Help. New/Used Prius. Troubleshooting...

Howdy All. Just officially joined pchat, although I've been a occasional visitor for some time. Newby!

Situation: Last week Number One Son totalled our dearly beloved 2005 Prius L2 with 185,000 miles that we purchased new. SOB

Tried to find something equivalent on the used market here in Bay Area, Kalifornia, using the insurance money, and without going into more debt - a daunting task to say the least!

Ended up buying a 2006 Prius base with 144,000 miles from a local broker, AS IS. Without going into details, it wasn't the cleanest purchase operation I've ever done, what with various timing issues and limits, so I didn't do much of a through eval before biting... ARRGHH

So now the fun begins. Finding the gremlins and defects in what appears to be, and what might become, a nice well behaved new member of the Family! Having seen the depth and breadth of the collective experience on this here chat board in the past, I've now joined, and hope to benefit from the hard earned experience of fellow members!

Where to begin? Good question, eh? Body is clean with minor cosmetic issues. Runs OK. Engine compartment is very dusty, like nobody's been there in a while. Carfax shows oil changes only, mostly at quick lube outfits. Lights, wind shield wipers, accessories seem to work. New tires. Tracks steers OK. No error messages on console. Plugged in a cigar lighter voltmeter while the car was in Accessory Mode after sitting all night and the voltage is stable at 12v.

PROBLEM #1 : Selected areas of the MFD's touch screen are NOT responding to touch, while others are. Subtle problem, since most areas still work, but certain specific "button" locations are NOT - a condition which was not readily apparent on my initial check. Example: Can adjust AUDIO Tremble down, but not up. Other screens show similar location specific failure. Have read here on the PC that this sort of thing might be the beginnings of MFD failure!

More later. El Dogo is peering in the window and getting impatient waiting for his daily walk. Your comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated, naturally. I hope to make this an extended thread, if appropriate. (Please advise if you think I'm in the wrong forum or making an inappropriate use!)

Regards
Yowoof!

 

Thanks for the prompt reply. Good advice! Indeed there were some good 2005 series level 2 parts on the undamaged rear of the olde 2005...

Unfortunately the Michio (the car's name) was wrecked some distance from base camp, and the insurance company only allowed "personal" items to be removed from vehicle, but not a selective parting out - they gave me a high market $$$ for the mess and their position was they 'owned' it. Not being familiar with the ins and outs of 'salvage rights, and legalities of the situation (I don't go into this kinda situation very often, thank goodness) I allowed them to tow it away... And of course, I didn't know then, what my future course would be, or what kind of vehicle/year I would eventually purchase for a replacement, eh? Additionally my wife is not approving of the 'scavenger' side of my personality, and hates the "junk" (also known as Good Stuff!) that is already stashed around the property...

So is it possible to get a working, "reliable" (relative term I know) used MFD from eBay or the recycle yard? What is the collective experience on that point? I presume it should be the 'right stuff' relative to OEM part numbers and feature/functions, or no joy. I would prefer, given the choice, to spend a bit more $ and get something that really works! Or is there some "fix", short of doing microscopic flow soldering...

Would the OBD-2 codes provide useful information? Somewhere around the house I have a very basic ODB-2 scan tool to use. However, I think I read on the various threads on the PC forums that the OBD codes mostly apply to engine/charging system operation - and that the MFD has it's own diagnostic codes and procedure.

Next stop will most likely be trying the diagnostic screens of the MFD, about which I am currently reading up on. So far it seems to drive OK and we are gingerly testing it out. From what I've read here, most of the time you can still operate the vehicle with MFD faults...

Cheers!
Woofyo

 

Yes I tend to do that (over thinking) sometimes. I often work on my own vehicles and that's the plan with this one as well. But sometimes I will pay to have it done if I don't have the skills or want the warranty. The car I'm replacing was over ten years old as well...

 

Thanks for the lead to a source for a good used MDF! I just visited the web site of above and it looks very promising indeed. The vehicle is doing pretty well so far. I mean to change oil and filters if I can get it away from my son for awhile...

I see you're a kiwi. Love NZ. I visited once. Great place. Didn't want to leave!

Regards.

 

I was mistaken apparently. It seems to be a 'level 2' Prius.