New Prius won't go into gear.

It's never done it to mine and I must switch my Prius taxi on and off about 50 times a day.

The only thing I'd imagine is that you arn't pressing the brake pedal correctly, but you do say that you are pressing it hard. If you press the brake pedal too hard the car goes into a hill start mode and flashes the traction light. Maybe this is causing the problem?

Try not to press the brake pedal too hard and see if the problem occurs. If it does then it sounds to me like you might have an problem/issue that needs the main dealer to investigate.

 

You have definitely got it in Ready mode I trust? No doors are open? Sometimes the trunk appears shut but isn't quite according to some members on here. I'm clutching at staws here but if you have tried everything and it's nothing obvious (like not being in Ready mode), then I regret it sounds like a problem.

 

Does the ready light stay on or does it go off?

I had something similar last week for the first time.
But the ready light did not stay on.
I have 5.1K Klm on the car (3.25K Miles)
I opened the door and reclosed it starting the whole process from scratch and it was fine. I do have an additional immobolizer as well.
Don't forget we need to press the brake twice.
When pressing the "ignition" and then again when shifting into D (or R).
It is possible to do one long press of the brake pedal.

 

Get someone to check that the brake lights come on when you press the pedal. If they don't come on at all, or they go on and off intermittently, there's a problem with the brake light switch. If they come on only when you press the brake pedal very hard, the switch needs adjusting.

Otherwise it's probably a problem with the horizontal shift lever sensor - the one that detects that you're pushing the lever to the left (on a left-hand-drive car). It may not be connected reliably or - rarely - have failed altogether.

The car will only shift into B from D - you cannot shift directly into B from Park.

 

Mike's answer is spot on. With this problem the first culprit is the driver not pressing hard enough on the brake. The second is the brake switch. Seeing the brake lights come on is a good sign, but it is not a guarantee. The brake light switch has two poles, so it is possible for the lights to work even if the side controlling the shifter has failed.

It could also be a problem with the shifter switch. Try moving the shifter to D and holding it there. Does the car shift to D?

The last piece in the chain is the ECU. You will need the dealer's help if this is the problem.

While your problem does not sound like a bad battery, it should be noted that Prius act like they are possessed by the devil when the 12V battery gets low. The 12V battery is always a suspect when odd things happen with the electronics.

Tom

 

We've never had this problem. It sounds as if you have done everything correctly. I believe your Prius has a problem and you should take it to your dealer. Be sure to let all of us know what they find.

 

I concur on the 12V battery, even on a 2010, sadly.

 

Picking nits: on the Gen 2, only cars with cruise control have a double-pole switch. On cars with and cars without CC, the light-illuminating side of the switch is used to detect the brake pedal being depressed when the power button is pushed and when the shifter is moved. The second pole is only used to cancel cruise control.

I haven't seen a relevant Gen 3 wiring diagram.

 

Agreed. Last thing you want is for the issue to get worse, and you can't move your car.

 

I've found that if I very quickly snap the shift lever into P or D, it doesn't "take," and that it needs to be held there for about a second. I've liked this feature, and have assumed it's designed to guard against accidentally shifting when one's foot is on the brake. Are you sure that's not what's happening in your case?

 

Thanks for the correction. I remembered the part about double poles, but confused the circuits. Like you, I don't know about the Gen III wiring.

Tom

 

I second the question about how long are you holding the shifter? It takes a couple of seconds to actually shift it - a quick swipe over to D won't do it (my DH does this, occasionally)... you have to actually HOLD the shifter there until it goes into gear.

If you hold it for a slow count to 5, and it still won't take, take it to the dealer and have it fixed.

 

You have to hold the stick in gear for at least one second. Otherwise it won't register.

 

Incidentally, pressing the gas has no effect in Neutral. Or in Park, I would assume. This is intentional. Your display does show you in some gear, no? Probably you are staying in Park, although your description, "makes no difference" isn't clear.

Also, if I try to shift into Drive without pressing the brake, I get beeped at. This would tell you if the brake switch was faulty.

 

I don't know if this may help: if you want to quickly go into gear after you start the car, push and hold the brakes, push the power button, and hold the shifter in the "gear" you want under it actually switches into it (may take few seconds, while the car is "booting up").

 

I paid careful attention today when I went to start my car, and put it into drive. Asking someone if the "ready" light is lit...is only part of the details. Asking someone if ONLY the "ready" light is lit...is more appropriate, as the ready light lights up while the park assist, oil light, and all of the other lights illuminate as the system checks itself.

If you are trying to start up and then instantly put it into drive, it's not going to work, because the system is still going through it's "checking all systems" protocol.

I think that must be what the issue is.