. But in fact, it always did work with gloves on. No more gloves now, not for a couple of months, anyway.

 

Is the extra fob still in the car?

 

I believe that you have to press and hold the panic button for at least a second before it will work.

 

Also if SE doesn't work, make sure the fob is close enough to the cer. If I reach for the handle with the fob in my pocket, sometimes it is too far away and I have to step closer.

If SS is working without the key in the slot, then I don't know why the other functions wouldn't.

 

Signal could be blocked

What else do you have next to the FOB. I have found that the FOB will not reliably function if I have it in my pocket next to my PDA. I think the PDA may be shielding the FOB such the signal doesn't get out. Other things could be doing the same.

 

How much are extra Fobs?

Alpha

 

Standard FOB fails

After taking some photos while on holiday in South France, I was unable to start the car after inserting my FOB (I have the standard Prius, i.e. no smart key) despite various attempts including turning it, dashboard did not light up. Had already arranged to be towed away when I remembered that I had a reserve FOB and after trying that one, I was able to start the car again normally. About an hour later I tried again to use my original FOB and it worked again ! After studying the manual, I remain puzzled what the cause could have been. It was not unduly hot (about 80F) and I had kept the FOB in my dry shorts pocket while taking the pictures, not sure if my mobile phone was in the same pocket, probably not. This happened after having the car for 4 months and driving about 3000 miles so the battery in the FOB should be still ok, dealer recommends to replace it once a year.

Lesson learned: keep always the spare FOB with you.

Question: Did anybody have a similar experience ?

 

Re: Standard FOB fails

The more I hear of situations like this, the more I think that Toyota's rolling-code scheme for the starter system is a bit fragile and needed a bit more debugging before being set loose in the wild.

Won't stop me from buying a Prius as soon as one comes available I just hope Toyota are looking into issues like this...

 

If my fob is in my pocket with my cell phone I often get a delay or malfunction when trying to lock or unlock the door. When they are in opposite pockets, I don't have a problem.

 

Radio interference is a funny old game, really.

Anecdote #1: There's a coffee shop near my house with fantastic, free WiFi availability, but lousy cell phone reception. My first theory was that the WiFi was interfering (probably part of it, actually); my second was just that the building was an accidental Faraday cage, not designed with the idea that one day people would be sitting in it wanting to receive phone calls. But it was also pointed out to me that the upper storeys of the building include several medical clinics, with X-Ray and other imaging systems...

Anecdote #2: Whenever I park in one particular spot on the street near one particular friend's house, my car door remote (non-Prius) fails to work well. One time I actually had to get *into* the car (using the old-fashioned key) and set off the alarm before I could finally get the remote to be recognised! There is absolutely nothing obvious at that street corner -- not even an electrical transformer -- to explain this phenomenon, but I've had it happen to me three times now. (And yeah, I know, I shouldn't park there Sometimes it's the best spot!).