Changing dashboard clock 2017 Prius Prime Advanced

When I click on daylight saving time, another screen comes up with on and off. I selected off and the clock on the big display changed to correct time.

 

Are you sure? The new screen on and off is deceptive in that the off looks like it belongs to the category below Daylight Saving Time.

 

If you are correct your car has a defect which should be covered by warranty.

 

It took me a while to understand what they meant by "DST On". It does NOT mean that the DST feature should be enabled and should be used during the appropriate time of year. This is the interpretation that is used on all the electronic clocks I have around the house, and every other device I have ever had that deals with DST. Instead, what is means is is DST in effect right now.

For me, this is just like the start-stop timer on the charger. Every other device I have ever had that has a timer lets you set the start time and the stop time for whatever the device does (like an old VCR).But no, on the Prime (and the preceding plug-in Prius), it means that there are two timers, and you can select either the time to start charging, or the time that charging should be complete.

 

Except DST enforcement zones change from time to time. The Prime doesn’t do OTA updates so Toyota makes it a simple albeit manual process to change the on/off setting.
FWIW my Gen2, 2 Camry ‘s , 2 Venza’s worked this way so it’s not every other vehicle except the Prime.

 

The owner's manual is your friend. (The voters in CA just voted to get rid off changing the clocks. It will be DST permanently, supposedly.)

 

Just wait till spring, it will be alright. I bought my PRIME summer of 2017, I did not change clock last fall. I will do the same this year.

 

The difference with your other clocks is that they know what day it is so they know when to change. They are either "atomic" clocks which receive date and time information via shortwave radio, or manual clocks that allow you to enter the date. The DST setting on those clocks is geographical, it's how the clock knows that you live in a region that observes daylight savings time.

Meanwhile clocks without dates like a dash clock the DST switch has a different purpose, it is suppossedly an easy way to adjust for daylight savings time during time change, although I don't see how it's that much easier than simply changing the hour on the clock.

A separate topic discussed previously is why isn't the dash clock self-setting. My only guess is that the only time source available to all cars is GPS but not all trims in all regions have GPS, so it's cheaper to have one dash clock that works in all cars. Or I guess the shorter answer is "it's cheaper"

It still needs to be approved by the California Legislature. If it is enacted it will be interesting to see if it lasts more than a year. Some of us remember the attempt at permanent daylight savings time in 1974. By that fall there were so many complaints about kids going to school in the dark that it didn't even make it until winter, it was repealed and ended October 27th. It would have been even worse if it had continued into winter as the days got shorter. We'll see how it works out in California. Russia tried it a few years ago but went back to seasonal time change due to similar complaints.

 

This:



Versus:



I appreciate it's irrelevant, but...

 

But the dash clock DOES know the date. There is an "Eco Diary" (page 223 in User Manual) with dated entries in the multi-function display with various usage statistics, and you can set the day/month/year.

 

I had to check the pop-up display options for MID setting. Buried under nested menu, I found the time change option. I am now DST On... or is it DST Off? Whatever, the dash is displaying correct time now. Hooray!

 

So then even if they program in the date rules when the time changes occur, the laws can change. If that happens, unless the car gets a software update at the dealer the time change will always occur on the wrong day. When they last changed the dates in 2007 I had at least one clock in my house that was now off by an hour for one or more weeks unless I changed them manually. On the last Sunday in October (the old time change date) these clocks would automatically "fall back" a week earlier than they were suppossed to, so I had to manually set them forward an hour. Then on the first Sunday in November when the real time change occurred I had to set the clocks back an hour. Then the second Sunday in March when the real time change occurred I had to manually set the clocks forward an hour, then three weeks later on the first Sunday in April (the old time change date) the clocks automatically "sprung forward" another hour and I had to set them back an hour. Of course I quickly realized that it was easier to simply turn off DST since I was going to have to manually adjust them anyway. Even easier was to get new clocks which is what I eventually did.

Now imagine a dash clock acting that way, changing the time on the wrong week, everyone would be demanding that it be fixed. Toyota would have to change it through a software update and would likely have to eat the cost of reimbursing dealers.

So then someone says "Hey boss, let's just have an On/Off setting for DST, it's super easy for the owner to do, takes just ten seconds (demonstrates to boss how easy it is), and they only have to do it twice a year, and it will be much cheaper and less risky than what Wally over there is pushing for with all of that complicated automated time change stuff. And anyway we eventually plan to tie in the dash clock with the GPS so that it will be fully self-setting, so why spend money improving the old system."

By the way anyone who has worked in a software department has experienced many conversations exactly like this.

 

I'm getting better at this. Only took me 3 minutes to adjust both clock.

Does anyone know if the new Toyotas have self setting clocks? I sure hope so when I get a new Sienna in a year or two.

 

Lexus does. FWIW.

 

Prime dashboard clock is manual time set. The 11" tablet screen on the Advanced can be set to automatically adjust itself. Not sure if the default for the tablet is on or off. Thinking I set it to automatic last year so didn't have to adjust it this year. Any how that's how mine worked out with the recent change. And for the record...this is such a fun car, nearly 2 years and I still smile large every time I drive it.

 

Well, I finally decided to change the clocks on our vehicles today. I had printed out Mendel Leisk's response with the page from the Prius manual that he posted last November. Took me about five minutes to change the clock on the Prius. Then changed the clocks on the 2002 4Runner and 2000 Lexus. Took about 30 seconds for each. Then the clock on my garage door opener: maybe 30 seconds. My computer and my digital weather station automatically changed to Daylight Savings time. I think Toyota's software engineers could have done better.

 

Our 3rd gen has a couple of (physical) buttons, for hours and minutes. Old school, and simple.

Our dash is by no means ideal, still way to many buttons and displays that require you to take eyes off the road, and scroll though multiple options.

This BS can and does kill people. Tactile knobs and sliders with detents, that you can set without looking, are the way to go.

I really think the push to touch-screens is due to manufacturers looking to cut costs, nothing more.