Could not lock my car

[irina-rsl]

Hello,

This afternoon when I tried locking my car (from the outside, having left my bag and laptop inside ) there was a beep and the car did not lock.

Once I took the bag and laptop out of the car, it managed to lock. I also tried again with the laptop and bag in the car boot, still it beeped when I tried to lock it (and it did not lock).

Why did it do this and how can I solve this? As I don't always want to carry my bag and laptop with me and would rather leave it in the car.

[Big_D]

If you left the items on the seat, this could possibly be the car sensing that something is on the seat and perhaps interpreting this as a person

[Vandals01]

Another possibility is the Keyless system:

If your car is equipped with Keyless, it will refuse to lock the car if it senses the key were left inside.

[irina-rsl]

Thanks both for your replies.

Big_D: at one point I had moved my laptop and bag to the car boot (nothing left on the seats) and it still refused to lock.

Vandals01: I had the keys with me outside. No keys were left inside when I tried to lock it. I stood around 1 meter away from the car when trying to lock the car.

[swazi]

1 hour ago, Big_D said:

If you left the items on the seat, this could possibly be the car sensing that something is on the seat and perhaps interpreting this as a person

 

[swazi]

There could also be an issue with the laptop. It may interrupt signals. My BT landline set my car's alarm off with every incoming call. BT were able to assist by fitting some item at the exchange. Your computer blue tooth or internet may affect your vehicles locking system

[irina-rsl]

I will do some more experimenting with and without the laptop and share the results on here 🧐

[irina-rsl]

Can confirm laptop in and out of car did not make a difference.

Next experiment: when I get in my car, I will put my bag and laptop in the car boot from the start (nothing on seats at all times). Then I will get out of my car and try locking my car (with the bag and laptop left in the car boot) and see what it does.

[Wiz201]

If the laptop is switched off then surely that won't make any difference?

[Sooty]

I wonder if there is a sensor that if it registers something on the seat I.E a child and the door is not opened after you switch off the car then it will not allow you to lock the car as it wil think you have left a child in it.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Possibly Toyota's Rear Seat Reminder System -

 "Rear Seat Reminder System

This system warns the driver if a passenger or object is left on the rear seat when leaving the car*.

*Subject to model, after locking the vehicle, the hazard lights and an audible warning buzzer are activated."

Check your owners manual.

[irina-rsl]

57 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Possibly Toyota's Rear Seat Reminder System -

 "Rear Seat Reminder System

This system warns the driver if a passenger or object is left on the rear seat when leaving the car*.

*Subject to model, after locking the vehicle, the hazard lights and an audible warning buzzer are activated."

Check your owners manual.

"After locking the vehicle" - the problem is that it doesn't lock at all - I've tried opening the door after the beeping noise and doors are not locked. Also, what if you do want to leave something in the back seat? Are you obliged to take everything with you out of the car? Surely not 😅

[irina-rsl]

1 hour ago, Sooty said:

I wonder if there is a sensor that if it registers something on the seat I.E a child and the door is not opened after you switch off the car then it will not allow you to lock the car as it wil think you have left a child in it.

Yes exactly - this is why I want to test putting everything in the car boot from the start, instead of the seats, and seeing if the same thing happens 🤔

[irina-rsl]

2 hours ago, Wiz201 said:

If the laptop is switched off then surely that won't make any difference?

Yes good point - laptop is switched off the majority or the time.

[FROSTYBALLS]

51 minutes ago, irina-rsl said:

Also, what if you do want to leave something in the back seat? Are you obliged to take everything with you out of the car? Surely not

Ideally, from a security point of view and to remove temptation from potential theives, items should be put in the boot (ie. removed from view) when the car is parked. Common sense really.

[GalloB]

This might be a very dumb suggestion but as it happened to me once with another car I'll put it out there.

You don't have the spare key in the car anywhere by any chance do you? On a previous car I had with keyless entry you could not lock the car if a key was already inside. I was at the garage and for some reason put the spare key in the glove box and looked a right idiot trying to repeatedly lock it when it wouldn't - then reported it as a fault to the garage who very politely told me the problem was my own doing.

[irina-rsl]

16 minutes ago, GalloB said:

This might be a very dumb suggestion but as it happened to me once with another car I'll put it out there.

