What I Didn't Know Until Tonight

[monya]

Saw my Mrs lock the car by pressing a button on the boot.Saw the winkers flash and thought - WHAT! Didn't even know there was a locking button here. Thought it was on the door handles only. AND I've read the handbook top to bottom. Wifey has never seen it. Had the car 4 b***** months and never knew! You learn something new every day.....

[FourFourTwo]

Saw my Mrs lock the car by pressing a button on the boot.Saw the winkers flash and thought - WHAT! Didn't even know there was a locking button here. Thought it was on the door handles only. AND I've read the handbook top to bottom. Wifey has never seen it. Had the car 4 b***** months and never knew! You learn something new every day.....

LOL! You know what? - I discovered exactly the same thing while thumbing through the manual earlier tonight!

Until now, I have always closed the rear hatch and then walked around to the doors to lock the car. Yup, you learn something new evey day.

[dwilson]

Saw my Mrs lock the car by pressing a button on the boot.Saw the winkers flash and thought - WHAT! Didn't even know there was a locking button here. Thought it was on the door handles only. AND I've read the handbook top to bottom. Wifey has never seen it. Had the car 4 b***** months and never knew! You learn something new every day.....

LOL! You know what? - I discovered exactly the same thing while thumbing through the manual earlier tonight!

Until now, I have always closed the rear hatch and then walked around to the doors to lock the car. Yup, you learn something new evey day.

Is this something unique to Auris HSD?

Can you lock your "key" inside the car by mistake?

David

[r04drunner1]

Confusingly there are TWO buttons on the Prius Gen3 boot lip. One oblong and flat. One square and dimpled. The square dimpled one (on the right hand side) locks the boot - and, indeed, the whole car. The oblong flat button (on the left hand side) unlocks everything.

The Prius Gen3 is clever enough to sense if the key has been left inside it. If you try to lock the car, then it will bleep at you and refuse to lock until you move the key outside. Smarter than the average bear... B)

RR1

P.S. I'm one of those people who reads the manual before trying out the car...!

[Seamaster73]

I'm one of those people who reads the manual before trying out the car...!

There's a lot to be said for it.

[Ancient Nerd]

The downside to locking the boot using the button is that you end up with a filthy finger, unless you washed the car shortly beforehand. Which I usually haven't.

[Jan&tone]

Confusingly there are TWO buttons on the Prius Gen3 boot lip. One oblong and flat. One square and dimpled. The square dimpled one (on the right hand side) locks the boot - and, indeed, the whole car. The oblong flat button (on the left hand side) unlocks everything.

The Prius Gen3 is clever enough to sense if the key has been left inside it. If you try to lock the car, then it will bleep at you and refuse to lock until you move the key outside. Smarter than the average bear... B)

RR1

P.S. I'm one of those people who reads the manual before trying out the car...!

Thats something i didnt know!!

But there again I only read the manual when i need to being like a kid with a new toy i just wanna get going

[oakridge]

Just going a little bit off topic. There have been many cases where drivers have started their car and then got out to clear the windscreen and some wicked opportunist has seized the opportunity the drive off. If the owner has the key in their pocket would it be possible for the thief to get far with the car?

Malcolm

[monya]

You can't lock the car with the keys inside. You get a visual and audible warning + it won't lock. Also discovered you cant lock the car with the button if the key isn't within sensor range. As to whether, once started, someone could drive it away without the key in the car - I haven't a clue

[r04drunner1]

The downside to locking the boot using the button is that you end up with a filthy finger, unless you washed the car shortly beforehand. Which I usually haven't.

True. Also, even if you have washed the car, the buttons are recessed under the lip above the rear number plate. So they don't always get washed!

You can plip the car open using the remote, however if you want to actually open the hatchback you still have to press the button anyway. A remote control boot release (which I had in my last two cars) would be very handy. (Toyota, take note!)

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Just going a little bit off topic. There have been many cases where drivers have started their car and then got out to clear the windscreen and some wicked opportunist has seized the opportunity the drive off. If the owner has the key in their pocket would it be possible for the thief to get far with the car?

Malcolm

Yes they can!!! And you can't zap it with the remote to lock it or switch it off as they drive away etc as I've tested this in a carpark. As soon as they switched the car off they wouldn't be able to restart it though.

Bit worrysome but imagine you're driving down the motorway and the Battery goes dead in your keyfob remote - you wouldn't want the car cutting out because the car couldn't find the key!

Quick tip for clearing ice with the engine running - always clear the drivers side last!

[acetip]

Confusingly there are TWO buttons on the Prius Gen3 boot lip. One oblong and flat. One square and dimpled. The square dimpled one (on the right hand side) locks the boot - and, indeed, the whole car. The oblong flat button (on the left hand side) unlocks everything.

