[priusnewbie]

My husband said that leaving the doors unlocked (ie lights off, car off, everything off, parked in our garage... but doors left unlocked) will drain the battery. I said if that's true, even if we didn't drive the car, touch the car, left it in the garage... wouldn't the battery and hence the car be dead in less than a week? How is this any different from leaving a "regular" car unlocked??

Who's right???

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[firepa63]

Leaving the doors unlocked will not drain the battery provided the doors are closed tightly so the interior lights are not on.

 

[priusnewbie]

THANK YOU!

I win.

 

[DanMan32]

Actually, leaving the car locked could actually drain the battery more then it being locked if you have SKS. When the car is locked, the fob is polled for by the oscillators at regular intervals. This doesn't happen when the car is unlocked.

 

[RealAle]

THANK YOU!

I win.

Not so fast!

If you try to lock the prius and any of the doors is ajar, the prius will beep a few times to warn you. Leaving a door ajar (and along with it, cabin lights) is a great way to drain the battery.

 

[Zaxxon]

Yesterday when I went to run some errands, my 10-day-old Prius greeted me with silence. The 'security' light on the dash was still flashing, but cabin lights, SKS, and power would not work. Turns out my battery was dead. After a quick jump from our Camry, it started up just fine.

I'm not sure what I did to kill it. I gave a demo the night before, and all doors were shut, lights off, etc afterward. I suppose it's possible that I left it 'on', but I don't think I did. I'm somewhat surprised that there apparently aren't any features in place to kill power after the key fob has been out of the car and nothing touched for hours...

 

[DanMan32]

That's one of the pitfalls of SKS.
If the fob is in the slot in the dash, either it is locked in there, or if unlocked, removing it powers down the car.

The car does beep at you though if you close any door with the car powered up and the fob not in the car. I get that often when I put the car in ACC to listen to the radio while filling up, or even doing something quick while the car is still powered on.
With the driver door open and the car powered up, the car will incessently beep at you, much like a typical 'Key in Ignition' or 'Headlights On' beeper.

 

[mrv]

a Prius left undriven long enough will have a dead 12v accessory battery. There are still some parasitic loads (such as powering things like your radio memory), besides any lights you may have left on.

I am a strong proponent of always locking your Prius' doors when you park it (even if it is in your locked garage at home). Use the remote keyless entry buttons, or if you have a Smart car the black button on the door. The Prius will not lock its doors if a door is left open. An open door (or more commonly the rear hatch) can leave a dome light on, which will very quickly drain the 12v battery.

BUT, provided that you are certain that you have turned off the interior lights, an unlocked car left undriven can go for longer than a locked car left undriven before the 12v battery goes dead. If you have a Prius with an alarm (standard on the Classic, an option on the current Prius), the alarm system is armed when you lock the doors, which adds another parasitic load to the system...

 

[ChandraJay]

I left my 2006 Prius w/unlocked (but closed) doors parked in the garage for 4 weeks and did not drain the battery -- as the car started right away when I returned.