Very Occasional Auto Climate Control Issues - buttons inoperable

I don't own a Prius c so I hesitate to comment.
But that doesn't sound like normal operation.
Especially since your vehicle is under new car warranty the safest answer is to take it to the dealer and at least get your concerns documented. That way if the problem does become worse hopefully you can get it addressed as a warranty issue.

 

That is absolutely not normal operation.

 

The first part sounds normal to me, unless there is something wrong with my car too. Pressing the Auto button is what turns the system on, and only then can I press any of the other buttons. That seems normal.

The rest of it does not. I had something similar happen once, but it turned out my "Off" button was kind of stuck in on one edge, so every time I pressed Auto, it would immediately turn off. Hopefully yours is something as simple, but it doesn't sound like it... I would definitely get it checked out. Should be free under warranty.

 

It doesn't just have to be the Auto button, in case you were interested. You can also press the fan up or down speed button for the same result.

 

Scary - my 2013 Altima that I just lemon law'd did something similar from time to time. The dealer could never replicate... At first, my transmission issues also corresponding to this non-HVAC functioning problem, but shortly there after the tranny just acted up all the time, but the HVAC thing remained random...

Computers in cars, gotta love it.... (spoken from an IT guy)

 

Ah, thanks! Perhaps I've just been trying to press the AC button and assumed it was the same for them all

 

I had the same issue with my C
the off button was just stuck on
pressed it a few times and all was fixed

 

My off button did the same thing last week. Possibly related to the heat/humidity. Probably something to keep an eye on before the warranty is up.

 

Mine has done the same thing the OP's . I'll keep an eye on the off button.

 

Ditto on all three counts.

 

Ditto here too - same issues and it's inconsistent.

I turn the car all the way on and it's in the ready mode - I then select the A/C or Auto button and so long as I hold them in place with gentle pressure, they remain lit. But as soon as I remove my finger, they no longer remain lit and no cooling event occurs. It's very frustrating. I should note that this happened once when it was 86 degrees outside, and then this morning when it was 60 degrees.

Eventually I just held the fan speed 'higher' button in for about 8 solid seconds and the A/C system suddenly started (as well, I was engaged in Park and my engine remained on during this waiting period while I sat in the driveway).

I just bought my Prius C used with 10,000 miles from a reputable dealer and I am worried something is wrong with an electronic component, or maybe this has something to do with the Prius C trying to save battery energy? - I have scheduled a check up with the dealership as the car is under warranty.

So can someone who lives in a really hot place restate that this has NEVER happened to their Prius C and it's not normal? Because it seems that several folks have this operational issue. Thanks!

 

Either way, with only 10k miles, it's still under factory warranty. But to reassure you, I live in Georgia and we have been in the 90s all month. NEVER experienced this.

 

Thank you - I'm going to print out this thread and take it to the dealership mechanic so they know I'm not crazy! I wonder - could a weak fuse be the issue?

 

Seems more like a switch issue than a fuse. A fuse would kill it, not be intermittent.

 

It's winter now in my part of the world, but I've had the car for almost a year so that includes right through our summer where we set new record high temperatures. Never happened to me.

Outside temperature accuracy | Page 2 | PriusChat

 

i just had this problem happen to me today. pressing any of the ac/fan controls would light up, but then immediately disengage. never experienced anything like it before. i tried turning the car off and back on again, no dice. drove for about half an hour to see if the problem would resolve once it had been running for a bit. but it persisted all the way to my destination. there, i showed the problem to a couple of people i was meeting, and in the course of mashing several climate control buttons at once, it suddenly started working! i had a couple more trips through the day, and the problems seemed to have resolved itself.

either way, i'll be reporting the issue to my dealer after the weekend, but it certainly is strange.

 

That was my exact experience winnertakesteve.

I took my Prius C to the Toyota Dealership on 7.29.13 and they took a diagnostic look on the computer to see if any errors were generated. Of course the A/C unit worked fine while I was at the dealership and no error codes were generated so they also have no idea what the issue may be. Until the A/C unit fails permanently (hopefully before 36,000 miles), they cannot assist me.

They are aware that others have reported this issue on PriusChat, but they could find no similar customer reported issues on the Toyota Prius C mechanic's database at the dealership. Odd.

For what it's worth, my A/C has been working fine for the last few days. Strange huh?

 

I'm still inclined to believe this is a switch issue, not an A/C issue.