Backup Beeper

Sure, it's easy to understand why many people may want the backup beeper. What I don't understand is why they make it so hard to
remove or adjust. It would be very easy to make it possible to replace the beep with some other computer-generated sound (as one can do with a cellphone ringtone), and this would resolve my problem. I drove my first prius for 8 years and just bought a second prius so I
really like the car, but I don't understand why they make something that should be minor so irritating to change. It seems like a very poor business practice.

 

it's a secret toyota is unwilling to reveal, and we can only surmise.

 

I agree, mostly, but wouldn't go to quite that extreme. A beeping scanner tells the cashier whether the item has been successfully scanned, so it doesn't bother me. A beeping Prius tells you something is seriously wrong---except when it alarms you by beeping similarly when you're safely backing up, or in various other non-hazardous circumstances. It's too much like the fable of the boy who cried "Wolf!" too many times.

Making the reverse warning beeper most audible from outside the car, as on construction vehicles and such, would've been far too logical.

Fortunately, you can limit the thing to a single reverse beep, which is not so bad.

 

From a bean-counter perspective, that programmable sound generator is going to be far, far more expensive than a fixed beeper. It will probably cost at least a dollar in raw parts, compared to pennies for the beeper. And the customer support costs will be much higher.

 

Today we drove off with the hatch loose. So what does the car do? Starts beeping like crazy, and let's us know "KEY HAS BEEN DETECTED IN VEHICLE".

 

I'm not sure how, but occasionally mine gets so confused it does that even when all doors are fully closed. Fortunately, it stops by itself after a few seconds of causing unwarranted panic.