Time Waiting For Ready To Show

[noisyhen]

Took car to local dealer as very occasionally when attempting to start all the lights came on the dashboard but not the READY sign so it would not start. Also had a lot of vibration when braking.

Service manager advised to keep a diary in an attempt to find out when problem occurred and after short test drive advised the brake disks needed checking, so car was booked in for that. Fantastic news front discs and pads renewed under warranty, no charge.

After a few weeks this starting problem had not occurred again, so stopped with diary but today it did so immediately rang service department and receptionist asked me to switch off, exit car, lock it and retry. Got out locked it and door refused to unlock! Used key to open and car started OK. She advised it could be the Battery in the key and to call in to have it checked.

The key Battery was found to be poor so replaced for £11.50.. how much I said, well that's the cheapest deal we can find for batteries. I reluctantly paid up. I was later in the local market £2.99 to have new car key Battery fitted. Not so happy!

Anyone else had this starting problem?

On last occasion when waiting about 5 mins for the READY I attempted to put into gear and the radio died for a few secs then came back on. Strange.

[timberwolf]

First thing to check is the 12 V Battery.

[Opifex]

I had a new message today telling me that my key Battery was low. I was intending going to the local dealer but at £11.50 I think I'll get the manual out first and see if it tells you how get the key apart.

[Peter Sale]

Agree with Timberwolf, sounds like there might be a problem with the 12 volt Battery.

Not going into ready suggests to me that there might also be a problem with the brake switch and it is not registering that you have pressed it. This may sound really silly but the seat hasn't moved further back has it and you are not getting a full push on the pedal ?.

Peter

[Awebb180]

Check the connections on the 12v Battery for corrosion and get a Battery test done. how old is the car and is it on the original Battery?

Alex

[Ancient Nerd]

I had a new message today telling me that my key battery was low. I was intending going to the local dealer but at £11.50 I think I'll get the manual out first and see if it tells you how get the key apart.

Hi Opifex,

You can get the batteries, known brand, for around £1 on Amazon, and probably eBay. It is a no tool job to replace them in the fob.

However, don't wait. I replaced mine for the second time a few weeks ago. But unlike the first time, I didn't do it immediately, thinking that I would get another warning if it was really on the way. I didn't. The car wouldn't open in the local Tesco car park, so I used the physical key to get in. At which point the alarm went off. It is really fun, sitting in the car, with the alarm blaring, while changing the Battery.

This would have been serously embarrassing if I hadn't kept two spare batteries in the handook folder.

So, I suggest you order four batteries, replace both the existing ones, and keep the other two as spares for the next time. You'll still pay half the cost of buying from Toyota.

Good luck.

[noisyhen]

First thing to check is the 12 V Battery.... recently checked it's OK, 2011 car, original Battery.

So then as a matter of interest has anyone with low key Battery had anything similar occur?

What about you 'Opiflex', where did you receive this message as I did not receive one?

[Dancing Badger]

I had the message telling me my key Battery was low. It came up on the display when I started it on my way to work the other day. The car still started normally.

It did it again when I started it to come home. I popped into my local motor accessory shop on the way back and they sold me a new Battery - I think it was £1.50. Took about a minute to change the Battery, not seen the message since.

[noisyhen]

Checked handbook, too late for changing key Battery, although it states 'RISK OF EXPLOSION IF Battery IS REPLACED BY INCORRECT TYPE! The KEY Battery LOW Warning system is fitted, but did not activate at any time. Found http://ingineerix.com/gen3sks/ which states 'Buzzer Sounds to inform the driver of malfunctions in the smart key system.' This did not occurred either.

I hope to hear more feedback on this issue in the hope someone somewhere out there may have had a similar problem and maybe they have a solution.

[jonesbach]

Different model(Excel), but the handbook advises that you should be able to start with a flat key phob Battery by holding the phob against the start button, presumably some form of induced power supply.

With respect to the 12V Battery I would not rely on the garage test. A good home test would be -

1. Check the voltage at Battery terminals - at least 12.3V

2. Power up without pressing the brake and turn the headlights on - if the battery voltage drops to 12V in less than 1/4hour then I would be highly suspicious, it should last a lot longer.

It obviously helps to have a good 'intelligent' charger available to charge the battery when you do this, but can I emphasise 'intelligent'. I've recently binned a fairly new 'old style' charger, it would seem they are not ideal for modern batteries. The intelligent charger usually has a battery recovery option, I found this invaluable when I recently had a problem.

[timberwolf]

Out of curiosity, on the Gen 3, can the Aux mode be powered on even if the key is not present inside the car?

[Opifex]

text 1

Hi Opifex,
You can get the batteries, known brand, for around £1 on Amazon, and probably Ebay. It is a no tool job to replace them in the fob.

Unfortunately I needed the replacements quickly as we leave for France in a day or two so couldn't wait for Amazon. I did take one key apart to check the Battery size and tried two local outlets with no luck before going to Toyota just before they closed on Friday evening. Having had the warning I would be nervous about setting off without replacing the Battery.

First thing to check is the 12 V Battery.... recently checked it's OK, 2011 car, original battery.

So then as a matter of interest has anyone with low key battery had anything similar occur?

What about you 'Opiflex', where did you receive this message as I did not receive one?

