Turn signal 'Click'

There is no way to increase the sound.
It is pretty quiet compared to another "normal" car and likely the choice was to keep it that way since the car is *so* silent (think when waiting at a traffic light).
A louder turn signal might be annoying. You will get probably used to it soon. I noticed it as well when I got the car, now I drive normally without any issue of "forgetting" the turning light.
A louder turning signal also IMHO will not help with stereo on, as it would be overwhelmed in any case (it would have to be really loud then to be heard and when at a traffic light with all off, or gliding with the ICE off, that would also pretty loud).
Silent car, "quiet" turn signal, I guess...

 

I imagine that eventually a third party will sell a unit that is louder. Perhaps a Corolla unit works with the Prius?
Personally I like that it is quite... I get really annoyed with the loud ones.

 

Not to mention that if it was louder, someone would most likely be complaining here about it, and asking if there was a modification that could be made by the dealer to make it quieter....or maybe to just limit it to one "click" per activation, instead of a persistent click....

You can never make everyone happy....

 

No there is no way of turning the volume up and also you might find that it doesn't always auto cancel from left turns - apparantly a RHD problem according to the dealers.

 

In other cars the flashing of the turn signal is controlled by a little plug-in module. If someone were to make a replacement with a louder click, I would buy it. Where I live there are several not-right-angle intersections where one can turn and straighten without resetting the turn signal. With my high-frequency hearing loss (mostly corrected), the 2010 Prius is the first car in which I cannot hear it. That's why so many of the eternal flashers turn out to be older people.

 

Have you checked the date on your birth certificate? There is evidently a requirement somewhere that turn signal clickers must automatically quiet themselves by 6 dB when a driver older than 60 is at the wheel.

 

There is a back-up light that incorporates a beeper. You might consider seeing if they will fit in the turn signal, light space. That way you can hear the turn signal and annoy everyone else.

This is part of my secret plan to make our Prius so annoying that the "Bell the Hybrid" Act will be followed by the "Stop the Racket" Act.

Bob Wilson

 

Only one sure way to increase the volume of the turn signals: hearing aids. That's what I use.

 

Maybe one too obvious solution: we should glance at the dashboard now and then

I've been driving for many decades, and I also remember when the turn signal "clickers" were very noticeable. I guess we "older" drivers became too dependent on them over the years?

But the real problem is that many drivers (regardless of age) don't look anywhere but directly in front of their hood.

They don't look further ahead to see what is happening to traffic patterns. They don't look at traffic behind them via their rear view or side mirrors. They don't really pay attention to their speed (going too slow in faster zones, and too fast in slow zones, just traveling at one speed continually). They don't notice when a dashboard warning light comes on, etc.

If we practice moving our eyes around to keep aware of what is happening around us ("defensive driving") and on the dashboard, the "eternal flasher" can be stopped without relying on an audible cue.

 

I believe the turn signal indicator is not loud enough. I have owned many cars, including a previous Prius, and this is the first time I've encountered this issue. If there is (or was at some time) an industry spec on this, I'd be interested to find out if the 2010 is within spec.

 

I doubt that there was ever a federal or industry "spec" on this, although it would be interesting to hear from others who might have inside information.

I think that the click has always been a by-product of the particular type of electro-mechanical relays used to create the "blinking" effect of a turn signal. I don't believe that it was ever "intentional", although I could be wrong about this.

Even back in the '90s I'd occasionally drive a car that had an almost inaudible blinker relay. I have driven many hundreds of rental cars over the years.

I don't think that this is something new with the Prius. And let's face it, many people today play their music so loud that blinkers of any sort would not be audible.

 

If someone is dead-set on making their turn signals "louder", go to Google or some other search engine and type in "Turn signals not loud enough". You'll get over 180,000 hits on that topic, with complaints about different makes of cars.

Here is a link to one where someone mentions about using an 80dB chime that is sold by Radio Shack:

The turn signal click is not loud enough. - FixYa

Best wishes,

 

The base problem is that many people (including me) seem to leave the turn signal on in the 2010 Prius far more frequently than they do in other cars.

It seems to me that there are at least 3 things about the design that lead to this result
- One is that the click is quieter than in most cars .
- Another is that the visual turn signal display is not very prominent
- A third is that the self-cancelling often fails to engage (at least in my car)

A louder clicker would be one solution but addressing the others might also go a long way toward solving the problem.

I suspect that its not practical to do much about the display in existing cars but what about the self cancel?

I am assuming that other owners also have the self cancel issue but if not, that would be good news as it would greatly increase my chances of getting it improved.

 

Flasher relay in Prius is EXACTLY the same as on Corollas after 2004. However it is buried inside the dash, therefore quieter. What there should be is one that starts out quiet for 10-20 seconds, then gets louder. If you are waiting at a long light and the increased volume is annoying, it could be reset for another 10-20 seconds of the quiet mode. Why noone has thought of that yet ....

 

It's too quiet. I drive 4 different cars. The Prius is the only one where the sound gets lost when the windows are open, or the radio is on a low to medium volume. I've caught myself miles down the road with the turn signal still on...but only in my Prius.