My 4 month old 2007 Prius has gone completely dead. I mean ZERO electricity. I could jump start it and it would start and runs great, but then when you turn it off....dead. Radio, MFD, everything resets upon jumping. They think there is some issue between the starter battery and motor... Dealer was able to fix it several times....but problem persists thus leaving me stranded. They have a factory rep coming now to look at it. Dealer is perplexed... Anyone else have a similar problem or experience and resolution?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Nov 5 2007, 11:36 AM) [snapback]534972[/snapback]</div> First time, they took out the entire interior of the car and resoldered a wire they said was broken. Second time, they said a battery terminal was not reconnected properly. This time...they are calling the factory as they said when they do the same repair the third time, they have to get the factory involved. No after market accessories except for tinting on the windows....
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BocaPrius @ Nov 5 2007, 11:39 AM) [snapback]534974[/snapback]</div> Thanks for the replies... The dealer just called and the car is ready. They said that a high voltage cable that runs under the car had an open circuit so they replaced the cable. They said it took 12 hours to do.... Soooo.... The first time it happened it was supposedly a bad solder under the seat of the car on a connection. The second time was a bad battery connection. The third time was this cable. All with the same symptom of a dead vehicle. The whole thing seems fishy to me that 3 different electrical issues would occur in a month. But we shall see....I may file a Lemon Law complaint so if it happens a fourth time, I am done....
Don't panic. More likely it was *one* electrical problem, and three attempts at diagnosis before the dealer guessed correctly. Drive it for a while and see how it goes.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(richard schumacher @ Nov 7 2007, 11:08 PM) [snapback]536511[/snapback]</div> My thought too. This sort of diagnostic technique is common when technicians are in over their heads, or if they are working without the proper tools. This could be a red flag about the service at that particular dealer. Tom
My new '08 Prius is dead after 2 days of sitting. Hopefully a door wasn't all the way closed or something but it didn't seem that way when I entered the car. It's definitely a bummer. The headlights were in the off position and I distinctly remember switching off the main power and wondering if I had pressed the Park button or not, but figured it probably puts itself in park or should complain if the power button is pressed while in D. We'll see what happens when AAA gets here (I just checked and the car is definitely in park) but this has never happened to me, so I'm worried about the car now
Car was (still is!) in the garage and the key was in the house, about 40-60 feet away. When the car gets jumped i'll make sure to see if any lights are still on.
I'm not sure if anyone's said this yet, but you may want to check into lemon laws. If you have a repeated problem that the dealer has trouble fixing, they may have to give you a new car.
Even if you do not place your '08 Prius in the 'P' position and you press the 'Power' button...it usually will put itself on 'Park'.
I couldn't push the car and it didn't complain when I turned it off, so it seems like at least at the transmission level, it was in park. AAA came and after a "jump" everything powered up and the traction battery meter showed about 60%. Still no idea what happened I took her for a 10 minute drive around the hood and so far, all is well. Heh... what do you mean it will "usually" put itself in park? ;-) Cheers.
IMHO you should ask the dealership to check your little battery in back. It could be faulty with a bad cell.
With my '06 Prius, I can come to a full stop, like after pulling into my driveway, and with my foot on the brake, I next press the power button. Watching the transmission indicator, the car will go from "D" to "P" then all those lights with the exception of the transmission shift indicator light, will go out, then after a good second, the transmission shift indicator light will also go out. The car has "parked itself".
Almost certainly, it was a single problem. They mis-diagnosed it the first two times. Sounds to me like the little 12-volt battery. Either it got drained because a light was left on, or it's defective. Always a bummer when the car won't start, but this is a very minor problem and does not mean anything is really wrong with the car. Good luck. When you shut the car off by pressing the Power button, it automatically puts itself in Park. Some people like to press Park first, just to be in the habit, so that if they ever get out of the car without shutting it off, they've put it in Park first. But it's not necessary to press Park before Power Off.
Simplst explanaition is that you left something not-quite-closed. Always lock the car, no matter where you park it. It will then complain with a long beep if the doors or hatch are left ajar. "Usually" usually means that the poster is not completely confident of the answer :_> The car always puts itself into Park when you shut it off.
It's hard to fault the dealer when the high-voltage cable has an intermittent open. More than likely, it's a loose joint inside the cable jacket where the terminal on either end of the cable connects to the cable. It sounds like the dealer did the right thing here. The dealer looked for obvious remedies first, then called Toyota when those failed and apparently (so far) corrected an uncommon problem. How did the dealer treat you during this ordeal? Hopefully well. If so and your car works fine now, the dealer did its job. The bottom line is that problems can occur on any complicated piece of electronically-controlled machinery. The Prius is not exempt. The inconvenience to the vehicle owner is unavoidable. What really matters is how your dealer's service department handles these problems when they occur.
