Prius 2004 WON'T SHUT DOWN

I think you might want a different forum for this. As for no one knows what to do, at this point, I would suggest asking if the Dealer could do a little more investigation into it or possibly look at a same model/year swap for the time being while they investigate it. While the car is 8 years old, I am presuming you are a reasonably loyal Toyota owner and took good care of the car they could look into it. Other option is maybe get a new car?

 

let's clarify... they replaced the 12v battery? it should have been long overdue for a change.

it sound like your display may have gone out. i saw a post on this before. the car works fine but tends to not shut off and you can't see mph and such? it may work one day and not the next... luscious garage in san francisco deals with this... take a look at This topic watch the video and let us know if it's the same.

 

as for this being in the wrong section... i'm sure someone can move it for us very easily.. let's not be rude to the new guy with only 1 post. this happens all the time.

Keiichi sounds more like a car sales man or something. strait to dealer? you must not have been on priuschat for long...

 

Let me be clear, I was not trying to be rude, just informative that the OP might not get the right answers here, this is the Prius v main forum section and the car referenced is the Prius, probably a 1st or 2nd gen one and might have people familiar with it. It was a polite pointer.

Second, please don't assume my direction to a person as being a cars sales person. The suggestion was honest and earnest with the regards that if the OP is a loyal Toyota owner, or fan, that I believe that maybe the dealership will try and help him out.

Also, given the nature of most people, some would opt to get a new car after 8 years, even though the warranty may be still in place or not for the drive train. People lease cars for just that reason, to get a 'new' car after a leasing period.

Given the strangeness of the issue, I would believe that the OP would either ask the dealership to see what is going on or maybe give him a break on a new car since he has a prius and it is, indeed, a weird problem. The suggestion also is one that I would think a customer service level mediation would do.

Lastly, I work in IT, hence why I am state these things. Again, it is about customer service, not just 'car salesman'. I would kindly ask you to heed your own advice before making such comments when you assume something like that in the future.

 

Replace the instrument display and your prius will be fixed. Its very common here in Australia with older high KM cars.

 

Ok. I apologize if my comments were rude to you.

A huge amount of replies are from the main forum recent post. All post land here so it's normal for a new persons post to land there while being in the wrong section

For the new car thing. It's cheaper to fix it. These cars last a long time if fixed up (minimal/odd/sometime expensive parts)

This is why it's cheaper to buy a used vehicle (particularly a Prius) or fix the one you have. I purchased new. I'll try to never waste money like that ever again.

Back to topic...

 

Sorry. Yet another post. I just really think its the part listed in that link. I read all about it when it was found and again recently. The dealer will probably charge more than a shop. I don't remember if it's a DIY though. Anything that includes dash disassembly and I tend to write off a good 60% of PriusChat people being too scared to pull it apart. (possibly less but I do see a lot of dealer service only people)

 

Depends on the car though. And again, some people just like getting a new car over time. I'm a new Prius owner so I have no true visibility as to how well the parts are on it and I came from a Nissan Sentra I have had for 15 years and within the last year, had the visor finally break and the radiator fans die that the cost to get it repaired was about as much as its trade in value so I opted it was time to get a new car.

Although I am fairly sure that the Prius he has is probably worth still keeping, but if the problem of not shutting down is still just as perplexing and the dealership doesn't know what is wrong with it, the other option is to have them hold onto the car and give him a loaner while they troubleshoot it if it is under warranty.

Any company that has a problem with one of their products that they don't know about can always come back to bite them and they should find a way to solve it, especially if he has been using their product for a while and would like them to find out what is wrong with it.

And while they can try and push him to another model, that is an option he can take or not take. But it looks like someone showed that it may be the instrument panel, which should be handled by the dealership or if he knows how to service his own car to the minutia details, perhaps he can fix it himself. But in either case, he will still need to get a replacement instrument panel if that is the case.

 

I point to the dealers to deal with it solely because I have NO background in car technology, mostly computer technology. And while I tell people to do certain things, I often find that sometimes people's terminology differs from person to person that there will be the oft chance of doing more damage if you aren't familiar with it than you are.

And yes, you can go to a shop as well, I mean, during the last 8 years, I have taken my car to other than dealership for maintenance and other things, except when I know it has something specific for the car, such as parts and me not knowing where to get them or where to shop for them.

Given the year of the model and the issues, I point to the Dealership as they will have to report back to the manufacturer to the problem at hand or may have access to the necessary things to fix it once they find it in their 'known issues'. In cases of shop or dealership, you still run into the issue of 'part inventory availability'. And while the dealership will run you a bit higher than shop, I am a little leary of shops unless you know their reputation more.

 

Wth? I read your other posts. This is the combination meter. It may not look exactly like the Luscious Garage video, but as ShaneB says, that's it.

I can understand why you opted to trade in a 15 year old Sentra. But the one of the biggest benefits of PriusChat is to help people figure out what is wrong with their car, EVEN WHEN THE DEALERSHIP CAN'T, so that they don't have to give it away on a trade-in.

 

As for turning the car off: Sometimes you can and sometimes you can't. It depends on how bad the problem is.

Everything on this car is sensors feeding sensors. If something goes out, there could be an error of sorts that leads to further problems. That screen sends feeds to things. I'm not sure exactly what it is off hand. Depending in how messed up it is changes how much it will effect something else in the car.

 

And as I stated before, I am a new Prius owner myself, I do not know the quality of the parts and as stated in yet another post in this very thread that it might have gotten better answers in one of the other forums, as this is the Prius v Main Forum, not the Prius Gen1 or Gen2 which is where that may have people more familiar with it.

I also started out saying he might have put it in the wrong forum. I did not take swings at him or berate him, just merely told him I think he posted in the wrong spot and made some possible suggestions that I could think of at the time.

Are my suggestions the 'right ones'? Not necessarily, but again, that comment above was unnecessary. If you did read what I said later in this thread, you would have also noted the reason I stated it. Some might WANT the newer features and if the Prius, even an 8 year old one with the engine shutdown flaw, is still reasonably good and just needed another dealership to look at the problem and fix it, the trade in value might be good for another one with more features than what was available back in 2003-4.

I also commented that given he had the car for 8 years, I am sure he could have leveraged it with the dealership to find out what was wrong, and barring that, and not wanting to deal with the problem he could opt looking at getting a new one.

Please, take the time to consider that there are other possibilities and probabilities in what was intended.
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Also, just now noticed this thread has now been directed to the Prius Gen II forum. I'm mostly a Prius v Forum reader.

 

The Prius will not shut down if the display is out because for safety reasons you cannot shut the car down while it is moving as it would go into park and lock the transmission. The speed display send speed information to other electronic control units (ECU's) to tell them if the car is moving if they do not get this information the car will not shut down because it could be moving. You can force shut down by holding in the start button four 3-4 seconds.

 

km = kilometers ( like miles only smaller ). So he means it is a common fault in high mileage Priuses.

BTW. Yes it probably is the combination meter, but have you double checked that your new battery is ok and fully charged?

 

Had the same problem. Found out it is common in cold climates. Toyota knows about the problem, but does not believe there are enough of us who own Prius' and live where it gets really cold. It is a relay that sticks when it gets really cold. If the car has a chance to thaw out, it will fix itself. We took ours to White River Toyota, in White River Junction, VT when it happened to us. There were several other cars in the shop with the same problem. Suggest you call WR Toyota at 802-299-2880 to find out the name of the relay or take a torch to your car!

 

Freezing IG1 relay will cause failure to shift from P to D after a cold soak/cold start. If you cannot turn off the car, it is the combination meter. The condition is intermittent but more pronounced at cold temperatures.