I haven't had the problem with the Nav DVD. But I have had (maybe half way to the same problem). A couple of times a few weeks ago, and then again 2 days ago I have heard the drive (CD or DVD) spinning for no apparent reason. I have no CD in the player and the Nav is off -- I actually have the screen off. Driving normally and with just the radio on and I hear a whirring sound of a drive spinning. It would be different if it happened all the time. But just one day a few weeks ago and just once a couple of days ago. (So far this is my worst complaint about the car after ~4 months) 3PriusMike
This is frustrating. It's happened to me about 5 or 6 times now. Sometimes it reboots itself within a couple of minutes and sometimes takes longer. The other day, I really needed to use the nav, and wasn't able to. When the error message is on screen, it's not just the nav that doesn't work -- the audio and other displays are all inaccessible. I took it to a dealer this morning and had to wait for about an hour and twenty minutes for them to come back and tell me they ran all the diagnostics but couldn't find anything wrong (of course, it's been working fine recently). They said they have a call in to Toyota. I was hoping they would just give me a new DVD, but no such luck! I asked them how much the new version costs, and I think they said $375! So then I asked them whether they had an old version DVD that they could just replace it with, and they said they didn't have any.
Sounds like your getting the run around from dealer that doesn't want to provide any customer service if it looks like a difficult problem. I have run into this with Toyota dealers before. At least send an email to Toyota yourself (don't trust this dealer) and see if they have the same attitude. It's ridiculous for them to expect you to buy a $375 disc to see if it fixes the problem, this is a new system still under warranty. There is no good reason you should be stuck with an unreliable nav system while waiting for a hard failure that may never occur. Good Luck.
Well, they said they were unfamiliar with this problem and if they really couldn't find a problem and don't know what the problem is, I guess they can't fix it. I suggested they put in a new DVD, but that didn''t go anywhere. They said they are waiting to hear back from Toyota and will call me once they hear. Whom should I call at Toyota? Since several people here have reported this problem, I hope Toyota knows about it and knows what to do to fix it! I should add that I took a photograph of the error message with me as proof that I have a problem because I knew they probably wouldn't know what I was talking about.
You could give the dealer a few days and see what they come up with. Who knows? Toyota's Customer Experience Center is 800-331-4331. The Toyota Owner's Online site is here: Toyota Owners Online | Official Toyota Owners Website You will need your VIN and you can create an account, then just look for the "Contact Toyota" at the bottom of the page after you log in. You can send an email from there. I think a photo is a good idea or maybe just try to drive it in with the error and have them come out and look at it, if it will stay broke that long.
The error usually occurs in the morning on start-up when I'm on the way to work, so I don't have time to take it in. Also, since it usually reboots and fixes itself at some point, by the time I get to the dealer it would probably be gone. Once, it lasted all the way until I got to the Metro station, and when I came back in the evening it was still there when I started the car -- but immediately rebooted. Thanks for the link.
PriusRos, If this would become a daily routine, I would opt to leave the car at the dealer and have them check it at startup to see it fail. You only started having this issue correct? Did you take the CD out for any reason or do anything with the Disc Player? Not blaming you but trying to see if some action caused this to start occuring? Are you using your Defrost in the AM for the windows at all? Guess I am taking stabs at potential ideas which may affect this to produce the failure? I have not (yet) experienced anything with my NAV like this. Keep us posted.
None of the above. I started having the issue a few weeks ago. Since then, it's happened about 5 more times, but it's not on a regular basis at all. It usually happens immediately on start-up in the morning before I've done anything else, and when it's a little chilly -- although it hasn't been THAT cold here yet. Once, it started okay but then happened after I tried to plug in a destination. I went to Previous Destinations and the screen was all messed up -- there were horizontal striations in the background, and it kind of froze. Then the "insert DVD" message appeared. It happened again maybe a week ago, then rebooted itself within a few seconds. Since then, it's been behaving perfectly all right. So it's not something that I can leave with the dealer overnight and expect it to occur in the morning. I'll try and contact Toyota and see what they have to say. A nav system that costs this much should not be failing like this!! (I'm pretty sure it would just be a simple matter of inserting a new DVD.)
