I just picked my prius up a few hours ago!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it...well anyway when the dealer was giving me my tour he said that the slot by the park button was for charging the SKS battery is this really true I tried looking it up on here and yes I did read the manual but could not find anything about it..he did say a few things wrong like if I was on the highway for along time and my battery was going to die and could hit the "B" gear and it would charge for 5 min..but for the most part he did a really great job so just wanted to know if he was right about this ! Thanks
Not having a 2008, I cannot totally dispute the salesman. The key fob can be kept in your pocket with the SKS on OR you can cancel the SKS and use it as an ordinary electronic key by inserting in slot UNDER the steering wheel. As far as the B position on the gear shift, that "BRAKE" position is used when decending steep hills so the car does not overspeed. I think you had a "beut" of a salesperson! Have fun with your Prius and stay tuned into this station.
I just looked at my 08 manual, didn't see anything about recharging the fob battery. And I've not seen any reference to such a thing. I have seen that the fob battery will last "one to three years". That indicates it is not a rechargeable. There are ranges of knowledge among salesmen as there are in any job. Some good, some bad. Self-education (priuschat, reading the manual) is a more efficient way to spend your time. Enjoy your new car.
LOL! Where do the sales people get this stuff? (Edit: Maybe it's in the same memo from the front office that raised the sales price to $4K over MSRP.] As you've probably read by now in your manual, the under-dash slot is part of a failsafe system waiting for the day when your SKS battery goes dead. After the initial confusion and panic of not being able to open the door, you'd remove the little mechanical key in the FOB, open the door, and then insert the FOB in the slot. Press power button and, BINGO, the car starts. You then drive to the nearest Rite-Aid, Target, K-Mart, etc, and buy a CR 2032 battery. You'll need a very small Phillips head screw driver to remove the cover plate inside the FOB, just like for many watches.
Do not believe the salesman. There is a small battery inside the FOB that you will need to change about every two years. Even if the battery fails inside the FOB, you can still use the little medal key to get into the vehicle, and just stick the FOB into the slot below the park button and you will be able to start your car.
FWIW my salesman told me the same thing. I dutifully plugs it into the little slot for about 2 years before Evan here on PC told me what I was doing was useless. I felt like such a noob.
DON'T buy a replacement bat at Toyota, they charge $5.00. Buy it outside for about $1.50.........then take to Toyota parts and ask them to show you how to change it.