You don't have the spare key in the car anywhere by any chance do you? On a previous car I had with keyless entry you could not lock the car if a key was already inside. I was at the garage and for some reason put the spare key in the glove box and looked a right idiot trying to repeatedly lock it when it wouldn't - then reported it as a fault to the garage who very politely told me the problem was my own doing.

There was no other car keys in the vicinity (or inside) of the car.

[irina-rsl]

34 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Ideally, from a security point of view and to remove temptation from potential theives, items should be put in the boot (ie. removed from view) when the car is parked. Common sense really.

Common sense but there may be times where you might want to leave things inside (let's say you are moving home and you put lots of stuff in the car) and you might want to go for a lunch break, or something like that. 

[Kental]

If the rear seat detection is activated, it can clear by opening & closing the rear door.  If this does not work, the rear seat detector (separate to the seatbelt warning) is a user setting.

[TonyHSD]

There are only two possible scenarios for the car to refuse been locked with key fob or touch of a button on the handle: 

1. Another set of keys inside the car - the op says not the case

2. A door left not properly closed - sometimes can happen and the door or the boot it will look closed where actually it is not. The car will refuse to lock itself. 
And the third possibility is if any of the switches on the door shuts becomes faulty, got stuck or for other reason it will not confirm to the ecu all doors are shut and it will not let you lock the car. 
Btw these little switches can be pushed out of order by swapping onto them , for example an odd way getting in or out of the car, people with disabilities, overweight etc . Or you just sat on to put on your shoes and took out of alignment this little switch. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Suggestions raised here don't seem to be answering your issue, so book it into a Toyota dealer for them to investigate.

[Shared]

41 minutes ago, irina-rsl said:

Common sense but there may be times where you might want to leave things inside (let's say you are moving home and you put lots of stuff in the car) and you might want to go for a lunch break, or something like that. 

 

That seems more like nonsense than common sense "Should you accidentally leave something in view in your car we'll make life easier for the tea leafs by ensuring they can just open your door"

I can see the sense in some sort of reminder, another bing or bong perhaps but I despair at the way modern cars are beginning to "nanny" people, I mean what's the next "common sense feature" "Your car will not start if you're sat in the driving seat, almost guaranteeing you'll never crash" ?

This isn't just a Toyota thing it's applicable to many manufacturers.

[irina-rsl]

2 hours ago, Shared said:

 

That seems more like nonsense than common sense "Should you accidentally leave something in view in your car we'll make life easier for the tea leafs by ensuring they can just open your door"

I can see the sense in some sort of reminder, another bing or bong perhaps but I despair at the way modern cars are beginning to "nanny" people, I mean what's the next "common sense feature" "Your car will not start if you're sat in the driving seat, almost guaranteeing you'll never crash" ?

This isn't just a Toyota thing it's applicable to many manufacturers.

In my opinion, you should ALWAYS be able to lock your car, even if you may (or may not) have forgotten something. I think sometimes we have taken things a bit too far with "smart" technology 😅

[irina-rsl]

3 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

There are only two possible scenarios for the car to refuse been locked with key fob or touch of a button on the handle: 

1. Another set of keys inside the car - the op says not the case

2. A door left not properly closed - sometimes can happen and the door or the boot it will look closed where actually it is not. The car will refuse to lock itself. 
And the third possibility is if any of the switches on the door shuts becomes faulty, got stuck or for other reason it will not confirm to the ecu all doors are shut and it will not let you lock the car. 
Btw these little switches can be pushed out of order by swapping onto them , for example an odd way getting in or out of the car, people with disabilities, overweight etc . Or you just sat on to put on your shoes and took out of alignment this little switch. 

Thanks for your input. I can confirm there was no second key in the car. I can also confirm that doors were properly closed.

[irina-rsl]

Did some more experimenting this afternoon after work.

Having finished my shift, I went to my car with my bag and laptop and put them straight into the boot instead of car seats. Drove home. Got out of the car and did not take out the bag and laptop from the boot. I tried locking the car with the key, once again it beeped and did not lock the car.

Once I took the bag and laptop out of the boot and tried locking the car with the key, did it lock with no beeping.