2007 Prius software problems

Well...I certainly haven't had any problems with my 2006 so far (4+ months)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ladodgers @ Jan 23 2007, 11:17 PM) [snapback]379865[/snapback]</div>

No problems so far.

 

No problems so far (one brief MFD oddity that went away on reboot), had it since mid-Nov, 5000 miles on the car already.

 

I haven't had a problem and haven't heard of anyone recently having this problem. A coworker had this problem on his 2003 model. His wife was traveling back to LA from Vegas when it stalled...she managed to limp into a gas station on electric power. I understand that it worked fine the next day with no repairs. They immediately traded it in to a local dealer. Here's some info from Wikipedia -

"On June 1, 2005, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the US started an investigation on the 33 reported cases of engine stalling when the Prius travels at highway speed. The cars were still operable under battery power with substantial loss of power when the internal combustion engine failed to run. Toyota believes it was due to a computer programming error that was fixed in a recall (SSC-40D) issued back in September, 2004. The investigation needs to verify if all the reported cases occurred to the cars that did not receive the software fix. Some supporters argued that 33 cases (of which some were duplicate reports and/or valid out-of-gasoline conditions) among 75000+ cars sold was not an alarming percentage figure compared to the millions other auto makers have recalled. Additionally, unlike most cars with a failed engine, the Prius can still run with its electric motor until it can stop at a safe location."

 

Never had a problem. I'm past 15K miles on my 06 that I've had for a little over a year. About 40 mins of my driving each day is highway and I do a little over 50 miles/day. FWIW, I recently drove it from San Jose to Las Vegas and back for CES. That put on >1100 miles in 5 days.

To the op, where are you getting this "info" from? Someone trying to spread FUD?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ladodgers @ Jan 24 2007, 12:03 AM) [snapback]379926[/snapback]</div>

I think, when (s)he said reboot, (s)he really meant restart. To restart the Prius it only takes a couple seconds.

 

No problems whatsoever; got my 2007 on October 30, just hitting 5,000 miles.

Having my first oil change on Friday; I plan to ask the dealer to run my VIN through their computer to make sure there are no service bulletins that need to be applied to my car.

 

There are no "SW" issues with the 2004-06 models. Some early 2004 models had a stalling/idling problem that was fixed with a software update.

there is no "reboot" problem. I have never had to reboot my prius. I just push start and go, just like any other car.

What you might have read about is that sometimes the car get an "error code" (like oxygen sensors not working or similar), just like nay other car. This shows up as a warning triangle (just as on any other car). For some type of errors they need to be repeated several times in a row to be considered serious (i.e malfunction) and not just a glitch (same as any other car). The triangle shows up the first time the error is seen but goes away if the event is not repeated (just like any other car). Restarting the car a couple of times (in a row) will clear these type of errors. That might be the "reboot" process you've read about.

Most of us have never seen that on our Priuses (including me). I had a similar problem on my old Maxima, where the oxygen sensor would from time to time "fail". After restarting the car a couple of times it would go away until several years later where the sensor actually failed. I also had the "service" symbol show up for other things that wasn't repeated later.

I think what you have read about (here) is just normal car behavior. Nothing to worry about, and by the way the Prius is one of the most reliable car out there and with low average maintenance fees

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ladodgers @ Jan 23 2007, 11:17 PM) [snapback]379865[/snapback]</div>

As stated above, the highway stalling issue was corrected a long time ago. As for software problems and reboots, it could be much, much worse. Imagine the Prius running a version of MS Windows:

Cruising down the highway on a sunny afternoon, talking on the Bluetooth phone, listening to your favorite CD, when BAM, the Blue Screen of Death pops onto the MFD and you coast to the edge of the road. Luckily you stop safely, since the steering and brakes went out. You try to call road service, but the Bluetooth phone driver is an integral part of the emergency flasher, which isn't working either. A reboot is your only option. You have to flag down a passing motorist to help, since the reboot sequence requires you to hold down the brake pedal while opening the glove box and rear hatch at the same time. Crud, it's not responding to the reboot sequence; looks like you'll have to cycle the power, so you crawl under the hood and pull the fuse. Be careful with that fuse; it's a Microsoft fuse, and it's keyed to your car's current configuration. If you break it, you'll have to call Microsoft for a replacement. To bad your Bluetooth phone doesn't work. As you wait for your trusty Prius to power up, you reflect on technology and how it has improved. in fact you do a lot of reflecting - this is a cold boot, which means it starts with the firmware from the Model T and loads patches until it gets to a Prius. All this reflecting makes you happy that you're a Microsoft Windows customer using the newest version of Windows XPauto. Had you been running the old Windows 98auto, your Prius would have exploded, taking you out, the three cars around you, and the person on the other end of the Bluetooth phone call.

Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kDB @ Jan 24 2007, 07:15 AM) [snapback]379960[/snapback]</div>

Sorry, that is what I meant by reboot. We pulled over and turned the car on and off. We were getting an odd MFD display (90-100 mpg on consumption screen, no arrows at all on energy screen) at the start of a road trip to Kansas City from Chicago. Turning the car on and off made the odd display go away. Completed that road trip, made another at Christmas, and car is driven 34 miles each 5 days a week for Megan's work commute. No problems. We love the car.--Scott

 

I've had one incident in my Prius as well, for some reason (not sure what I did) the voice recognition button didn't work (on any screen). Next time I started the car all was normal. Hasn't happened since, and the bluetooth phone connection works flawlessly!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ladodgers @ Jan 23 2007, 11:17 PM) [snapback]379865[/snapback]</div>

7 months and some 9000 miles in my 2006 and no software problems. ABS failed (without incident) and replaced under warranty. Car drove fine without ABS. Dealer was nice about it. In the end only a couple of annoyances during the entire episode.

My Intrigue had more warranty trips in the same amount of time. Consumer Reports gives high ratings to the Prius in every category. I think the only thing you have to worry about is the disinformation others spread. Check out the threads here. We are a vocal lot.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ Jan 24 2007, 07:21 PM) [snapback]380433[/snapback]</div>

I have to agree - ZERO issues here. Car has 11,000 miles and 6 months on the road. Car has been great and a lot of fun to drive.

 

Absolutely no issues in 1,700 miles on my '07.

 

Never any such problems with my 2004. There were a couple of recalls to change the programming. The most common problems with the Prius seem to be computer-software-related, but this car is less likely to break down than just about any other car you can buy, and far far better than any American-nameplate car.

I have a friend who drives a 2001 Prius. That is an entirely different car than the 2004/5/6/7. Her car refused to start once on a weekend. Shutting off and then turning on numerous times did not help. She had it towed to a dealership. On Monday she went in and the car started and ran fine without any work having been done on it, and has never misbehaved since. She puts a huge number of miles on it and this problem has only happened once and is the only problem she's ever had with it. How many 2001 cars have only ever had one problem, and it fixed itself after 2 days of sitting? And that was the earlier model.

If you are concerned about reliability, there is no car better than the Prius.

 

We have had our Prius since April 2005, and have done 34,000 km in that time with absolutely no problems. The car does long trips and freeway driving on a regular basis.

As stated previously, there is a lot of misinformation about the Prius. By communicating directly with owners, as you chose to do, you will get the truth about whatever information you need....then make an informed decision on the facts.

The Prius is an extremely reliable car, and in my experience from owning 37 of its vehicles over many years, Toyota is highly responsible in not treating owners of its products as test drivers to sort out problems in its cars that should have been eliminated in development prior to release on the market.