[dcpc08161992]

Well, well... There is a first for everything. I started the car, went back inside the house and put my key down on the kitchen counter, and then back out to the car and drove off. Half way to my destination, I noticed a red flashing triangle on the info screen and the word "key is not detected" I know it is my fault that I forgot to grab the key on my way to the car again and forgot to glance at the tiny screen (kind of hard to see while driving against the low sun), but why wouldn't the car sound an alert much like when you forget to put on the seat belt?

Image if I were to shut down the car before realizing I have no key to start the car back up:headbang:... I have to stand there until my wife got home to bring me the key.

The keyless is convenient to a fault... well, at least I know now that the car can drive without the key!

 

[schmidtj]

I bet the car beeped and moaned when you left it running, opened the door, exited the vehicle and took the key with you. At just what point are Toyota engineers to assume the driver really doesn't know what they are doing?

 

[dcpc08161992]

I bet the car beeped and moaned when you left it running, opened the door, exited the vehicle and took the key with you. At just what point are Toyota engineers to assume the driver really doesn't know what they are doing?

***
It beeped when driver gets out of the car but once you return to the car and close the door it won't beep anymore so unless you look up that small screen to read the text you wouldn't notice you are driving without the key. I was driving against the low evening sun and wasn't glancing at the tiny info screen.

As I said, it was my fault not to bring the key back into the car but I did not expect the car not to make any sound at all when you put in gear and drove off away from the key.

I am sure somebody will eventually drive 300 miles and stop for gas then can't start the car as the key isn't with the driver. At least I caught it after a few miles and able to turn around for the key.

 

[Throck]

I understand there is pressure on the auto industry to install a warning system so people will not leave their kids in the car. Perhaps they could work on this at the same time. J/K.... I know you said you realized it was your fault. I think it's just a matter of getting used to the keyless entry for you.

 

[gurneyeagle]

***
....I am sure somebody will eventually drive 300 miles and stop for gas then can't start the car as the key isn't with the driver.....

..And I bet they never do it again. :headbang:

You can only engineer so much common sense into a car. At least you have taken responsibility for the mistake; others, I'm not so sure about.

In the OTHER Venza forum, someone posted a thread that the car had let him down after his wife left the lights on all night and ran the battery down. Believe me, the responses to that post were way stronger than what has been posted here. :lol:

http://www.venza.org/threads/1348-Extremely-disappointed!

 

[grv]

"I didn't notice the red flashing warning indicator because I was too busy texting."

 

[robertag]

"I didn't notice the red flashing warning indicator because I was too busy texting."

:lol:

 

[dcpc08161992]

"I didn't notice the red flashing warning indicator because I was too busy texting."

***
Actually, I was too busy watching a beautiful Autumn sun set right in my line of sight. I passed the "texting" age and texting is not my cup of tea anyway. Seriously, it is my fault for not looking at the info screen. Now you have gotten a constructive notice that Venza can driven without the key once it started.

 

[grv]

***
Actually, I was too busy watching a beautiful Autumn sun set right in my line of sight. I passed the "texting" age and texting is not my cup of tea anyway. Seriously, it is my fault for not looking at the info screen. Now you have gotten a constructive notice that Venza can driven without the key once it started.

Good to know you can take a little ribbing. The keyless takes some getting used to. Now I throw my hands up in disgust when I drive my wife's car because I have to remember to pull the key out of my pocket after I sat down and got all comfy.

 

[Throck]

I say this with a smile on my face and NOT for the purpose of hurting anyone's feelings, but when I read this and the one about the guy whose wife left his lights on all night and drained the battery it reminds me of teaching school after retiring from the military. I learned real quick that every child was a victim. A victim of what? You had to wait for the mother to get to the meeting to find out......

 

[gurneyeagle]

I say this with a smile on my face and NOT for the purpose of hurting anyone's feelings, but when I read this and the one about the guy whose wife left his lights on all night and drained the battery it reminds me of teaching school after retiring from the military. I learned real quick that every child was a victim. A victim of what? You had to wait for the mother to get to the meeting to find out......

We are all victims Throck. If it weren't for the crooks on Wall Street and the elected thieves in Washington, I would be comfortably retired now on a private island in the Caribbean. Why should I have to work past the age of 50 when millions of Americans, and even some illegal aliens, get a government check every month?

Why should I have to work at all? I just keep driving my Venza around with 12 layers of floor mats praying for an incident of unintended acceleration. I've disconnected my tail lights in hopes of being rear-ended by a "rich" person - hopefully a trial attorney.

Did you know that you can receive a serious electrical shock by sticking a fork in a socket? I've got a suit filed against my local power company and the cutlery company on that one because neither the socket or the fork have any warning labels.

As I type this, I am lying in a hospital bed recovering from injuries sustained from falling 250 feet off a cliff and being crushed by a 10,000 boulder. My attorneys are already working on a case against Warner Brothers and the two chief defendants in my case - Wyle E. Coyote and the Roadrunner.

