Hey all, Well I didn't wait for a letter from my dealership and just went in today after the Prius recall was official! Waited 2 hrs to get my car back. After the service was done, I tested the brakes. The brakes feel tighter. The brake reponse was immedately.
That's just great. Now we'll have people complaining that the brakes are too tight. Just kidding (I hope). It's great that you were able to go in and get it done. Did you get to talk to anyone? Is it just a software flash?
I am totally impressed. I figured I'd just wait a while to get my update done. Get the letter, take my time responding.... no rush really. Tonight, I got a call from my dealership! They are ready to have me come in as soon as it's convenient for me.
My dealer said they would be getting the updates and instructions this week and they will be calling us next week to set up an appointment. How is it you all got it done so fast?!?
I talked to a service representative and he had no clue what the hell I was talking about till he talked to his manager and I thought "oh great, they did the recall and don't have the program". Luckily the manager knew what he was talking about and I was on my way! It made me think I was the first Prius that went in that day! From my papers, they reflashed the ABS ECU. Nothing else. Yes it still works. Works the same for me. Don't wait for the letter. Make the appointment and go right in. You know you'll get the letter anyway so why wait when someone got it done already. When you press the brakes, there's no pause. The stopping power is immediately.
Got my update yesterday. My dealership was aware of the recall when I called and saw me the same day. The wait was about 1.5 hours, there was another couple there who just bought theirs on Monday, their dealer had asked them to bring it in. The service dept is understandably busy atm, but they were friendly and responsive. The brakes are noticeably more responsive to lighter foot pressure I think. More consistent with "typical" brakes I suppose. I wonder if this change will have any affect on economy. Wasn't the original transition there to make better use of regenerative braking?
I'm sitting @ my dealer right now waiting for the fix. Sat down and talked w/ the head service manager for a good 30 minutes about the process, their frustrations on a lack of way to disseminate info between dealers (which sounds like it's changing), customer experience and perception, etc. They flashed a dozen or more off the lot yesterday and stated the actual process is ~ 15 minutes. They do allow for additional time to compare any additional DTCs (error conditions) to existing problems in the database, and will be applying fixes "as needed" for those as well if necessary (whether it be programming or parts). Service manager stated that this is how they're approaching all cars in for work to ensure that all recall or TSB work is being handled appropriately. I've listened to service advisers and how they're approaching customers with braking or accelerator concerns and I'm VERY impressed in the level of appropriate detail being passed onto the customer as to what is being done for them, what recalls apply, and what they've done to resolve the problem. I think this is a huge step toward restoring customer faith, and I hope that every store is performing this well. I will advise once I get the car back and do a bit of driving to let you know whether this resolves (most say it does). I'm also going to pay particular attention to whether a specific condition where the car can roll forward or backward with the foot on the pedal after releasing the car from park. It's only happened once to me, but the service manager mentioned something generic that sounded familiar that one or two other customers had mentioned (albeit not in technical detail). I believe in my case that the brake accumulator wasn't allowed to build pressure before I applied the brakes when starting the car, thus there wasn't the normal amount of braking pressure applied at the wheel. I had released ebrake before shifting out of park into reverse. Once I shifted into reverse, the car rolled back slightly. I found that coming off of the brake and back on restored normal braking as the accumulated pressure was now allowed to flow to the brakes. Even without this, additional pressure would have worked with the "backup braking" that the system is designed for. Because of the ECU that is being touched w/ the recall, I'm not certain if this specific issue will be fixed or not. More to come....
You're lucky to live in the US. I just called my dealer and the girl that answer the phone told me there is no recall on 2010 Prius. I told her it was posted on Toyota Canada website. 15 second later, she say they don't have any information on that yet and ask me to wait til I received letter from Toyota Canada and call again!
How do you know this isn't imaginary, as this is not a blind test? The appropriate test would be brake response braking over a pothole (before and after the fix), not the general feel which is very easily imaginary.
Yes I called yesterday the dealer close to my house said they are booked and schedule me 2.5 weeks out. I thought maybe because I didn't purchase the car there. Called the dealer where I purchased the car this morning, 1st response was "your vin starts with J so your car is NOT part of the recall" I stated that mytoyota online says different. Put me on hold came back a few minutes later and said "We have not received the parts yet and the techs are not all trained, I'll take you name and number and call you later today with a schedule". PARTS? what parts do you need to flash the ECU? "Silence, we will call you when the parts arrive and we are ready to service your car." Oh Well....
After reading all of this, I decided I would call about getting the recall SSC-A0B done on our 2010. When I called yesterday, the Service Advisor told me they didn't have any information on the recall and to wait until I received my letter. I faxed the information on the recall which was on "My Toyota" to my salesman at the dealership and told him the information was available and I wanted the work done. He called me back later in the day yesterday and said the head Service person told him they didn't have anything but he would call me back in a few days/weeks when they did. This morning, I called and left a message for my salesman stating members here at PruisChat were already getting their recall performed and I wanted to speak with the head of their service department. A little later, he called back and said "What a difference a day makes" and he would have someone call me back to schedule the work. Two minutes later a woman called and my Prius goes in Saturday at 9:30 am (could have been earlier (like today) but my wife & I work full-time).. Moral of story, be persistent.
Perhaps psychological... My car seems to run better after a car wash. Smoother after an oil change. And quieter in a light rain.
I should be getting the update today or tomorrow as my car happens to be at the dealer (getting repaired from when I was backed into by a semi). I am curious to know if it "feels" any different than before. Since I didn't notice the problem before I wonder if I will be able to notice anything now?
I will be heading in tomorrow at 7:30am for the maintenance on my 2010. I will update tomorrow regarding any difference I feel with the car.
My car has had the brake work done - no difference in brake feel for standard braking I have not yet had a situation to try out light braking w/ ABS. Any dealer using the TechStream system had this update available to them as of 2/9. My dealer did 17+ cars the same day (mostly what was on the lot, plus a few concerned customers), and will probably do a dozen more today (including mine). Unless training is a barrier, there is no technical reason why a servicing dealer cannot do this unless they lack a TechStream laptop (which means they couldn't PDI the car properly anyway or do work on most any recent model Toyota - so I'd call BS on that too).
If you've never experienced the perceived loss of braking power as a result of braking over potholes (which is very noticeable), I doubt you'll detect any difference and any differences in general braking feel would be purely psychological. I am most interested in whether it's eliminated completely or reduced to Gen II's braking characteristics.
After the fix, close both eyes before braking. This should make it a double-blind test. You could also repeat the test, driving various distances with your eyes closed, before braking, to improve generalizability. Be sure to post your test results from your hospital ward.
