My 2004 Camry Hybrid did this as well, so I am sure it is quite known to Toyota. My Gen III did this maybe once or twice in a year. Just turn off and back on works fine.
Thanks for starting this thread, i8z. It's important that Prius owners become aware of things like this. In this case, as Cobra has said, it seems that it's just louder than normal for people and not detrimental to the engine itself. We'll have to wait and see what Toyota's going to do - if anything - regarding this. After all, if Cobra is correct there does not seem to be mortal consequences as a result of this noise. About being called a troll; don't take that personally. Some people on this board are hyper-sensitive and occasionally seem to think that they are the Moderators of this forum and therefore have the right to call people names and insult them openly. I can assure you that if their username is not large and green, their insults and accusations are meaningless and unwarranted.
BTW, 2 minutes of the women not knowing how to start a Prius, and 9 seconds of knock do not a convincing youtube video make.
I must not be getting all the posts because I don't see where someone called the poster a "troll". I read the thread posts a couple times and I don't find a troll reference other than the original poster referring to it.
e: Rough loud start (what the dealer said) 32K colors. what is your theory this time?? Very interested in what your special bio research / bs detector abilities are telling you? What does i8z do for a living? do they own a prius? are they a troll? Please do tell
See post #10. I think 32k is calling out the dealer, as did I. I have not seen anything official or even UNOFFICIAL from Toyota (including their reps who surf these forums and undoubtedly see these threads but steer way clear of them) regarding this problem. Companies need to realize that the internet gives a voice to almost nothing. I've read of probably 20-30 people who've had this. Let's pretend that they are the only 30 people in the world who've had the problem (my real guess is thousands have, though). And yet now there are threads about it accessible to millions. A corporation cannot afford to ignore things like this and hope they go away.
It wouldn't surprise me to learn there are Toyota employees on PriusChat who have been posting messages minimizing this problem and criticizing those owners who've reported them here. After taking some time to enumerate those who've actually reported experiencing this problem here on PriusChat, I found a much larger number of affected owners, and I didn't include numerous reports from those who reposted when this engine anomaly reoccurred in their Gen 3's. I'm fairly certain there have been other associated orphan posts here and there... and perhaps even a few threads I may have missed; but here's what I've found posted on PriusChat to date. SUMMARY (2010+ Gen 3 only) Main Forum: 4 topic threads, totaling 50 unique owner reports. Tech. Discussion: 4 threads, totaling 6 unique owner reports. Maint. & Troubleshooting: 9 threads, totaling 97 reports. GRAND TOTAL: 17 topic threads, totaling 153 unique reports. Only the PriusChat owner/moderators have an idea of how many members are 2010 Gen 3 owners and could calculate what percentage of that number reported this issue. There are undoubtedly lurkers here who've experienced it and haven't posted a single word. PriusChat likely represents a tiny fraction of global Prius ownership; consequently there are many more owners out there who've undoubtedly experienced it. I believe this start-up anomaly is not a rare occurrence, but a statistically significant issue and one that Toyota should analyze, explain, and/or remedy in a reasonably timely manner.
Please ignore socalev. He's pissed because I caught him red-handed in the other thread. I was calling out the dealer, not you.
Why are we all spinning our wheels here, speculating about the root cause of this problem; listening to BS from dealers? Can someone with good technical knowledge about the GenIII Prius call: Dave Zellers Vice President - Customer Retention Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. (310) 468-4000 Maybe if this gentleman is pinned down, something more constructive may emerge??
Just a wacky thought, but is there anyone here who might have knowledge/access to any of Japan's Japanese Prius forums? There must be one or two forums of some type since the Prius is a very big seller there, and from the latitude of the islands it's got to get a bit nippy and cause this phenomenon. One would think.
At least they're not as bad or obvious as the astroturfers who are trying their darndest to prove SUA in the Prius.
LOL...unkprius... I don't think you intended this, but your use of the word, "nippy" is an ethnophaulism (ethnic slur) toward the Japanese people who were often referred to as "NIPS" by American GI's during WWII, and other times. I apologize for bringing this up as I by no means intend to raise any ire, stereotyping, nor negative discussion. The Japanese are beautiful, intelligent, wonderful people. After all, didn't they give us the Prius? My quick internet search for car forums in Japan, did not disclose any websites from Japan, but it did return the PriusChat forum.
The only message I posted over there(#55) was simply the link to the official NHTSA/NASA results... and that 'Pedal Misapplication' still works for me. These official results were thorough, conclusive, and I'd be very surprised to see anything contradictory from the forthcoming NAS study. It's just a shame that the ICE start-up issue hasn't also been put to bed.... as it certainly can't be beyond the analytic capability of Toyota's engineering staff.
That does not sound good. A typical prius should be able to start without a loud noise even if it is cold outside. My prius made a slight noise when it started after sitting out all night at -5 F, but it was not really loud or dangerous. It sounds like something is wrong with the engine.
32k colors so i'm pissed at you for "catching me red handed" --- your words 1) what exactly did you catch me at? - you said i was a lawyer-- wrong - you said i work for an insurance compnay - wrong again - you said i was a troll -- like you started with the op on this thead-- wrong again - you ad that evpv and i were one and the same--- wrong again so again, what did you catch me red handed at? I offered to meet up with you, to prove all of the above were wrong you then wrongly stated another wild nice person theory that in your words "only guilty people are interested in proving themselves" i pointed out to everyone, that -- that is the first time in my life id ever heard such a theory and called YOU out again to meet up with me so i could personally buy you a drink and prove all of your theories as wrong.. I even offered to put a friedly wager on the above...so not only could you come back to this board and tought that you were right (if you were) but you could make some money. Instead you never responded, and now you are pounding your chest. You are a coward and and again i'm calling you out. unless you are a shell of a man an not man enough to meet up with me and then post up your findings to the board. you are a coward and wont meet up with me and the true troll. I will meet up with you, at a prius meet or whatever i need to.. and also be watching your posts to make sure that you don't start calling troll on other unsuspecting posters.. my advice to you, watch your accusations.... i still can't believe that you are in biotech research as you surly don't like a researcher or scientist with your wild accusations and theories.
There a very few scenarios which can cause NVH issues like that at startup. Toyota is probably aware of all of them, given how well they deal with driveline harshness problems in practically one of their every other vehicles.