After several months of waiting a few days ago I had a Prius delivered as a new company car. So far I’m very impressed with it, driving is comfortable and relaxing, and the fuel efficiency is stunning compared to my previous diesel Vauxhall insignia that did 50mpg. So far I’m getting a return of an average of 75mpg (UK gallons) over 300 miles of mixed driving. I’m loving the electric driving having found I can drive on electric mode longer and further than I thought I could or at higher speeds beyond the ability of the EV mode. Im still not sure about the recent styling changes to the gen 4 but as I don’t see the outside when I’m driving it’s not really a problem. I quite liked the previous gen 4 styling as it was a little bit more edgy and different to everything else. One thing that’s confusing me is the beeps and buzzers. I seem to get the odd audible alarm go off but I’m unsure what they mean. There are a couple of systems that I’m thinking could be the source (sway and lane departure) so I’ve tried periods of turning them on and off. Can anyone point me towards the likely sources of these alarms so I can understand what they mean by reading the relevant parts of the manual?
They are usually a single sharp beep sound or a short beep beep sound. No message comes up on the dashboard like the parking sensor or collision warning alerts.
Aside from the reverse beep when you shift into reverse, all other beeps that I can think of will have an accompanying visual cue. Intelligent Clearance Sonar (on Excel trims: includes 12 sonar sensors around the car) - this will have a visual on the 4.2” MID with the car and the offending sensor. The beep interval depends on the distance to the object with closer distances featuring more rapid beeps Lane Departure Warning - 4 beeps - accompany visual of two thick lines on the screen. One is white and the side you cross has a blinking orange line. Rear Cross Traffic Alert - 3 rapid beeps in succession - accompanying RCTA message on the MID. The radar that detected the vehicle will have a blinking BSM light on the wing mirror on the same side ICS auto brake - long beep accompanied with a red “BRAKE!” message on the MID (and HUD if applicable. Pre-Collision warning - 4 beeps along with “BRAKE!” on the MID. Car not in Park - long beep inside and out - if you open the driver’s door while the car is not in Park Close the driver’s door while the key fob is outside the vehicle - 4 beeps outside the vehicle to indicate you’ve closed the door while the key is not detected in the vehicle. There’s also chimes for rear seat passenger seat belts, and driver or front passenger seat belts. There’s a warning chime if you drive off with a door ajar etc.
It’s regrettable that many of the aural warnings are neither distinctive nor distinctively named. Toyota’s translators use the term “buzzer”—and you may find it useful to search a PDF copy of the Owner’s Manual for that word—though I’ve never heard my car make any sound reminiscent of angry bees.
Thank you for the detailed reply. I have seen the Lane Departure Warning and Pre-Collision ‘brake’ flash up once on the screen so I can discount them. The single beep occurred again today. I did notice that a speed camera signal icon was on the centre screen so perhaps it’s a warning linked to speed camera alert? I was wondering if it could be sway alert as I seem to think that’s another system available on the Prius. Time to get the manual out for some light reading.
Possibly. We don't have speed camera alerts in North America so another UK member will have to comment on that. The sway alert should have a "Keep hands on steering wheel" message. Trigger enough of those (or drive for 3 or 4 hours continuously) and you'll see a "Time for break?" message (along with a cup of hot beverage icon)
I haven’t seen a message like that so I can rule that out. Thanks I think that’s the source of the noise.
