Who has done their recall?

When I bought my Prius, I drove a couple of them and one was a 2011 Prius I with 20k miles which I drove immediately after I drove the 2010 Prius IV with 46k miles that I eventually bought. I noticed a real difference in the way the used rental Prius I felt while test driving it on I-295. I really wanted to like it due to the lower miles, but it was so slow and felt so cheap compared to the one I bought. I wonder if the rental/fleet Prius has different software settings?

 

Preupdate software; my Plus Performance accelerates significantly slower than any rental Prius that I have had and I have had dozens of rentals since the 3rd Gen first came to market. Reason for mine being slower is the larger wheels n tires.

Mike

Somewhere on my phone ;-)

 

For what it's worth I talked to my service manager today while I was getting my oil changed. I asked him about the recall and mentioned some of the problems a few people were having.

He said he had received a note from his regional service rep. from Toyota that said when doing the recall to make sure that you do step one first then wait until it says it is complete and then do step two, wait till complete.

He said some dealers are having problems because they try to run both updates back to back and the first step did not confirm complete and all they see is step two was complete and assume step one was fine when it was not.

Maybe this is why some people are having problems, because it only completed 1\2 of the recall?

Thats all I know maybe help, maybe not!

 

There is no way for a person to verify if the car was updated right or not. Now we need a service guy and Prius owner to flash his car with one or the other then finally both to verify what turns the Prius into a slow turd ;-)

Mike

Somewhere on my phone ;-)

 

it looks like I should hold off doing this fix? I dont want it to be slower than it is now.

they say it's for 2010 to 2014, but how many real life accident/issue were reported that's related to this problem? will toyota allow me to not participate this recall? will it void my warranty?

 

will it void my warranty?

I don't really know, but I would think it might!

 

The only inverter issues I have read about were owners using the Prius as a taxi. Never heard of regular use failures.

Has any USA owners received a letter yet? I have not.

Mike

Somewhere on my phone ;-)

 

Three guy's at coffee, no letters yet!

 

In a newly started thread, one of our members has mentioned some seemingly unrealed issues cropping up after his recall was performed. Imagination? Perhaps. However, he did make some observations about the timing of the ICE shut down when rolling to a stop. I thought I was imagining the same but he pretty much confirmed what I was experiencing: The ICE is shutting down sooner as you roll to a stop. Before the recall my ICE would run momentarily after the car would come to a stop. Along with that the engine RPM's would raise up or spike just before the shut down. This would result in a slight surge. It seems that the reflash has corrected this quirk. Also, the ICE seems to transition, off and on much smoother.

 

I don't think people are having problems with the update. The differences I noticed as so subtle, 99% drivers would miss it. I only picked it up because I'm very in tune with the car's working (no radio or music listening in my car) and drive the very same commute, very same way in the very same prius for over 3 years and know exactly what to expect from the car at each point. You can call it OCD if you want. Non-OCD people should not read my posts, period.

BTW, I detected a subtle difference at regenerative braking this AM. There is a hill I slow down to a stop in my commute. You go from 50 mph to zero on a down slope in almost a mile. The car used to regen all the time resulting in full or near full battery. This time regen stopped way before the stop with a noticeable transition to friction at near 20 mph IIRC. Battery was far from full either.
While this will be positive for both inverter and battery wear and tear, the MPG effect will be negative. Thus the net MPG effect will cancel out (as most people reported already).

 

I had today 3/11/14. It took about a hour ( AGG 09A EOE- Reflash Motor Generator & Power Management ECU) after the battery recovers faster and the car gets better gas mileage.

 

I noticed the lack of regen braking before I got 5 miles down the road on this trip. No doubt the friction brakes will take a hit on this. Hope the mechanical brake components can handle the increased use... Lower mpg's, having to replace brake parts sooner = higher cost of ownership :-( Sad times :-( Wait 'till Ford figures this stuff out. I can envision their future Hybrid car advertising.

Mike

Somewhere on my phone ;-)

 

If you can, do some 70+ mph driving and tell us your mpg test results. No doubt in my mind the car can do 50+ mpg running under 60 sumthin mph.

Mike

Somewhere on my phone ;-)

 

The difference in throttle response between Eco and Power is in the intermediate portion of gas pedal. Floor it in either mode and you'll get the same response. You're not unleasing extra horsepower in Power mode.

I too find ECO pedal response too slugish..., you do realize you can leave BOTH Eco and Power off, and have "Normal" mode?

 

But didn't Power mode give an increased voltage to give a boost of power to overtake etc? Isn't that what's has been retarded in the recall?

 

I understand how the car functions and what Grumpy said

It would be much easier accepting the update if I wasn't so technically minded. When I own a car I either already know what is what or I teach myself what does what on it. I even have the schematics & service manual for my Prius ;-)

Mike

Somewhere on my phone ;-)

 

Zero difference in performance..

Still 51MPG on my 450 mile per week commute.

 

I am trying to keep an extra critical eye on my energy monitor and "feel" of my car after the update. I only have 2 weeks of experience prior to the update, though. I now have nearly an entire tank of gas under my belt after the trip to the dealership. I would say Highway and city driving have been dead even. Mid range power might be less now, not sure though. I am seeing the line move quickly into the "power" side a lot, I am not sure how much it did that before the update. It sometimes seems to take a while longer to regen the battery and other times it seems to regen really quickly. Either way, my average mpg for the tank is 52.3 now with 44 miles until empty according to the trip computer. It's been in the mid 40-50s in the morning and mid 70s to just over 80 degrees in the afternoons here. Is there anyone who knows for sure just how the update changes the operation of the HSD?

 

It's highly unlikely that anyone having detailed knowledge of the update would be willing to make that information available.