The low key Battery warning came up as I switched off after driving about 9 miles. My wife, who also carries a key, was with me so we didn't know which key had the problem. As one key battery was three years old and the other was two years I thought it best to replace both. No more warning messages were seen before the replacements were put in.

Checked handbook, too late for changing key battery, although it states 'RISK OF EXPLOSION IF BATTERY IS REPLACED BY INCORRECT TYPE!

The handbook is full of warnings like this designed to protect Toyota rather than help the user. The obvious answer in this case is to buy the correct type of battery from a reliable source.

[noisyhen]

The replacement Battery in key has not worked, same problem with 'READY' occurred again.

Interesting offer from Toyota, new car less vat may be on offer. Anyone else had this?

[Joseph D]

The replacement battery in key has not worked, same problem with 'READY' occurred again.

This is almost without a doubt a sign that your 12v Battery is on the way out.

When you test it, push the power button with your foot OFF the brake (ACC mode). When you test the 12v Battery with a volt meter, it should read between ~12.4v - 12.8v with no load. Then press the power switch again (also with your foot OFF the brake to go into IG-ON mode). The volt meter reading should dip a little to around 12v but should easily hold steady at that voltage. Finally put a load on it (like having the headlights on) while you test the voltage with a volt meter. The Battery should dip again, but again hold the new voltage. If, however, the voltage does not hold but drops relatively quickly and if it drops below ~10.5v in any case, it is time to replace your battery. (It takes a drop to about 9.5 - 9.8v to make the dash error lights go on.)

I would conduct this test after the car has stood for 4 - 5 hours, although if your battery is not great it will not make much difference.

BTW & FYI (By the way and for your information), with the car in ready mode (press start with your foot ON the brake), the volt meter should read ~14.1v - 14.4v.

HTH (Hope that helps)

[Opifex]

Interesting offer from Toyota, new car less vat may be on offer. Anyone else had this?

I had an invite to an open day a few weeks ago at which they were selling new cars at "cost price + £100". I don't remember any mention of VAT. I then got an email a day or two ago saying the offer had been extended till the end of September and now had an additional £500 on the value of your trade-in. They must be getting desperate to sell something.

[Chris Dance]

I have had a special trade in offer as well. I did not take it up as our Prius has only done 10,000 miles and is still like new. I also noted that a new Prius Gen 4 is due in 2014-2015. I would be more interested in that.

[noisyhen]

Dealer is desperate to do a deal and eventually received a promising offer but I noticed quiet a few changes to the spec and must admit to being disappointed with the option for the digital radio being only in an expensive option pack. Got really used to this in current car. Anyone know if you can still get the digital radio separate to option pack? Salesman wasn't sure, not a good sign.

I have had a special trade in offer as well. I did not take it up as our Prius has only done 10,000 miles and is still like new. I also noted that a new Prius Gen 4 is due in 2014-2015. I would be more interested in that.

Have looked at some of the reports of the new Prius and found some interesting stuff, but what will this car actually look like and what drivetrain will it use (4 x 4 mentioned) I guess we will find out nearer the launch date, early 2014 in USA. Can I wait till the launch date and watch my cars value fall...

[Peter Sale]

Not surprised that changing the Battery in the key didn't fix the 'Ready' problem, would have been amazed if it did !. As others have said, 12v Battery is suspect or possibly a loose connection.

Toyota dealers are not alone in not just making their money on buying and selling single cars - there is a bonus system which works as a sort of back-end discount. If they hit targets the bonus makes it worthwhile selling cars at cost plus prep charge. Am surprised at this point of the quarter as it points to poor September sales (possibly) as would have thought that there will be some good deals in December.

[Chris Dance]

There are photos of the new gen 4 on the internet and details of its spec etc. I am told there is quite a BIG profit on a new car sale for the dealer. All I am mainly interested in is the cash I will have to fork out for the new car not the value of my current car. I do expect the salesman to say that my Gen 3 is an old model and try to give me a lower trade in if I do decide make the change to a Gen 4. I had this argument when I traded in my Gen 2. The garage sold the Gen 2 for £2000 more than they gave me within a week.

The deal on offer from dealers at the moment is very good.

[Opifex]

£2,000 seems to be the usual mark-up. If you've got a low mileage car that looks like new why change it? Each time you change puts that £2,000 in the dealers pocket plus you get hit by the high initial depreciation on a new car.

FWIW I tried a current Prius a few weeks ago and found there were a number of things that I thought were not as good as my early Gen 3. It decided me to forget any thoughts I had of changing for the time being.

[noisyhen]

Plugged compressor into car as usual to check tyres before washing the car and it wouldn't work, just very slow chugging.

So your all right, it has to be the Battery... yes the one the AA found OK previously. So its booked in to get checked and have the dashboard rattle looked at again, the speaker rattle is driving me nuts when the temperature hits 13c.

I was chatting to a neighbour and he had similar starting problem with his Mazda, dealer advised him to get a new Battery - £80.

But the fault continued so he was advised to change the key Battery.. it worked! They also refunded his £80!!

Disappointed the salesman with the news I was not going to buy a new car, keeping this rattly one a bit longer.

[noisyhen]

Latest info.

Dealer once again can find nothing wrong with 12v Battery.