Shutting car down without putting it in Park

Many of us do just hit the power button. Fewer use the parking brake; if mine's been used other than at state inspection time, I'd be surprised.

 

I press the power button as soon as I come to a stop, only use the P button if I want to keep the car on. I've used the parking brake only once in the time that I've been driving the car.

 

I've done that too a few times. I seem to recall seeing it in the Owners Manual. It's fine; The car will go into "P" on its own when the power is cut.

(I've also forgotten to turn the Power off a few times! Thankfully, I heard some beeps when I got out of the car.)

 

My wife would drive for miles not realizing it is on complaining that the car feels sluggish. Safer to leave if off.

 

I'm just going by what it says in the manual.

Set parking brake
Push "P" button
Turn Power off

My driveway is sloped. If I don't set the parking brake first, my Prius kind of "jerks" when I turn off the Power button and take my foot off the brake pedal.

 

I always use the parking brake in every car. Less wear and tear on the transaxle and safer on an incline.

I train myself not to use the P. When you power off it's done for you automatically. My reasoning is simple:

1. It's one extra step and I am lazy.
2. The car is silent when parked. I may forget to power off if I am in P in the garage and walk away. I'm not likely to forget to power off since the car will creep forward if I let off the gas.

 

It is OK not to use P, I actually advocate not using N or B, but that is a different story. P is just D with the parking pawl engaged, which happens automatically during power down.

I live in the Mississippi Delta, I can drive 154 miles and gain/lose 100 feet. Extremely close to flat. (not smooth, they still have bad roads)

 

I typically set the parking brake, then shut off the car, which automatically puts it in Park. The only time I can think to use Park button would be if I wanted to leave the car sitting and on for some time, which I never do.

 

I was thinking "How does he stay cool in the summer?" Then I checked your location.

 

Thank you to all you veteran Prius owners. I will no longer be concerned if I forget to push the P button.

Now I just have to make sure I Power Off.
If a driver forgets, does the power go off automatically after a period of time??? If not, that would be another great feature to have. But how will the car know that you've walked away? Maybe when the key "Fob" gets more than 15 feet away...

 

It can get hot here. It was strangely hot/dry back in April, more back to normal now. Forest fires are crazy early, in the news a lot.

 

No - the car will stay on until turned off. (See the camping threads with people sleeping inside running the A/C all night) the engine will run occasionally to charge the battery.
I have seen threads where people comment that when they got back from a 2 week vacation, the car was "on" at the airport. - no damage if you don't run out of gas...

 

I lived in Bellingham WA, from 1981 to 1988, perhaps the climate has changed.

 

I always use the parking brake, even on flat land. First, I was always taught it was bad to leave the car with the transmission holding it from moving. So, I set my parking brake when I park. Secondly, I have never had to worry about it freezing. We only get below freezing like one night a year, if that.

 

I use it only when parking on a steepish grade, to minimize stress on the park mechanism in the tranmission. Otherwise, why bother wearing out the parking brake?

 

The Prius has a parking pawl set up like most cars. It engages automatically when the power button is pushed.

If anything, I would appreciate a stationary mode to keep the car cool (it's 117 degrees where I am right now -- I tried my digital thermometer to see how hot it was in the car, but it wouldn't work because of the heat!!).

It would be nice to be able to push a button and have the car remain in the Ready mode with the doors locked and the parking pawl set so the car could not be moved. Maybe with an 8 hour timer. It would ruin the gas mileage, but would be helpful. Right now I have to keep the laptop and cell phone in the ice chest.

 

Thanks Kevin. It's nice that the Power and AC stay on while sleeping in the car for camping. (Which reminds me, I haven't tried to lay my long body down in the back of my Prius. I don't think I will fit.)

But for those owners who walk away with their Key Fob, and forget to cut the Power (hopefully a rare occasion) it would be nice if the Power would automatically turn off. After 5 minutes? After the Fob is 15 or 20 feet away?

I guess I'm not understanding why Toyota would design a Prius to keep the Power on all the time... for several days or weeks... even when the driver is nowhere near the car? There must be a simple reason. For people in hot climates that like the AC to run all night? (And are you able to lock the doors from the outside, with the Power left on?)

Edit to add: I couldn't lock the doors with the Power left on. I tried the "lock doors button" on the Key Fob, and then tried touching the lock sensor on the door handle. All I got was a high-pitched tone

 

Scenario: you're driving your spouse to work, she(he) get's out, and you continue on your way. Unbeknownst to you, you've forgotten your fob, only your spouse had hers. 5 minutes later, cruising along, do you want the car to shut down?

This doesn't happen where you have a physical key: new tech, new problems.