Prius annoyances

The gen3 Prius had a large recall over stalling. Not because of physical issues, but because of software. Toyota is not immune to problems.

Honda screwed up with NiMH, which is good enough reason to avoid them, but they have been using Li-ion since the 2012 Civic hybrid. The Jazz(Fit) hybrid rivals the Prius c in sales in Japan. If they have had battery issues with Li-ion on the scale of they did with NiMH, which wasn't in all hybrid models, reports should have reached here.

The Accord hybrid and Clarity PHEV actually have 'less' of a transmission than the HSD. The RWD system Toyota uses at Lexus, and will be going into the Tundra, is actually HSD plus an automatic in terms of mechanical complexity.

 

For those complaining about the center display, here's a new use for it...

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Ok, here's my contribution to the topic: horn sound. It's so... unconvincing? I mean, prius gets enough sh#t as-is, but horn is an important tool in city driving, and the one in our cars sounds a lamb amongst the volves.

 

I love my Prime, but here in Europe we only get the small screen instead of the full length one, we have no Entune system and have to choose between the HUD or solar panel as you can't have both.
I do think the double-bubble back window is cool however.
You can go to the dealer and they will happily reprogram the ECU so the car does not beep inside while reversing and also I had them activate the remote AC/heater function on the keyfob and remote electric window control.
It was a free upgrade but I have no idea why it wasn't standard in the first place.
My biggest gripe however has to be the navigation system.
The maps are totally outdated even after updating to the latest version.
My solution was to simply use an entry level Garmin unit which has lifetime upgrades . . . .

 

The beeps and other options can be turned off or on, and most dealers will do it for no charge, or the software is readily available for owners themselves.
I know the Camry manual lists all the selectable options, and says if the owner can change themselves, or if the dealer has too.

 

The Prime manual has a listing of these options beginning on page 792 (9-2. Customization).

 

Here's what I've found annoying about the Prius Prime so far:

1 - Reverse Beep: They say this is for safety, but I actually found it to be a hazard. When driving in reverse and you got too close to something, now you had two beeps going off at once which for me was more of a distraction and I had a harder time concentrating where I was going. So I bought a Carista ODB2 plug and disabled the annoying reverse beep. I only want to hear beeps if I am about to hit something. It's safer for me that way.

2 - You cannot open the hatch door if the car is turned on. Really? What is the reasoning behind this? Safety? How? Isn't placing the car in Park sufficiently safe?

Anyway, those are my two annoyances so far.

 

It's to prevent stuff being snatched from your trunk when stopped at red light, etc.

 

This could probably be adjusted with other options. You don't have to have your car doors lock when the car shifts into gear.

 

If you are stopped at a red light, I understand all doors are automatically locked once you change from P (park) mode, so if some stranger wants to open the hatch, they shouldn't be able to open it because they don't carry the key in their pocket. However, if I get out of the car, and leave the car turned on in P mode, I will have the key in my pocket, so why shouldn't the hatch automatically unlock for me? The key detection range is very short, barely a couple of feet from the lock you're trying to open. So the car knows if the key is closer to the charging port, the passenger door, the hatch, the driver door or inside the vehicle.

Normally, if I am carrying the key in my pocket, the hatch will automatically unlock if I press the release button on the hatch. This is not the case if the car is turned on. First impression I got from this is that perhaps I should not be able to turn on the car if the hatch is left open. However, and ironically, you can start the car if you leave the hatch open.

Also, if I put the car in P mode, by default, it will unlock all doors. It doesn't seem to do that with the hatch door. With the Carista app, I changed that setting to unlock all doors when I unlock the driver door from inside, which means, I am getting out of the vehicle. I feel it is safer that way.

 

Humm? I thought, if you have the key with you, 3 doors SKS will allow the hatch to be opened even in Ready and Parked. I have to check it when I get to the car.

 

How can I open the hatch without first unlocking it? I mean if the hatch is locked when the car is parked in ready mode, wouldn't the fob unlock it, if I walk out of the car and try to open the hatch with a fob in my pocket? @mveras1972 is alluding it dose not unlock it thus he can not OPEN it, but I don't think I have ever tried that.

 

Workaround, anyway: never exit car leaving it running.

 

Thanks for the explanation. So, I can open the hatch without needing a fob with me when the car is Parked at READY mode as long as it is not locked. Once it is locked, the only way to open the hatch is to unlock it from the power lock switch on the door panel. Is this correct?