My 2010 Prius has the basic radio with Satellite, AM/FM and 5 CD changer. It does not have the NAV system. Recently it's been intermittently acting really strange. On a hot day when you start the car, sometimes the radio display starts showing what looks like a test pattern where all of the pixels start turning on and off in various patterns and it keeps blinking on again, off again. Often, I'm still listening to whatever station it was tuned to but when it's doing this you can't change to another station. Today, each time we tried to change the station, it ejected a CD. And when we pushed the CD eject button, it turned itself off. Finally we gave up, turned it off, waited about 10 mins for the air conditioning to cool off the interior and then turned it back on again. It was perfectly fine at that point. This has been happening more and more frequently. Usually the problem goes away when the car cools off. Is there any hope for this radio? Or is it time to give up and replace it?
Yes electronics don't love heat. I'm afraid it will only get worse as the seasonal heat continues. The good news is there are tons of used units on ebay and it isn't hard to replace. GOOD LUCK!
Just for grins, I went out to a local auto hi-fi company and priced out an aftermarket system with satellite, bluetooth (and even a backup camera). They quoted me $1200. That's insane. I noticed they listed separate charges for things like the satellite tuner ($100 + $100 for installation) and steering wheel controls ($100). But mine still work, can't I use the ones I already have? I'd prefer not to buy a used unit because I have no guarantee it won't be on it's last legs just like mine. So the question is, if I want a new radio, how many things do I need to replace if I keep the same form factor (single DIN I assume) and assuming I do not bother to add a backup camera? I still do want the satellite and bluetooth capability as well as the steering wheel controls.
it's your choice of course, but your failure is a kind of rare event (just like the unintended acceleration, LOL).
I have the same issue, a new radio is $1,800.00 at the dealer, or you can get a refurbish one for $200.00. I went with the refurbish one and 5 months later I same issues are back!
$1800 for a car radio. Geesh, my serious Onkyo home theater receiver was $1100 (US). It's gonna take a consumer revolt to bring this back to earth.
If it’s heat related, are you using a sunshade when you park the car to cut down on the heat on the dash and interior? $1,100 for a high end audio system is not that expensive with installation.
Same problem here. Anybody use UpFix for this? I used UpFix for my 2009 w/backup cam and was worth it. however my 2011 not wanting to even invest 300, which is appropriate for this age of car, not $1100! I will use the sunshade method until that doesn't work, then consider UpFix as they go through all components and replace what is bad and of concern - so it gets truly refurbished. Nice to hear/see everyones input. Thanks - good place to come when issues arise!
