My doors lock automatically after about 30 seconds after leaving the vehicle without hitting any buttons. I hit "unlock" on the remote....and again they lock (by themselves). I have an 06 Sport Edition. I'm not sure this if this is normal. Nothing in car manual related to this. Does anyone have any info??
Thanks.

I think that's normal... at least my 2004 SE does it too. It's also very annoying but can apparently be changed by the dealer. Have them reprogram the car... there are about six different locking/unlocking options I think.

I'm planning to take mine back to the dealer I bought it at and ask them to do it free. Take it to any other dealer and it counds like you'll pay about $40 for the 10 minute computer job.

This is normal. It's in the manual somewhere. Lot's of newer cars have this. My 2001 Honda Civic had this "feature" as well.

It's definitely in the manual under the remote keyless entry section. This is a safety feature so that if you accidently/unintentionally/unknowingly hit the unlock button on the remote fob and not open a door after 30 sec. it will relock the doors. That way your locks and doors are not left open indefinitely while you are away for however long.

So that's what's going on. I think sometimes my 2006 Sport has a mind of it's own. I'll be messing around the car and the door locks suddenly beep and it's usually when I have the keys in my hand yet I'm not aware that I hit any buttons. Maybe this explains it.

Thanks everyone for the info. I guess I just needed to read my owners manual more carefully.

dingo covered it best, great feature IMO. I wish my aftermarket alarm had this feature.

If you get out of the car, close the door, but leave your keys sitting in the center console will it still lock? That would be very inconvenient. How about car off but in the ignition?

the vehicle will not be locked as long as u don't
1. lock the door
2. unlock the door with remote control and after 45 seconds

If you unlock the vehicle from the remote and don't open a door within 45 sec, it will auto relock.
But it will not automatically lock the vehicle upon exiting unless you lock it.

If you leave the keys out of the ignition, it will not lock, unless:
-you use the master lock switch,
-you lock with the remote,
-you press unlock on the remote after closing the doors and don't open the door within 30 seconds,
-all the other doors are locked and you activate the driver's door lock manually.
The factory keyless entry system is not like aftermarket alarms with "auto arming" so it will not lock unless you do one of the above when getting out of the truck.

If you leave the keys in the ignition, it will not lock under any of the above situations. It's nearly impossible to lock yourself out with the key in the ignition. The only way to lock it is to use a key through the driver's door keyhole.

I had a 2004 Ford Explorer (big mistake) and I used to lock it by hitting the lock on the door panel before closing the door. One day I'm getting out , I hit the door locks, "Clickup!" and then they go "clickup" and unlock. I did it again, same thing. I did it a third time. It was like I was telling the car,"I want to lock the doors!" and the car is saying back, "No, you don't!" Then I realized I had left the keys in the ignition. I had a good laugh when it dawned on me the car was smarter that I was. I guess the 4-Runner works in a similar fashion.

I think it has to do what mode the system is in. On my 1998 T4r
you have the option of setting up the active or passive arming system. The passive system automatically locks the vehicle after a preset time. The active system will only arm the system after you hit the lock button on your keyfob. There are ways to change the mode you are in in the VIP info you should have received with the purchase of your vehicle. It's not all that hard to do...takes just a few minutes BUT the directions must be followed exactly. If you have a decent local dealer, the service manager will do it for free. Most, if not all of the aftermarket auto alarm systems have the active and passive systems. I have had both factory Toyota systems and after market systems and have found that the Toyota factory installed system is extremely weak from a signal point of view. You have to practically be on top of the vehicle to arm or disarm the system. My after market systems worked from 50-100 yards away. If you can't find the directions for changing the mode of your system, you could probably google the sequence. This is how my 1998 works. I don't know if things changed after that. Good luck.

Is there a way to turn off this "safety feature"?? I can certainly appreciate why some people would like it, but I find it to be an enormous pain. If I unlock my T4R with the fob, I don't want the car to "help" me and lock again if it took me longer than 30-45 seconds to go open it.

mine doesnt auto lock after x amount of time,i unlock it, it stays unlocked until i press lock button, i do have an aftermarket remote starter that they programmed the oem remote to control. maybe that says something about being able to have the remote setup differently.