2006 Prius Voice Recognition Problems

Lowspeed -

Yes, this problem appears to affect Dial by Name. Funny that this thread should be revived yesterday because I just spoke to the tech at my dealership. He had contacted someone at Toyota corporate's tech advice line, and was unfortunately told (and he admitted this) a load of "bull" because the official response was basically for me to refer to pg. 101 of the Navigation manual. Guess what? That page tells you how to get into the help menus that list all the voice commands. Gee, thanks.

I told him (and he agreed) that turning to this page in the manual did not fix the problem. (This is the same tech who saw my demonstration of the audio level problem on the service screens, so he does believe me, but he has to work his way up the Toyota phone tree I guess). So the issue is still open and they will be getting back to me some time later.

One really frustrating thing about this defect is that I can't enter an address anywhere near my parents' house via voice. (I don't need NAV there of course, I grew up there! But, it means that a significant portion of destinations around here cannot be entered.)

If you check their area via direct touch-screen entry, their town name is not listed. The whole area where I grew up is called "Unincorporated Clackamas County". The best the NAV system has come up for in response so far is "Unincorporated Hood River County". It would help if I knew how it thought I was _supposed_ to say "Clackamas", but so far I've tried a number of variations without success.

So, to sum up, based on a variety of problems both hardware and software, I have a very expensive "voice controlled" navigation system which:

1. Recognizes the command "AM" or "AM Radio" but does nothing with this information.
2. Recognizes so few words in a row that "Dial by Number" almost never works... 1 or 2 digits in every 10-digit number is incorrect, no matter how you speak.
3. Cannot enter a destination by voice anywhere near where I grew up.
4. Will insist on substituting a bridge (Burnside Bridge) for a major nearby road (Burnside St.), because the bridge is a POI when spoken by voice. Even if you say "Street".
5. Has a map database error which indicates a right turn at a major intersection where left is the correct action.
6. Has a map database error which (this is true) interprets a tunnel on a twisty cliff-side road as an intersection and tells you to turn left, right off the cliff. (Short cut!)
7. Even though the voice recognition system rarely recognizes anything correctly, rather than say "Say again?" like any modern cell phone, it just picks some weird thing. How weird? Yesterday, "Address" got the reply "Raising Temperature". This weekend, "Compass Mode" got the response, "System is showing Thai restaurant icons."

I'm a software developer and a tech junkie. I tolerate a lot from new technology. I love our Prius. But this is a lot, lot, lot to tolerate from a vehicle which has been in production for several years and is marketed to a mainstream audience.

The basic motive technology of the Prius is sound and works amazingly well, but the "voice recognition" portion of the Nav system, as installed, is not ready for prime time.

Toyota is forcing mechanics to deal with service issues that are software and hardware design in nature. There should be a separate support system for complex user-interface features such as Nav packages. There should be a published email address to report possible map database errors. There should be a way to contact someone who actually works on the design of the nav system to nail down the audio gain issue.

Seriously, I've been on this for about 6 weeks now, and I still can't get anyone at Toyota to tell me who I can call to ask "What should the navigation audio level screen actually be reading when speaking in a normal voice?". I can have an oscilloscope on a designated pin in 5 minutes and take a reading, if only someone who knew what was going on would tell me "Really? That bad? What kind of signal do you get on pin ___?".

Instead, I get "read manual page 101". After six weeks. Please.

- Bob R.

 

Lowspeed -

"P.S i have package HI (4) (no NAV) "

I don't know what to suggest for your issue because I don't know how VR, bluetooth, etc. work in systems without Nav.

The low gain issue I'm seeing is picked up on one of the Nav diagnostic screens.

(And I'm referring to 2006 model year systems with Nav... the 2004/2005 Nav systems were different.)

- Bob R.

 

MJ -

I'm thinking about setting up a small email discussion list for those who are specifically interested in moving this issue forward. For now, just tell your service tech that you know you aren't the only 2006 owner with these problems. If I don't get a satisfactory response within a week or so, I'll post another comment here.

A side issue to the poor recognition is the "AM Radio" issue. Thus far in various threads on Prius Chat, it has been determined that if your build date was 11/05 the problem exists, 12/05 the problem does not exist.

Can you add a data point for us and check yours? The problem: Saying "AM Radio" gets recognized (the system will say "AM Radio" back to you) but no actual action is taken. The radio stays in whatever its present state is. You can find the build date on the sticker in your drivers-side door jamb.

The tech I am dealing with said that even though this is probably unrelated to the audio level problem, he thinks he can at least get more headway with Toyota because it is something that is definitely "broken" as opposed to working poorly.

- Bob R.

 

I spoke to my dealer's tech again today. He has gotten the attention of a higher field rep, who basically suggested that I come down there again with my car and compare the results in my car with several other ones on the lot on a day that A) fits his schedule, B) fits my schedule, and C) they have other '06s on the lot.

Fortunately, I have some flexibility in my schedule, so it falls on them to make this happen soon.

- Bob R.

 

OK, I visited my the tech at my dealer today.

They said that Toyota had wanted me to come in and try a brand new 2006 (build date 2/06) and see if it still had the problems I was experiencing.

I sat with the tech and confirmed that A) voice recognition was lousy and B) the audio levels still were very low on the Nav diagnostic screen when compared with the MFD diagnostic screen.

The only thing that had been improved over my 11/05 build date was that the "AM Radio" issue was fixed, as we here on PriusChat already know.

He said he would write up that there is still a problem with the system, and try to push things further with Toyota. He apologized for the run-around... he is almost as frustrated with this process as I am. Apparently even the service folks can't just call up Toyota and say "Who is your point person for hard-to-diagnose Navigation system issues?"

For those of you who think that Voice Recognition works just fine in your 2006, I dare you to select the Pacific Northwest map and enter the following three voice commands: "Address", "Oregon", "Unincorporated Clackamas County". Go ahead. Try it. If you're especially lucky, you'll get "Unincorporated Hood River County" which is only a hundred or so miles away. If you are unlucky, you'll get "Unincorporated Grant County" which is in Southern Oregon.

Incidentally, the map database does not think that the street address of the dealership is a valid address. The dealership has been around for years and years, but you cannot even key in their address.

I asked the tech if he was aware of a hidden menu sequence to disable the Nav system lockouts. I said I would give up on my voice system complaints if the Nav lockouts could be removed. He said he did not know the sequence for 2006 but that he would ask. He said they are required to give a long talk about safety when disabling the backup beep for example, and did not know if he could even get the Nav lockout info from them, but he would ask.

- Bob R.