Oh, I should add -- I did take the DVD out at one point just to look at it out of curiosity. I then replaced it immediately. I honestly don't remember whether it's before I started having the problem or after. But I don't remember having the problem immediately after having removed and replaced the DVD.
I just remembered why I took out the DVD. The sales rep who sold the car to my friend told us that you can actually play a video DVD by inserting it and pressing and releasing the brake three times -- or something along those lines. So I wanted to see whether this Easter Egg really worked (it didn't, or I didn't get the hand-foot sequence right)!
When a new version of the NavDVD is inserted, it takes some time (minutes) for the new software (or whatever) to be read into the internal (probably flash) memory. Sounds like either: the DVD player (reader) is having trouble reading the DVD (most likely), or the "internal" memory has gotten messed up (less likely). The two most common reasons for the DVD not reading are: The DVD is scratched (possibly by the read head itself) or dirty (easy to remove the DVD and check), or the read-lens is dirty and needs cleaning (harder to do). The third reason is the use of too much "grease" on the moving parts of the drive, which gets to "stiff" over time, and at lower temperatures. Unfortunately, disassembly of the drive (and removal of 99% of the grease) can be very difficult and time-consuming.
I would hope that they checked the disc to see if it's scratched or damaged, but who knows. The fact that the problem appears only sporadically makes it hard to diagnose. I'd imagine that a contaminated/damaged disc or reader would result in the problem occuring all the time. The third possible reason you mentioned, the grease getting stiffer at lower temperatures, sounds like a possibility because it does seem to occur when it's a little colder. However, since the car is very new (got it at the end of July) and the weather here has not been that cold yet (mid-thirties has been the coldest so far, and the failure has happened while in the mid-forties or so), it doesn't seem very likely. But what do I know? Whenever it happens and eventually reboots, the reboot takes several minutes. What's particularly annoying, apart loss of use durng the error and reboot period, is that each time it reboots, I lose all my nav/voice settings.
I called the 800 number and they said they'd get back to me by COB Monday. Let's see what they have to say.
Toyota called me today and they told me they are still working on the case but they hadn't heard of this issue before. I told them that I have heard of three other people who have had the problem., If you are experiencing this problem, please call Toyota's 800 number so that they know there is more than one person having this issue. It happened again yesterday. This time, it didn't just freeze. It was flashing like it was starting to reboot. Then it actually started a reboot but looped back into error mode. Eventually, it did reboot, but took 5 or 10 minutes.
hello, I have a one month old pkg III with nav and solar that has been acting up lately, but I do not have the DVD. Am I missing something? How do I chk my version of NAV? Thanks Karen
guys, To those who have this problem, it usually is caused by moisture which has accumulated in early morning. Those who park their cars outside are more likely to face this issue. It is certainly not owners' fault. Toyota might have a batch of NAVI units that do not have sufficient design consideration for moisture, which accumulates on disc or len of laser reading head. Try this. - put some lime desiccant packs around the head unit See if that helps. If yes, you have found the cause. Tell Toyota about it. You should demand for a new head unit AFTER they find a fix. My gen-II had that happen once only. Never happened again. However, my Prius is always parked inside garage overnight.
sounds like an intermittent power failure, that causes the nav-unit to loose its settings and need to load the sofware from the dvd again. I don't think it's a problem with the dvd
How has it been "acting up"? What do you mean by you "do not have the DVD" -- did you mean you don't have the error message? The instructions for checking the version are in the navigation system owners manual. I think it's the Info button.
Sounds plausible. When you say to place them round the head unit...where/how would I place them? Recently, it's been quite cold first thing in the morning (low to mid-thirties, but not below freezing) and I haven't had a problem.
