The "red car and lock indicator light" flashes after the power of my car has been turned off. It flashes in the right hand side of the dashboard of my 2010 Prius III when I park and turn off the car. In addition, a tiny red light flashes on my key when it is close by when the car is powered off. I think I remember seeing this red light flashing before but not sure. I just got my car back from the shop and I think that I am noticing things that I haven't noticed before. Can anyone tell me if this is normal or is there something I should turn off to make the flashing red light go away? The manual says its is a maintenance free type of immobilizer system.
Yes when you're close to the car your remote speaks to the vehicle It knows the remote is near the vehicle If you reach to the door it will unlock and allow you to enter and start the car without having to do anything with the remote models before this had a slot where you could put the remote in the slot if the battery was dead in the remote and the car would still operate and work. I think in this model the generation 3 the transponder will communicate with the transponder chip in the remote even if the battery's dead and you can't unlock the doors with the buttons I think when you get close to the car if the 12 volt is live it will unlock the doors by you reaching for the door I do believe and the red light is just letting you know that you're within range of the vehicle and have a signal.
