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Poor interior fuse location

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by WaterbedWarrior, Jan 13, 2011.

  1. WaterbedWarrior

    WaterbedWarrior Going insane!

    Joined:
    Jun 29, 2009
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    Location:
    Parma, OH
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Okay, so after owning my 2010 Prius II for 1.5 years, I finally have my first complaint. So let me preface this with saying I love my Prius, but this minor irritation is unnecessary.

    A friend's truck heater fan stopped working so I bought one of those cheap cigarette plugin heaters in case I wasn't able to get the parts to repair her heater before the next day. I tested it in my Prius (as it's a one hour drive to her house from mine) and it blew the 12V accessory outlet fuse.

    No biggee, I'll just change out the fuse in the parking lot right...... wrong.

    The interior fuse location is located under the driver's legroom area to the left of the steering wheel. The fuse cover shows the fuse location identification. When you take the fuse cover off, it is confusing which orientation (up or down) the fuse label refers to.
    I'm not a tiny guy, but not obese either and it is physically uncomfortable to try to crawl under the dash to see the fuses.

    Now once I crawled under there and was good and uncomfortable, I'm greeted with two more revelations:
    -The fuses are so tiny, they will require a fuse puller. Which is nowhere in sight. (It's located in the fusebox under the hood).
    -There isn't enough light under the dash at night to the read the fuses (may not even be enough during the day).

    I finally gave up and drove to my friends house where I replaced the fuse in a warm garage aided by a flashlight (still uncomfortable to crawl under the dash though).

    My point to this rant (besides just venting), is that there is no need to locate the fuses in such a hard to access area. Most of my previous vehicles fuses were located on the left side of the dash and easily accessible once you opened the door without having to crawl under the dash where there is no lighting and the fusepuller was always located with the fuses. :)

    I can already hear many of you saying, it's my fault to have blown the fuse (agreed) and not to have had a flashlight with me (I admit I'd make a horrible boyscout).
     
  2. picstart

    picstart New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2011
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    Location:
    Florida
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    If there was ever a reason not to buy another Prius it would be the unpleasant location of the interior fuse box. If Toyota placed the weekly paycheck of the engineer that came up with this idea inside this fuse box he/she might understand the frustration customers have in replacing an accessory fuse. Yes,customers really do have accessories like cell phone ipads and even laptops, Guess what they might even blow the accessory fuse. This is not as rare as a snowstorm at the equator. It actually happens. The next worse idea is the key FOB. First it is expensive $300 to replace but offers little advantage over a real key. In fact a real key has had to be added to the FOB in case the FOB fails. Yes replace the key function with the powered FOB then find out a non powered key is needed anyway...duh.
     
  3. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2005
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    Location:
    Eastern Oregon
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    If the fuse boxes were easy to get to anybody could replace fuses. Then how would the dealers make any extra money?

    Actually they could have made it better if they had put all the fuses in the under hood fuse box.

    Warrior, I do think you were a bit optimistic plugging a heater into the accessory outlet. How many amps did it draw anyway?
     
  4. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    Location:
    Alaska
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I absolutely like the FOB. It stays in my coat pocket and rarely comes out. No more fumbling around trying to pull it out. Yes!
     
  5. phoenixgreg

    phoenixgreg Senior member

    Joined:
    Apr 7, 2010
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    Location:
    Phoenix
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    OP - to add to your rant, the "mini" fuses you buy as replacements in auto stores for Prius do not seat correctly in the panel slots either, so I'm thinking the replacement fuses are proprietary.
     
  6. stevemcelroy

    stevemcelroy Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2009
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    Location:
    Boulder, CO
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I have a Gen 2 and the manual is pretty clear about the location of the fuses and the fact that the fuse puller is in the box under the hood. Yes, the location is a bit hard to reach, but so many things are in a modern car the ting that comes to mind are trying to change out the headlights.