Just curious: How did you go about successfully locking a running TCH? By most accounts, it takes quite a bit of legerdemain to do so.

(You don't give us any information about the model year of your car, but I've heard it stated more than once here that for 2012 and later TCHes, one way of confirming the car is off is to glance at the clock on the dashboard as you exit the vehicle. If you can read the time, the car is NOT off.)

 

On my 2014.5, once I start walking away from the car, it will start beeping. There is no way to lock the car via the remote either, just can't do it.

 

2013 camry hybrid SE. Yup, my wife returned to put her galaxy tablet back to the vehicle,no fob in her possession, and sure enough it WAS locked. But even she did not realize it was running. I will check the CLOCK visibility in the future to see if that is true. The dash icon of 'key not detected in vehicle' does come on, but since you have already left the vehicle, you would simply NOT see that fact. I have googled this quirk of technology and found countless other reports of this happening to many hybrid owners of other makes as well.
Consider, a potential CO risk as indicated by another make of hybrid. He literally left the car running in his garage overnite and when his spouse opened the garage door leading to the inside of the house, she became dizzy from the exhaust fumes.
another FOB quirk. Oftentimes upon returning to the vehicle, the drivers door fails to get the signal and will not unlock..while yet other times,, it will. all within the same distance range..go figure.

 

I think it's a combination of the push-button start and the hybrid technology.

Oddly I basically did the same thing when I test-drove a Prius C3. Got out of the car and the engine wasn't running and the dealer had to go back in and turn it off.

If it is not pushbutton, you pretty much instinctively take the key out of the ignition and if it is not hybrid, you hear the engine running or see the RPM indication. But with no need to remove the key and the engine already shut off on it's own, it's a somewhat dangerous combination.

 

When you walk away from the car while it is still in "ready" mode, you will hear 3 audible and evenly spaced beeps. This is the car saying "hey stupid, you did not turn me off". I have done it at least 5 times. There are times, I was certain that I turned the car off and it was still in ready mode.

If the battery in your fob is getting low, pushing the start/stop button will not turn the car off sometimes. This is also preceded by multiple attempts to open the doors.

If you have hearing issues, the only real fail-safe way to be sure the car is off, is to check that the "ready" light is out before you exit the vehicle.

 

Running car

Glad I'm not the only one that has done this. I returned to my car after grocery shopping, only to find that it was still running. We seniors need to be a little more cognizant of our surroundings in many different ways. This is just another one of them. It just adds to our status as "old farts". :thewave:

 

I have a 2007 and there's no way you could lock the car if it's running (unless you lock it with the mechanical key) The only thing that works is the clock display, if it's off then the engine is shut off. Just make it a habit to check that before leaving.

So you could lock the car while running in 2012-up models?

 

Same here.... Maybe it's a software setting?

 

I have walked away from running 07 TCH multiple times. In city noise and abundance of all kinds of things buzzing and beeping around, it is EASY to pay no attention to another 3 beeps. If you even hear them. Besides, one actually has to KNOW what those are.
I am leaning towards "I had doors locked" but have no proof to that.
I even posted on IMHO absolutely dumb design that allows this to happen. To walk away from running car. They could have easily created something like proximity shut off. Please, spare me excuse like "I want to leave my engine running while I'm buying cigs at gas station".

 

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/1...m/forum/105-camry-hybrid/696065-how-do-i-lock-my-doors-keep-engine-running.html

 

And no, she won't lock. Gives long beep. Just tried.

 

I also use the digital clock to 'Off' method on my 2007 to make sure the engine/ hybrid system is off.

The new '12 TCH I bought I noticed the dash lights up anytime the power system is on. During a bright sunlit day that's hard to see. I still use the clock 'not being lit up' to know for sure it's powered off.

Their was those few times when my wife keeps talking to me as were getting out of the car. I use the door-lock button on the door to lock the car. I find if I accidently left the system powered on when I press the lock switch on the door. Then the door-locks refuse to go down and pop back up immediately. I get back in the car and press the power button till the clock goes dark. Then I can lock the doors Ok.

Another I have found on my '12 TCH is to move away from the car in so many seconds. If not you may hear a beep with the parking lights flashing once. That's you car being confused and unlocking the doors thinking your approaching the car to drive it off. Their may be a timer setting for this but i'm used to watching for this. I have not checked into the toyota/ ECU options.

I don't remember this happening with the '07 and I could have left it unlocked by not then knowing that the beep was as I walked off from my car to go into a store to shop.

 

Well try this, leave your lights in Auto Mode, if you leave the car with the car in the ON/Running mode, the lights will stay on, if you have the car off, the lights will go off when you open the door.

 

I agree with snook and lincoln....impossible to leave the car running and lock the door as well......as far as I remember if the car is running and you press that button to lock it'll make long continues beep....if the keys are inside then also you can't lock...i have tried (thanks to my wife) several times and it never did....wheni go to beach and don't want this smartkey with me I lock it in the trunk and use key to lock the door...works fine....same way if you want to lock the car while leave it running just use the key inside the smartkey and it'll lock perfectly fine....to avoid any nonsense I just check "
ready" if lit that means car is running even though you might think you pressed that round thing...

This is for 2007 though so I don't know why they'd mess it up for 2012 and later

 

been there, done that!!!

I've also locked my keyless transmitter in the car. Had a separate passive alarm put in which locks the doors independently from the toyota antitheft system. Made a duplicate of the emergency key from the keyless which has saved me a couple of times from being locked out and, more importantly, from a scolding mrs. coming to the rescue.

 

Ok, folks, theres' just got to be a failsafe way of preventing it. 3 x over the 34K miles logged, I've literally walked away from my LOCKED hybrid, only to return, and find the engine running. At 76, with compromised hearing, I've yet to hear any beeps or view an icon on the dash to advise my 'key' habits of yesteryear that tell me when I've left and locked , it must be off. Someone in the aftermarket world of accessories has got to have come up with a simple solution, perhaps that's a smart key addon to prevent the idiot factor of this happening. I've already talked to at least 3 other non-seniors, who have done exactly the same thing.

in response to toyota hybrid running.... I have a 2021 HONDA CRV hybrid same thing happened to me, car running in garage 18 hours, my carbon monoxide alarms sounded in my house went to ER was positive for carbon monoxide exposure. I called Honda to report this. I agree a louder or more evident method like headlights flashing to warn of incomplete shutdown needed. Could have been a catastrophic situation since I had a full tank😬

 

When you walk away from the car while it is still in "ready" mode, you will hear 3 audible and evenly spaced beeps. This is the car saying "hey stupid, you did not turn me off". I have done it at least 5 times. There are times, I was certain that I turned the car off and it was still in ready mode. If the battery in your fob is getting low, pushing the start/stop button will not turn the car off sometimes. This is also preceded by multiple attempts to open the doors. If you have hearing issues, the only real fail-safe way to be sure the car is off, is to check that the "ready" light is out before you exit the vehicle.

Not reliable. I put my 2008 Highlander Highbrid in Park, hit the power button, dash lights are all off, leave the car, hear three beeps, have the keys in my pocket, go for a walk and come back and the car is on.