Meep Meep! :naughty:

 

[Throck]

LMAO. You do speak the truth, gurneyeagle. The American dream has become "get rich quick for nothing" - i.e. If I can't pick the winning lottery numbers, perhaps I can sue somebody - preferably with deep pockets. Everybody screws up and everybody makes mistakes. I laugh at myself when I do it, but the idea of blaming someone else doesn't cross my mind. Last night, for the first time in my life, I locked myself out of the house. Wife was going to church to do some things and I went to the garage to see her off and was going to clean the venza while she was gone. I had shorts on and realized it was chilly so I came back in to put on long pants. I didn't have the key in my shorts as I had been on the computer (I read that you shouldn't keep the key near a computer) and I (yes, me) failed to put the smart key in my pants. I locked the door on the way out as I was going to go for a softdrink when I finished the venza (I use prolong waterless carwash and always do it in the garage). As soon as I pulled the door closed I knew I had screwed up and this immediately brought this guy's story to my mind and I laughed at myself. I thought I'd also keep it to myself until I read your post. Instead of blaming toyota, I opted to doodle in the garage for ninety minutes until my wife got home. Unfortunately, no mental anguish on my part.... just a laugh at myself. BTW, I don't play the lottery, but try 6, 10, 19, 22, 41, and 65...... Would appreciate 10 percent if they work for you

----HEY! Wait a minute. I think you got something here gurneyeagle. Toyota KNEW we are in the computer age and KNEW the smart key's life would be reduced when near a computer - they even put it in the owner's manual. IF toyota had put an electronic shield on the smart key I would not have had to stay in a cold garage for ninety minutes and could have gotten my big gulp. That's it! I'm calling the lawfirm of Dewey, Cheatum, and Howe!

 

[spacekey]

Well, well... There is a first for everything. I started the car, went back inside the house and put my key down on the kitchen counter, and then back out to the car and drove off. Half way to my destination, I noticed a red flashing triangle on the info screen and the word "key is not detected" I know it is my fault that I forgot to grab the key on my way to the car again and forgot to glance at the tiny screen (kind of hard to see while driving against the low sun), but why wouldn't the car sound an alert much like when you forget to put on the seat belt?

Image if I were to shut down the car before realizing I have no key to start the car back up:headbang:... I have to stand there until my wife got home to bring me the key.

The keyless is convenient to a fault... well, at least I know now that the car can drive without the key!

You leave with your engine still on.
The smartkey system only detect your remote at the moment you push the start button. You can still drive your car without the key fob. But once you stoped your car, you cannot start again,
However, I knew there is a password keyboard for smartkey for an emergency situation like this. you can input the code which set by yourself and then you can start the engine again to drive your car without smartkey fob.

 

[Giterdone]

I bet the car beeped and moaned when you left it running, opened the door, exited the vehicle and took the key with you. At just what point are Toyota engineers to assume the driver really doesn't know what they are doing?

Who pissed in your cornflakes Princess? At which point don't you understand the safety aspect? It's more a question of why would Toyota engineers allow this to go out the door. I'd like to see your reaction if you had your key in your pocket and realized you'd left something in the house so off you go and meanwhile some thief happens to be walking by and before you know it your car is on it's way to the chop shop. Real intelligent answer you gave the guy. Congrats.

 

[MAToyotaSales]

Who pissed in your cornflakes Princess? At which point don't you understand the safety aspect? It's more a question of why would Toyota engineers allow this to go out the door. I'd like to see your reaction if you had your key in your pocket and realized you'd left something in the house so off you go and meanwhile some thief happens to be walking by and before you know it your car is on it's way to the chop shop. Real intelligent answer you gave the guy. Congrats.

Get the sand out of your.........oh wait I probably shouldnt say that

I can't see how your answer is any more intelligent than his (or mine for that matter). Not everything is the manufacturers fault. The car gives plenty of warning (including an audible beep and visual message) when you take off w/o the key. What more should they do? Some have suggested the car be shut down after a few miles, pure insanity. Imagine someone merging onto the highway when their car shuts off causing a deadly accident. You'd be the first one to blame Toyota. Should they make the beep louder and more often? You'd be the first one to complain when you drop your wife off at the door and go to park the car when it turns out the key was in her purse. No matter what they do, there will be folks like you to complain. Never stops being entertaining though :lol:

No offense, I know you cant help it. :thumbsup:

 

[dcpc08161992]

You both have a point in your responses. I 'll say the car shouldn't be able to shift from "Neutral" to "Drive" if the key is not within a few feet. Since you can't shift into drive, it won't give you a chance to drive off to the highway or anywhere else in that matter. We have to put our foot on the brake to shift from PARK to DRIVE so why not incorporate this same feataure to the missing key??? The thief wont' be able to drive off either even if you leave the engine running while filling up your cup of BIG GULP at SevenEleven.

I am sure neither you nor me want to drive out without the key regardless of whose fault it is. Yes, it beeps but if I remember the faint "meep, meep" I would have remembered my key on the counter and all the things my wife told me to get from the grocery store too. It does have the triangle blinking on me but I was new to the Venza and hadn't gotten used to looking at the little screen at the time... I did look at my dashboard speedometer though . We are human and we do dumb things (Yes, I did do dumb things and that is one of them).

