Radio buttons failing

Time to "junk it" and install a real stereo with better SQ, USB/iPod, more power, x-overs, Bluetooth, and time alignment.

 

My radio volume knob is a part timer as well. The steering wheel audio buttons always work.

 

Mine have also started working intermittently. Of course they won't do it at the dealer... I've got lots of warantee left but I will note it with the dealer now.

Icarus

 

When it acts up break out the video camera and start pushing buttons on the deck. That way you can show them that it was failing. Makes sure to have the date on the video.

 

I wonder if the contacts behind the buttons need cleaning. I heard of some kind of spray cleaners but never have experience using them.

 

I was able to reproduce it for the dealer -- he said that he's seen a lot of them with this problem.

 

My radio volume knob did not work some of the time after several months of ownership. It became worse and seemed to be temperature related.

It took about 1.5 hours of driving / stopped couple times, to get a hard failure 2 weeks ago. I got a sharp service advisor who witnessed the failure and mentioned many radios have problems.

The replacement took one week to arrive and I had it put in the next day. So far, so good, no failures. They replaced it in less than 1 hour.

 

Whoa, that's a distressing thought. I've never owned a car where this has happened. I'm approaching 3 years on my 07 and didn't really want to spend $1055 on the extended warranty (besides, I had already decided not to get the extended warranty, and spent the money instead on an aftermarket sunroof).

 

You + ebay(search = Prius stereo) / $$ = FIXED!

 

They don't know -- something internal to the radio. Maybe it's the interconnect between the front panel and the main board.

Anyway, got it replaced and it works fine now.

 

What did you mean by that

 

I think he means "buy another radio off eBay".

The radio isn't trashed -- I'm sure they send it back where it will be refurbished and used as a warranty replacement for someone else. It's just not practical to do the electronics repairs at the dealerships.

 

I didn't want to read this this morning. This is exactly what is happening with my Prius. I am out of the 3 year warranty so that isn't an option for me. Guess I will just keep using the steering wheel buttons until that fails as well.

 

You are pretty lucky to make it that far. My volume nob went out after 3 months of owning the car. I also just had the dealer replace mine. I quit using that one and now only use the steering wheel control so it doesn't break again.

 

Today the radio buttons on my 2007 Prius also failed, one second they were working fine then the next second they were dead. The round volume and tuning buttons on each side of them still worked fine and so did the radio buttons on my steering wheel. I did note that the outside temperature was in the high 80's, low 90's.

I am upset because I bought my car in late 2006, so now it's out side of the warranty based on time, even though it doesn't even have 10,000 miles on it. In my 35 years of driving I have never had an issue with a vehicle's radio buttons failing.

I am hoping to find a DIY fix to this problem, so if anyone has any solutions please pass them along.

UPDATE: Tapping on the right side of the radio, on the vent panel, seems to have gotten my buttons working again....at least for now.

 

I've been having intermittent button problems as well.

The most frequent problem I get is that the CD will not eject (Ejectile Dysfunction).

The first time this happened, the CD would not eject for two weeks.

The second time this happened, the failure only lasted for a day.

I'm out of warranty. If the problems become persistent, I'm going to either buy a warrantied used one off of eBay for less than $100 (that's a lot lower than the approximately $1300 MSRP for a new one from Toyota) or spring for a fancy aftermarket one with navigation like usbseawolf2000 recently did.

EDIT/CORRECTION: The CD player radio retails for around $1098. The JBL Six CD player radio retails for around $1463.