Is there an advantage to a 'Park Button' vs a 'Park Shifter Setting'? I personally find the Park function as a button less intuitive than a shifter setting.
I rarely use the Park button. Power off automatically puts it in park. That was weird at first, but now I'm used to it, and would probably be annoyed to have to move a shifter to Park before shutting the car off.
I agree that the button is less intuitive, but you'll get used to it. I'm not sure why Toyota didn't design it with P in the lever. I see no reason why it couldn't have been done. With shifting done "by wire" instead of mechanically, it seems it would involve only an added position for the lever. Like Jay, I power off without putting it in P, although I do still frequently use the Park button. As a fuel-saving technique (to avoid the initial warmup run-on), I leave the car on if it's sitting for just a few minutes, say, for a quick stop at the store.
May I confirm this? Sometimes I may stop at Dunkin Donuts for a quickie to go. Leave my puppy in his car seat. I've been turning off the car so it can be locked (I'm gone for 2-3 minutes). So, can I put it into Park, leave the AC on, exit the car, and lock as normal since I have the smartkey with me. Don't recall seeing this in the manual; perhaps Toyota wouldn't want to mention this. And, if this can be done, I'd guess this is how some posters left their car on 'all day'. This would also be a good thing as not to clear the MID mpg graph data at power down.
IIRC it does, though I suggest trying it for yourself to confirm. Often I'll leave it unlocked if I'm in what I consider a safe area and I can watch the car. SKS won't work outside the car with the car on, so you can't use it for this. Instead I put the driver's side window down, get out, close the door, reach in to lock it with the armrest lock button, then close the window (and move my arm quickly ). I unlock it with the mechanical key. Yeah, I don't see why Toyota would mention this in the manual. They conceivably could caution against it, but if they cautioned against every possible hack and workaround folks around here come up with, the manual wouldn't fit in the glove box. Leaving the car on all day almost certainly has been in an unlocked car. The car also won't lock with the armrest button when it's on with the door open, and someone won't go through the somewhat convoluted process I just described if they're not very aware of what they're doing and why.
When I was at the DMV, I had to leave the AC running while puppy was in the car. The car refused to lock with button when car is on. I just ended up using the key to lock the doors manually, remember you can only unlock it with the key after!
My understanding is that this has changed with the gen III, that the ICE only comes on if needed, not if the car is still fully warmed up. A solution to leaving your dog in the car is to get the remote start. That way you don't need a workaround. Just hit remote start after you get out and lock the car. It is for a maximum of 10 minutes though.
