Prius v (lowercase v) Touch Screen

Your state probably has a lemon law. Invoking that might produce some results. But its safe to say that if Toyota could find a fix they would make it available. It seems they have at least tracked it to the Panasonic hardware. No doubt Panasonic will say its the Toyota software.

All this is the best argument for avoiding cars in their first year after a re-design. But really, having to reboot the head unit (while its certainly a hassle) isn't such a huge deal.

 

I understand your point. My "flaky 15v" problem has now added a new dimension! The audio system turns itself on and then proceeds to skip around the presets and beeps!!! Needless to say this is annoying/embarrassing and inexcusable! I still wonder if this is aggrevated by sun/heat???? It seems to occur more after the car sits outside. Note, I live in FL and we are now seeing the 90's...

 

Sounds a lot like a flaky touch screen panel. The only thing that will fix that is a hardware revision by Panasonic, meaning a new head unit. But until Panasonic clears the bad panels out of their supply chain a replacement won't help. In that case it really is a Panasonic problem and Toyota is helpless. That wouldn't stop me from pushing the dealer to replace the head unit and keep replacing it till its fixed. But honestly it won't surprise me if its not fixed till the 2016 model comes out with a new head unit. I'm sure there's a threshold for percentage of bad units reported that has to be crossed before any serious action is taken.

 

Waiting for a YEAR for a fix is WAY beyond my tolerance - but I can be reasonable. Perhaps, my tolerance could be extended by Toyota paying me $100 for each occurrence, not to exceed $35k.... At the current rate it would only represent about a $15k expense by the end of a year. Then I would not care who Toyota blames for the problem...

 

Time to start flooding YouTube with videos of the problem. Toyota Corp. will allocate more resources to the problem if they are embarrassed and/or think they will lose money/sales.

Just did a search on YouTube and found no videos of the Prius v touchscreen problem.

 

Glad I found this thread. We've had our '15 v 5 with the tech package for a very short time, and even though I've read thru ALL the user manuals, the amount of info is overwhelming. But on a recent 80-mile drive, we were just listening to FM radio and suddenly I couldn't change to another preset station or anything on the screen. I don't know all of what you're able to do when the car is moving, and what you're not, but I'd think changing the station would be OK. (steering wheel controls worked). I could press the App button, which changed the screen, but no amount of touching screen icons made a diff. Today we drove 150 miles and everything was accessible. Weird. I was hoping the first time was an anomaly but I guess we'll see.

 

Welcome to the world of the flaky 15v touch screen..... The bad news is that it will probably get worse. The really bad news is that Toyota is blaming Panasonic for the problem (90+ days old), and Panasonic is not supplying a fix!!!

 

I'm having the same problem with my brand new 2015 Prius V. It started immediately after I bought it 5 days ago, took it back to the dealer and they couldn't duplicate the problem. So I took a video of frozen screen and sent it to my sales person. No response so far.
It works for 5-10 mins and become non responsive. Yes I can turn the power off and restart the system and it works fine for another 5-10mins but who wants to do that everyday? Car is running beautifully otherwise but with a big purchase like this I'm just not happy to be bothered by something so small.
I'm waiting for someone to have a solution for this, I just don't have time to keep going back to the dealer hoping the screen acts up right when I get there...

 

Update...just came back from the dealership. I went in with a frozen screen and after 2 hr wait they told me they contacted Toyota, and the issue is under investigation. That's all. Just deal with it, is basically what I was told.
really hoping they come up with a solution very soon, I love everything else about my new car!

 

I am having the same exact problem. My Prius V is one month old with 200 miles on it. I have noticed the problem twice already. Our fix to date has been to turn off power to the car and turn it back on, but that is not something you can do while driving on an Interstate. I do appreciate the suggestion (elsewhere in this thread) to press the radio power button for 3 sec.; at least it is something I can do while moving. I am very disappointed that my brand new Prius V has such a serious problem that apparently has not been addressed by Toyota.

 

This just started to happen to me as well. I have had my 2015 Prius v for only 1 month. Good thing I can use this as an example in my Operations Management class when we talk about customer service and quality. Toyota needs to step up to the plate on this one since it is certainly not just an isolated instance.

 

And what if all the available replacement head units have the same issue?

