Reverse beep frustrations!

Maybe mine does too, I'm oblivious?

 

The main reason I changed the backup alert to one beep is so that it wouldn't obscure the proximity alerts. When I am backing up, being warned that I am about to bump into something, or that there is rear cross traffic, is more important to me than a continuous nag that I am in reverse.

Another thing to point out is that the reverse beeping is audible only inside the cabin; people outside cannot hear it. This is different from the reverse beeps on commercial vehicles.

 

yes, the warning is for the driver, not the people behind the car. post #11 makes sense, but do not know if it is true.

 

Personally, I had the beeps turned off for one very good reason:

Because the Prime is so quiet in EV mode, I always make a habit of rolling down a window on both the passenger and driver's side so I can listen for any oncoming pedestrians and/or vehicles that are outside the visual range of the backup camera. I found that the incessant beeping while in reverse made it impossible to hear anyone or anything approaching.

The "quiet" in EV mode works both ways of course. There is always a concern about careless pedestrians who depend on hearing a vehicle instead of looking around (and they may not recognize the Prime's growler as something related to a vehicle in EV mode). For example, pedestrians pushing a cart while playing with their kid, someone talking to a friend while looking down at their phone, etc. Think of it as minimizing Murphy's law.

 

Yes, watched it, the "R" in the shift diagram on the dash is blinking. I think I've never noticed the blink because it's a slow pulse, and my attention is all over the place when reversing: shoulder-checking, checking rear and side mirrors, an occasional glance at the reverse camera image in rear-view mirror (the latter funhouse wide angle). Rear visibility positively bites in the Prius.

 

Personally, constant beef during Reverse do not bother me. In fact I kinda like it, so I know the car is in reverse as it is designed for. That said, it should be optional to change the setting depending on driver's preference and driving situation. Unless it is mandated by law, dealer should accommodate owner's request in this situation, IMO.

 

My '07 beeps in reverse and I think it's possible to change that. I considered changing the beep when I first got the car last year (my first hybrid). After living with the car for a little over a year I am glad to have the beep. Sometimes I fiddle around with the radio or make a phone call and when that happens in reverse, the backup camera screen goes away. So that's one scenario when I can forget I am in reverse. Another scenario is when I perform the motion to shift from reverse to drive, but for some reason the car remains in reverse. This does not happen often, but now and then it does. The beep really helps me know that the shift was not successful. As I said, does not happen often, but all it takes is one unfortunate event and someone can get hurt. So I keep the beep and it does not bother me since I do not spend that much time in reverse. A few seconds here and there.

But if the owner desires it to be off, then I don't see why the dealer refuses unless there is some sort of law about it.

 

I had my Prime for a few weeks when I was backing out of a parking space in Portsmouth, NH and the back up beeper was going off. I heard the back up beeper but it was different than usual. All of a sudden, my dash screams "BRAKE" and a quick check over my shoulder shows a 20-something in my blind spot (yes - blindspots are there even with a back up camera!) chatting away on her cell about to back into me. Bam - she bumps me - hard. The only reason it wasn't bad was because I was able to get my car back into D and gunned it back into my parking spot. We get out and she was all apologetic. I was all over her because for one thing, NH is a hands free state.

Anyway, I got home and ordered an ODBII dongle, downloaded Prius Tweak onto my Samsung Galaxy and shut that damn beeper off before it causes me to get more seriously damaged.

FWIW - this is my 3rd Prius and I've had to jump through hoops to shut this darn beeper off in every one of them.

 

One subscriber for disabling seat belt warnings: the movie industry:

Seat Belt Use on TV | PriusChat

 

I checked this yesterday, but in Prime, "R" does not blink when shifter is in reverse. Maybe, in Gen4 there has been a change? Then, I did not know it blinked in my previous Gen3 either. lol

 

Thanks for the info. Long beep gone.

 

I ended up going the Carista route. One beep and done. Also set it for all windows to roll down by holding unlock on the fob.


iPad ?

 

In all my years driving my Gen 2 the "R" never blinked until today when I looked at it for the first time. Must be something to do with the Heisenberg principle

 

Sadly only cheap if you're in the US. It's close to $30 if you live in Canada because Amazon takes advantage of border guards.

 

If you can get access to an Android device, get an ELM327 obd2 Bluetooth adapter for around $10 and install Prius Tweak for free.

 

I am not able to find Prius Tweak in Play Store, has that been removed?

 

When you take your Prime in for the free 10k or 20k oil changes, just ask the dealer to turn off the beeping.

I actually gave a list of items to my Toyota salesperson and had them make the changes before I even picked up my car.

#1 - Turn off the reverse beeper.

#2 - Turn off the driver's side seat belt audio warning (the flashing icon you see on your dash should be all you need IMO).

#3 - Have the lights on the vehicle turn off as soon as you exit the car (it's annoying to have the lights on for 30 seconds after you exit - I always felt it kind of brought a lot of attention to the vehicle).

 

Yeah, I just checked Google Pay Store, but URL no longer exist. It must have been removed from the play store for some reason. There are still some APK download sites available. You can sideload it if you know how.
Prius Tweak APK Download - Free Tools APP for Android | APKPure.com

 

Thanks, will side load for now.