The Prius Gen3 is clever enough to sense if the key has been left inside it. If you try to lock the car, then it will bleep at you and refuse to lock until you move the key outside. Smarter than the average bear... B)

RR1

P.S. I'm one of those people who reads the manual before trying out the car...!

Thats something i didnt know!!

But there again I only read the manual when i need to being like a kid with a new toy i just wanna get going

hi all.

when i agreed to purchase my auris from my toyota dealer and arranged a date to collect it, i asked to be given the hand book to take home with me to read,there is a lot in it,and a lot to remember.

my son drove me over to the dealers which is about 20 miles. after doing all the paper work and paying the balance on the price,also checking that they had sorted out a kerbed wheel and a couple of paint marks,i hopped in the car and headed home.it was just getting dark.as the instrument was brightly lit i wrongly assumed the dealer had put the headlights on.so they i am driving along in an ever reducing visibilty.after a while i come to a juction on a major road and manage to slip into the traffic but my son who was behind me got held up.he could see i had no lights and aand wanted to warn me.there iam driving along thinking these lights are very poor on dip.i used the dip switch to see what the lights were like on main beam,not any better i thought,and the main beam warning is not working.

it was not till i caught up with a lorry and could not see my lights shining on the back of it that it dawned on me the lights were not even switched on.i quickly pulled off the road.i could not remember a thing the handbook said about the lights.of course being a strange car it took a bit of soting out, what with things like auto headights.

even with the interior light on the symbols on the lighting stalk are not very clear.

when i got home,my son arrived shortly afterwards and took took the mick out of me something awfull.i felt a right fool.even a year later when i go out in the car at night he says,dont forget to put your lights on dad. to think i taught him to drive. the instrument lights are bright when the ign is on but dim when you turn on the lights.things didnt use to be like this on earlier cars.

i find how ever well you study a handbook you still have to refer to it now and again.

as delboy, said what a dipstick.after driving for nearly 60 years how come i did a thing like that,must be senile decay.

[r04drunner1]

Acetip - ROTFL! :D

A very understandable problem in a new car, as every manufacturer seems to have different ideas on how to manage the light controls.

Driving at night on well lit roads / roads with lots of traffic, it can indeed be difficult to see if your lights are on or not. I have lost count of the number of cars I have seen driving in town at night with no lights.

I even did it myself one time, was coming up on a police car in town at night and noticed it was slowing down for no observable reason. "What's going on?" I thought as I edged out to pass him... then suddenly realised the awful truth.

I think the redness on my face matched the intensity of my newly ignited rear lights as I drove past the cops... ;)

[FourFourTwo]

I'm one of those people who reads the manual before trying out the car...!

There's a lot to be said for it.

In my defence, let me point out that my manual is in Norwegian, and even though I can "get by" in the language, ploughing through a car manual is pretty heavy going. :)

[timberwolf]

Yes they can!!! And you can't zap it with the remote to lock it or switch it off as they drive away etc as I've tested this in a carpark. As soon as they switched the car off they wouldn't be able to restart it though.

Bit worrysome but imagine you're driving down the motorway and the battery goes dead in your keyfob remote - you wouldn't want the car cutting out because the car couldn't find the key!

Quick tip for clearing ice with the engine running - always clear the drivers side last!

Imagine the situation where there are two key fobs in the car, but only one of the key fobs is working. If the passenger with the working key fob is dropped off first, the driver won't discover that their key fob isn't working until sometime later.

[Seamaster73]

Acetip - ROTFL! :D A very understandable problem in a new car, as every manufacturer seems to have different ideas on how to manage the light controls. Driving at night on well lit roads / roads with lots of traffic, it can indeed be difficult to see if your lights are on or not. I have lost count of the number of cars I have seen driving in town at night with no lights. I even did it myself one time, was coming up on a police car in town at night and noticed it was slowing down for no observable reason. "What's going on?" I thought as I edged out to pass him... then suddenly realised the awful truth. I think the redness on my face matched the intensity of my newly ignited rear lights as I drove past the cops... ;)

For what it must cost, I can't understand why automatic lights aren't standard these days. My bottom of the range Merc has them. It's baffling that you've got to order an expensive accessory pack on the top of the range Prius to get them. (This is the same Prius ballyhooed in the brochure as "most advanced car in the world", BTW.)

[Jan&tone]

Acetip - ROTFL! :D A very understandable problem in a new car, as every manufacturer seems to have different ideas on how to manage the light controls. Driving at night on well lit roads / roads with lots of traffic, it can indeed be difficult to see if your lights are on or not. I have lost count of the number of cars I have seen driving in town at night with no lights. I even did it myself one time, was coming up on a police car in town at night and noticed it was slowing down for no observable reason. "What's going on?" I thought as I edged out to pass him... then suddenly realised the awful truth. I think the redness on my face matched the intensity of my newly ignited rear lights as I drove past the cops... ;)

For what it must cost, I can't understand why automatic lights aren't standard these days. My bottom of the range Merc has them. It's baffling that you've got to order an expensive accessory pack on the top of the range Prius to get them. (This is the same Prius ballyhooed in the brochure as "most advanced car in the world", BTW.)