I 'd better stop ranting because ranting won't do anything good for Toyota... look, we complaint about the floor matt stuck on gas pedal and they make you pay $110.00 for them at your own risk. I am afraid they might hear my complaint and stop me from starting the car whether or not I have the key with me:ugh3:...unless I stick a quarter into the ignition key slot...LOL. Okay, now that we got a good laugh out of my absent minded boo boo... let 's get back to work - oh wait, it's Saturday. Never mind.
​

***
Correction: I meant to say "PARK" to "DRIVE" but my fat finger type "NEUTRAL" ;(...my bad.

 

[MAToyotaSales]

You both have a point in your responses. I 'll say the car shouldn't be able to shift from "Neutral" to "Drive" if the key is not within a few feet.

I know, I know. I should just leave this one alone. But since I AM at work on saturday and feel a little left out because of that comment, I must respond.

What then happens if the battery in your key is dead? You hold it up to the start button every time you need to shift? What if we need to shift quickly into reverse because we stopped on the train tracks like the dummys we are? The shift lock would prevent that if it were tied to the key. And no, nobody say that we should be able to think fast enough. We can't even select N when our cars are speeding out of control because we are pressing the wrong pedal. And that's not our fault either.

Why dont we just go ahead and assume they've thought this one thru, probably spent hours with their legal team as well. Also, it works the same way in most if not all cars with a similar keyless system. :thumbsup:

 

[dcpc08161992]

I know, I know. I should just leave this one alone. But since I AM at work on saturday and feel a little left out because of that comment, I must respond.

What then happens if the battery in your key is dead? You hold it up to the start button every time you need to shift? What if we need to shift quickly into reverse because we stopped on the train tracks like the dummys we are? The shift lock would prevent that if it were tied to the key. And no, nobody say that we should be able to think fast enough. We can't even select N when our cars are speeding out of control because we are pressing the wrong pedal. And that's not our fault either.

Why dont we just go ahead and assume they've thought this one thru, probably spent hours with their legal team as well. Also, it works the same way in most if not all cars with a similar keyless system. :thumbsup:

***
1) What then happens if the battery in your key is dead? You hold it up to the start button every time you need to shift?
IMHO: When your smart key battery is dead you currently can't start your car anyway, can you? So, what does holding the key up matter?

2) What if we need to shift quickly into reverse because we stopped on the train tracks like the dummys we are?
IMHO: You got me there. If you are on your brake, the car is in "Drive" so shifting to "Reverse" has nothing to do with shifting from "Park" to "Drive" as I proposed.

I thought preventing a driver without key or a car thief from shifting out of "P" makes sense much like you have to stop on the brake to shift out of "P". If you key battery dies before you start out from "P" then you just wait for a tow truck or battery replacement. If you on the move...you are not in "Park" anymore so if your smart key battery dies while driving does not prevent shifting "D" to "R" or changing from "D" to gear "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6" etc... It only matters after you park your car (I am not sure if the current system let you start the car with dead battery in your key eiher)

Well, you might be right... nobody can predict every senario. I certainly hope I am not dumb enough to put the car into "P" while sitting right in the middle of a train track .

FYI: I now always make sure I got the key before driving off:thumbsup: - I am a fast learner!

 

[MAToyotaSales]

***
1) What then happens if the battery in your key is dead? You hold it up to the start button every time you need to shift?
IMHO: When your smart key battery is dead you currently can't start your car anyway, can you? So, what does holding the key up matter?

2) What if we need to shift quickly into reverse because we stopped on the train tracks like the dummys we are?
IMHO: You got me there. If you are on your brake, the car is in "Drive" so shifting to "Reverse" has nothing to do with shifting from "Park" to "Drive" as I proposed.

I thought preventing a driver without key or a car thief from shifting out of "P" makes sense much like you have to stop on the brake to shift out of "P". If you key battery dies before you start out from "P" then you just wait for a tow truck or battery replacement. If you on the move...you are not in "Park" anymore so if your smart key battery dies while driving does not prevent shifting "D" to "R" or changing from "D" to gear "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6" etc... It only matters after you park your car (I am not sure if the current system let you start the car with dead battery in your key eiher)

Well, you might be right... nobody can predict every senario. I certainly hope I am not dumb enough to put the car into "P" while sitting right in the middle of a train track .

FYI: I now always make sure I got the key before driving off:thumbsup: - I am a fast learner!

You can start the car with a dead key battery, by holding it up to the start button. Now that's one thing you didn't think of, but Toyota did. Pardon me if i'm wrong, but I thought you said "Neutral to drive". Of course one must go through Neutral to get to reverse, and back from drive. Regardless, people do dumber things than put their cars in park on railroad tracks. And since we reward people for doing things like this in our country, businesses must account for those that would do it. What if I parked my car running on the beach, and the tide came in....and couldnt move my selector because the keys were lost in the beach house? That would make for one angry pretentious beachhome owner! :facepalm:

You're right, too many senarios.

 

[Giterdone]

Hmm wonder if we'd need a Toyota engineering degree to figure out how to keep the car from shifting out of park at all if the key isn't in the car whether it's running or not.