[PA Prius]

I just walked past my car in the garage and the lights blinked as though it was being locked. I checked and indeed the doors were locked. I had parked the car in the garage about two hours ago and did not lock the doors. My keys were in the house about 30' away. My wife has her keys at work, so they are not close by. What is happening here? '04 with SKS. I am not aware that this has happened before in the four months we have had the car.

PA P

 

[DanMan32]

Kids playing a prank? I don't see how it could lock itself. I wish it could though.

 

[Phish Phood]

Yeah.. mine doesn't lock either.. 2006..

 

[dgstan]

Is it possible that you could have accidentally pushed the "unlock" button on the fob while in the house just prior to going into the garage?

If the "unlock" is pushed and no one opens a door, the car will automatically lock itself about 43 second later.

That's my guess.

 

[DanMan32]

The remote lock will work at around 30'. So it could have been someone in the house playing.

My Saturn's remote lock was quite sensitive. I could operate it from my bedroom or den which were about 30' away. GM's fobs make it too easy to accidentally hit the panic button. Quite often my Saturn would start honking at me when my keys would press on the panic button on the fob in my pocket.

 

[firepa63]

I think dgstan has the answer. It's happened to me. Timing is everything...

 

[Phoenix]

Self-Locking Doors

Maybe they changed the newer models, but my 2002 Prius auto-locks the doors. If I don't lock the doors, a minute or so after parking and exiting the car, the lights flash and the doors lock by themselves.

 

[firepa63]

Re: Self-Locking Doors

Maybe they changed the newer models, but my 2002 Prius auto-locks the doors. If I don't lock the doors, a minute or so after parking and exiting the car, the lights flash and the doors lock by themselves.

It doesn't work that way on the 04-06.

 

[DanMan32]

I was hoping the passive alarm would auto-lock the car. All it did was arm the alarm, but not lock the doors. It was quickly found to be annoying.

 

[mrv]

Re: Self-Locking Doors

Maybe they changed the newer models, but my 2002 Prius auto-locks the doors. If I don't lock the doors, a minute or so after parking and exiting the car, the lights flash and the doors lock by themselves.

Are you sure you're not helping it? Did you install something special to your 2002? The Classic doesn't auto-lock, with the exception when you press the door unlock button on the keyfob, and then don't open the doors within 45 seconds...

As for the NHW20 with SKS, if someone wasn't playing with you, or you had done the already mentioned unlock button press before you got there... perhaps a recognized keyfob is actually within range, so when you approached the door (perhaps brushed by it?) you unlocked the door, and then since it wasn't opened it relocked after the timeout? Are you also sure that the lights flashed along with external beeping? External beeping might tell you that you left your car on or you left a key in the vehicle...

 

[DanMan32]

For SKS to work, the fob would have to be within 3-5 feet. Remote however works as far as 30'. It's pretty hard to trigger an SKS lock by brushing against the car, since the tactile sensor is on the inside of the door handle. However, you could brush against the square button, which would lock the car if the fob is within SKS range.

 

[Phoenix]

Autolock feature

MRV, now that you mention it, that could be it. I'll have to experiment a little to see.

I keep my keys in my pocket, though, when they aren't in the ignition. I've had too many close calls on locking my keys in the car or trunk -- old age is creeping up on me, I guess.

 

[PA Prius]

I appreciate all your suggestions, but I'm still stumped and will likely chalk this one up to mystery. The keys were on our island in the kitchen and I hadn't touched them in the last half hour. My daughter, the only other person in the house, also says she didn't do anything with them. I'll let you know if it happens again or if I become enlightened in the mean time.

PA P

 

[mrv]

keep an eye on the keyfob, see if it's transmitting on its own. I guess it's possible for a button to get stuck in the down position, or depending on where it is living a button could be accidentially pressed (most common in a pocket with other keys).

 

[Phoenix]

Autolock feature

Oh, I forgot, sometimes the buttons get pushed by stuff in your pocket. I had several mysterious lockings, unlockings and alarms from the fob buttons being pushed by keys and change, when walking, etc. Take a look at your key chain and see if one of the other items on it aligns with the buttons. You might be able to move it or take it off the chain.

 

[DanMan32]

Do you have a cat?

 

[PA Prius]

No cat. And no other pets, well, unless you count Scarlet, that's our Prius.

PA P

 

[TheOtherJim]

It works that way on the '08; it was driving me nuts today, so I Googled it and wound up on this page. Belated (seven years belated!) thanks to DGStan for the answer.