Not happy with Toyota over seat belt chime

Regading the owner's manual, I see instances of poorly communicated instructions and descriptions which leads me to believe that our U.S. manual is a translation from other countries. If that's true, then Toyota screwed up by putting a statement in our manual about changing seatbelt chimes. I guess to prove my theory, I'd have to ask if the same "seat belt chime adjustment" statement appears in the 2011 Prius manual, or other Toyota model manuals?

 

Like the OP, I find the speed-related seat belt beeping to be very annoying. On the other hand, I find the reverse beeping to be very useful.
However, the seat belt beep is one too many. I do not care if it chimes once and keeps flashing; I just do not want a perpetual beep if I went down to the mail box and neglected to re-fasten the seat belt on returning.

I had a similar dealer experience in that when I requested the dealer to change it, I got a look like I was asking him to participate in the crime of the century.

Screw them - I'll figure this out one way or another.

 

I purchased the Prius 2 hours from my house. After I got the car home I called a couple local dealers to disable the reverse beep and the seat belt chime. The one closest to my house refused. I found one that would and it took about 3 minutes. They did it in the parking lot.

I noticed that the seat belt alarm still chimed when a passenger was in the car. I used a scan gauge to disable the chime for both seats.

 

Sometimes I have the belt off like if moving around the driveway or something. i agree it's very annoying, though not as bad as the back up beep. I don't understand Toyota's love these these infuriating @*#(ing sounds.

 

Go over to cleanmpg.com and get a SG II for about $140 iirc. Problem solved and valuable tool acquired.

 

Greetings!

I guess you know by now that if you wanna squelch the seatbelt chime in your car, you have the choices of getting a ScanGauge or finding another dealer to disable it for you.
It sounds like your local dealer is dead set on not doing this for you. Easy solution! Vote with your feet! Don't buy another car from them or get your car serviced at that dealer.
I personally feel that a single beep and a flashing red light aught to satisfy the sniveling, bed-wetting attorneys that you have been "properly warned" against the evils of driving without a seat belt---but obviously some dealerships disagree.
If I ever graduate from Prius Driver to Prius Owner, I intend to have those "customer options" set before I accept delivery of the vehicle, since even though I always wear my seatbelt while driving----I have 5 acres and a large parking lot, and opening and closing gates while wearing a seatbelt is not always convenient for me personally.

You can forget your 10th Amendment rights in this matter (and most others.) You do have a right to have the annunciator configured for your personal tastes, but the dealer also has the right to refuse this service---although I personally do not feel that this is good business practice, but I'm a wire slinger, not a car dealer.
Numerous Toyota dealerships charge a (sometimes unreasonable) fee to set owner configurable options in the Prius.

All 50 States have seatbelt laws. It was mandated a long time ago by the federal government as a condition for the individual states to receive federal highway funds. No...I don't like it either, but this isn't the place for that furball. I don't like having to pay part of the medical expenses for people who aren't smart enough to wear their seatbelts (or helmets) either.


Good Luck.

 

I see the liability, but if you don't want the chime why not just buckle it and sit on it, shouldn't be uncomfortable. I had a Chevy in the early 70s that wouldn't even start unless the belt was buckled.

 

This was also mentioned above, and is not 100% accurate. The Court ruled about 25 years ago that Congress could not condition all funding on one item. Conditional funding can apply "pressure", but cannot be a "compulsion", in order to satisfy the 10th Amendment.

It's an 8% funding hit for not having a seatbelt law or 0.08 BAC, and 10% for drinking age under 21. I believe New Hampshire is the only holdout on the seatbelt law. Every state eventually passed the drinking age of 21 and 0.08 BAC.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if at some point the persistent beep becomes required by states. Who would want the citizens to take responsibility for themselves in our country, anyway? I do feel that a reminder of an unfastened seat belt is good, but a persistent one can be distracting. It shouldn't be the business of Toyota (or any car maker) to police the non law-abidance (not sure that's even a word, but I'm making it one!) of the drivers. Another item that I'm sure in due time will be required by law.

If you're wanting a ScanGuage, I've got one I got specifically to shut up the beeps that is sitting in a storage container in my house. It was used all of that one time, using the codes here on PC. I'd be glad to sell it at a reasonable price (I will have to check if I can find the manual and the CD that came with it, though).

 

Every car I've owned for 10+ years has had the seat belt chime--usually starts once you go over a few miles MPH. I've tried to get it disabled on every car, and was only successful with the Prius, which surprised me, since I'd been told by every (non-Toyota) dealer previously that it could not be disabled because it was required by DOT regs. My Toyota dealer initially balked when I asked (gave me the liability line), until I showed them it was an option in the owners manual.

I also had the reverse beep changed from repeated to a single beep, with no issues.

 

Keep in mind that the beeps will return to default if the hybrid battery is disconnected so it may not be a one-time only thing.

 

I guess I was "lucky" and found a dealer to disable both the seatbelt chime and the reverse beep with no issue. That said, I would still HIGHLY recommend purchasing the Scangauge II as you will find it useful in many other areas (and most likely) on any other car(s) you may own.

Option 2 is to get a seatbelt extender, plug that in, and no beep.

I wear my seatbelt 100% of the time, unless I'm jockeying cars around in the driveway. While I don't necessarily agree with the OPs reasoning for when to wear / not wear his seatbelt, he should be able to disable the continuous beep...regardless of his reasoning. One beep, and the flashing light should be more than enough to alert someone to put on their seatbelt should they wish to do so.

 

Wouldn't seatbelt extender defeat the chime? But then it would also defeat the warning light too. It'll probably difficult to unbuckle the seatbelt at the seatbelt end. But it's a quick fix

 

Good catch on that. I would not have realized it, but makes a sense to me.

 

If you're in SF, Luscious Garage does it for free Luscious Garage | Hybrid Specialists | Modifications

 

That's what TechStream and my TIS cable will take care of next time.

 

So you can just crank up the radio to 11 for that first couple of minutes and listen to your favorite Justin Bieber tunes till your ears bleed.

 

What is really annoying is when the seat belt chime and the reverse beep are going at the same time.