Seamaster, i take your point, however it is not yet a legal requirement in the UK for daytime running lights, so why should the manufacturers do something they dont need to??

Yes, Volvo and others do it, but .....

[FourFourTwo]

Seamaster, i take your point, however it is not yet a legal requirement in the UK for daytime running lights, so why should the manufacturers do something they dont need to??

Yes, Volvo and others do it, but .....

My Auris HSD has automatic lights and daytime running lights.

[monya]

I read somewhere that daytime running lights were going to become mandatory for new cars sometime early this year.

[Seamaster73]

Acetip - ROTFL! :D A very understandable problem in a new car, as every manufacturer seems to have different ideas on how to manage the light controls. Driving at night on well lit roads / roads with lots of traffic, it can indeed be difficult to see if your lights are on or not. I have lost count of the number of cars I have seen driving in town at night with no lights. I even did it myself one time, was coming up on a police car in town at night and noticed it was slowing down for no observable reason. "What's going on?" I thought as I edged out to pass him... then suddenly realised the awful truth. I think the redness on my face matched the intensity of my newly ignited rear lights as I drove past the cops... ;)

For what it must cost, I can't understand why automatic lights aren't standard these days. My bottom of the range Merc has them. It's baffling that you've got to order an expensive accessory pack on the top of the range Prius to get them. (This is the same Prius ballyhooed in the brochure as "most advanced car in the world", BTW.)

Seamaster, i take your point, however it is not yet a legal requirement in the UK for daytime running lights, so why should the manufacturers do something they dont need to??

Why do they fit electric windows?

[Jan&tone]

Acetip - ROTFL! :D A very understandable problem in a new car, as every manufacturer seems to have different ideas on how to manage the light controls. Driving at night on well lit roads / roads with lots of traffic, it can indeed be difficult to see if your lights are on or not. I have lost count of the number of cars I have seen driving in town at night with no lights. I even did it myself one time, was coming up on a police car in town at night and noticed it was slowing down for no observable reason. "What's going on?" I thought as I edged out to pass him... then suddenly realised the awful truth. I think the redness on my face matched the intensity of my newly ignited rear lights as I drove past the cops... ;)

For what it must cost, I can't understand why automatic lights aren't standard these days. My bottom of the range Merc has them. It's baffling that you've got to order an expensive accessory pack on the top of the range Prius to get them. (This is the same Prius ballyhooed in the brochure as "most advanced car in the world", BTW.)

Seamaster, i take your point, however it is not yet a legal requirement in the UK for daytime running lights, so why should the manufacturers do something they dont need to??

Why do they fit electric windows?

Because joe public demands them... And although i knew DRL's were coming in sometime this year, i didnt know it was so soon.... March 1st i believe??

[Seamaster73]

We're at cross purposes. I wasn't talking about DRLs. I was talking about automatic (aka "dusk sensing") lights.

[r04drunner1]

We're at cross purposes. I wasn't talking about DRLs. I was talking about automatic (aka "dusk sensing") lights.

And the OP was only talking about locking / unlocking the car...

[Jan&tone]

We're at cross purposes. I wasn't talking about DRLs. I was talking about automatic (aka "dusk sensing") lights.

Ah, my mistake....

My brother had thwm on his CRV... Quite funny following him through a forest road in high summer with his lights going on and off all the time... Can't do the bulbs much good?

[Doesn'tExist]

We're at cross purposes. I wasn't talking about DRLs. I was talking about automatic (aka "dusk sensing") lights.

Ah, my mistake....

My brother had thwm on his CRV... Quite funny following him through a forest road in high summer with his lights going on and off all the time... Can't do the bulbs much good?

On the Prius you can only get them with the LED headlights, so no worries about the bulbs. Then again they don't hurt my Audi, nor our Nissan Navara/Murano, nor the 2 BMW before that. I think I can safely say that it has not material affect.

Acetip, that was funny and can happen to all of us. Just remember there has been mandatory for the last 30 odd years I think an indicator which is green on the dash that tells whether your headlights are on or not. The same and standard across all cars

I use the button on the back a lot on the Prius, it is almost standard ritual to give a quick wipe on the lense cover of the rear view camera, get my laptop bag out of the boot (no projectiles on the passenger seat in my car, well not after I had a window smashed in and a laptop nicked in Birmingham once) and lock the vehicle using the boot button.