Safe to turn off Prius while still in Drive?

Not a problem, just make sure you are completely stopped first. I usually go from D or R to OFF, if you watch I think you can see the Park light flash before it turns off.

If you are just barely moving it sometimes goes into park with a "clunk" and shudders to a stop. If on the other hand you are going faster than a few MPH and turn it OFF it will go into Neutral after a couple of seconds.

 

Yes, the car puts itself in park. watch the gear indicator s it shuts down.

 

I do it regularly by mistake, has not damaged anything yet.

 

I put the car into Neutral, apply the park-brake and then turn-off

Cheers
Warwick

 

Just switch it off, no need to select neutral or park as long as you are at a full stop. Personally I always apply the park brake, the law where you live may not require this.

 

I'm guessing you came from a manual car, you don't need to do either of those. Well maybe a parking brake if you're on a hill.

 

Advice to put parking break on all the time on this prius. You never know when the engine will bang surge forward from stand still.

 

Huh?

The only way I stop the car is after it comes to a stop, press the button and do whatever next needs to be done, say unbuckle the seat belt and open the door.

Bob Wilson

 

This is how I always do it. I never press P, then OFF. 1 step is better than 2!

 

I notice the car moving slightly when it's not placed in P first. There must be a slight delay. I'm not doing it anymore. :glare:

 

That happens in my car even if you put the car in P before OFF. There must be some play somewhere in the system (I remember a thread discussing the movement after turning off the car). Same thing happened in my previous car (BMW with a conventional automatic trans).

 

I see the same thing, I think it's totally normal. Just taking up the slack in the drive train. If I remember correctly MG2 is connected to the differential with a chain that would have a bit of play in it.

 

I always leave manual cars in gear and automatics in park as a safety precaution.

 

Think about this.... if you hit two or three switches to shut off your car and a switch has a number of cycles, is better to hit one or three?

 

I believe turning it off automatically puts it in park (assuming you're actually at a stop, and not doing 90mph while on the phone with an exasperated 911 dispatcher...). But I always put the parking brake on first, to save wear on the parking pawl (that's what goes 'thunk' when you put it in park on an incline without using the p-brake).
~T

 

is it different than the gen II? if you push the power button without pushing the park button first, you get a warning to push the park button before shutting the car off.

 

Fortunately, our ZVW30 eliminated the chain. <grins>

Bob Wilson

 

Of course how silly of me to not think about the car surging forward without input while still in park.