 

4/17/15 update. I stopped my friendly Toyota dealer and had an interesting conversation with the service manager regarding our problems w/15v flaky touch screen. I would like to share a couple of points:

1. He suggests that we all call and report this problem to the Customer Experience Center (CEC 800 number in your warranty book). Other escalations wouldn't hurt. WE ALL NEED TO BARRAGE THE CEC WITH OUR IRRITATION WITH THIS ISSUE!!!
   
2. The problem also exists with some models of the standard Prius and especially with the new Rav4 (so we are not alone).
3. He has "special ordered" a new head unit for me (over 5 weeks ago) and it is in "quarantine"??
4. He believes that the Toyota folks and the Panasonic folks are VERY much aware of this problem. however, the fix has not been determined or available... Ultimately, this issue will result in a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin).

My patience is well in my rear view mirror, as I have been fighting this issue since 1/2/15. But we have to believe that a fix is in the future...

 

I just purchased my Prius v yesterday (my first Toyota) and I've already experienced the issues described in this thread about 5 times. I addressed the problem before I even completed the purchase because it happened during the test drive -- with no phone connected, Entune never activated, and only 10 miles on the odometer. It was a beautiful day at 72 degrees, so not a temperature issue. The salesmen whom I worked with at the dealership claimed they had never seen the problem before and assured me it would be covered under any warranties. I almost cancelled purchase or asked for a different car from stock but assumed the problem would be systemic (in that it would affect any car) or that it would be easy to get fixed. Should I go and take my car back and put it in for service right away? Or will it not do any difference, and I should just deal with rebooting the head unit every time it fails until Toyota has a solution? I really do like my new car in every other way but this one.

 

I would like to tell you that a fix for the 15v flaky touch screen is available. But neither can I say that a fix is available or that a fix is known by Toyota/Panasonic. If I were you, and confident that a fix would be available in the near future, I would record the problem,endure the inconvenience/annoyance, and get into line (I have been in this line for nearly 5 months!) with the rest of us. Otherwise, return the car now and walk from the deal - until Toyota (not the dealer) will guarantee that you will not have the problem. Selfishly, I would prefer you walk away from the deal and hit Toyota with the loss of a sale. Then they might put more resources on this problem and approach it with a greater sense of urgency.

 

I'm all for a social media shame campaign and just yesterday somebody posted a YouTube showing he problem for all to see. Link;

Also, let's get those ears burning at Toyota Customer Experience Center (800) 331 4331 (from the warranty and maintenance guide)

Disclaimer; I don't have the touchscreen problem, but I find it shamefull and I don't like showing my beloved prius v vehicle line in a bad light.

 

As someone who dwelt in the operating system and software/firmware area of hardware interface for 37 years, all software has bugs. And ones that operate at the level this one could be at are especially hard to track down.

Your unit is in contact with multiple GPS satellites, it is playing music, talking to the security computer, talking to your phone and a key-press is what you want it to respond to. Something is getting lost.

Should they have seen it before the units got in your hands? Yes. But now that it is out there, the problem has to be located, a fix determined and then the whole software complex tested to make sure the fix didn't screw up something else. Then it has to be made available to the dealers.

I'm sure the development manager is as impatient as you all are.

Takes time folks.

Anyone that doesn't have a '15 having the problem? Maybe we can narrow the affected units down.

 

Purchased a 2015 Prius V model 4, March 31. Have 950 miles on it. Production date: November 2014. Touch screen started freezing immediately. Brought it to dealer today and got a loaner Camry. They called and no surprise, said it doesn't happen when they try it and that they never heard of the problem. The mechanic told the service advisor to tell me to go alllll the way back there tomorrow to make it freeze. I am going to tell them that they need to take the time to make it freeze, which should be no more than 10 minutes. I am going to call Toyota corporate to find out what's going on.
This is my first experience having a brand new car with problems. I thought Toyota was supposed to have a first-rate quality control system.

 

How do I delete this post!??? I don't see a delete option anywhere!

 

I purchased my 2105 Prius v model 5 on the 23rd of February. I am delighted with everything about the car with the singular exception of the screen lockups. I've taken three different videos of the problem to show my local dealer; they seem committed to fixing the problem. Here are pointers to the three videos:
4-8-15:

4-9-15:

4-10-15:

My concern in reading all the posts here is that it sounds like Toyota and Panasonic are not clear on who owns the fix. To me this does not bode well for a timely solution. At least there is a not too painful workaround in resetting the unit.

I like the suggestion by Chazz8 about contacting Toyota and submitting failure videos to YouTube. Perhaps a social media campaign is in order at this point.