Poll - has your Prius stalled or been towed? - Page 2 - GreenHybrid

stealth · #11 (**permalink**) 11-22-2005, 10:34 PM

Hope you're right. At the very least it is 52,000 miles newer than the rest of the car.

bryanw · #12 (**permalink**) 12-08-2005, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stealth

My 2003 has. I know it's not exactly what you're asking (gen 2 etc) but I want to tell someone. The car had about 52k mi and I went to start it cold in the driveway and the red exclaimation mark of death came on. It would not start but rather made a wierd mechanical whirring sound. The final upshot is that It ended with the dealer covering all costs (including towing) for the replacement (they claim) of some on board computer. I've read on some blogs that they reset these things but the dealer specifically said "replaced and upgraded". The scarry part of the ordeal was that it gave absolutely no warning or indication of impending problem on the previous drive. Tom

I have exactly the same issue.

My car is in the shop right now, and a google search found this thread.

Same year, same miles, etc. We just got dumped on with about a foot of snow, and the temp was around 7'F last night.

Lots of lights, bells, warnings, sirens, etc, were flashing when I started it up. Called the shop, and they said I might be able to drive it in, but might not want to risk it. AAA brought the car to the shop. They said they needed to replace the ECU since it wouldn't accept their new computer program, that it is covered under warranty, etc.

Otherwise, the only problems I've had are other cars throwing rocks up and chipping the paint and windshield (which has been replaced TWICE now...)

Bryan.

JeromeP · #13 (**permalink**) 12-09-2005, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bryanw

I have exactly the same issue.

My car is in the shop right now, and a google search found this thread.

Same year, same miles, etc. We just got dumped on with about a foot of snow, and the temp was around 7'F last night.

Lots of lights, bells, warnings, sirens, etc, were flashing when I started it up. Called the shop, and they said I might be able to drive it in, but might not want to risk it. AAA brought the car to the shop. They said they needed to replace the ECU since it wouldn't accept their new computer program, that it is covered under warranty, etc.

Otherwise, the only problems I've had are other cars throwing rocks up and chipping the paint and windshield (which has been replaced TWICE now...)

Bryan.

I believe that when they are done with your car all will be well. The Prius is Toyota's grand experiment, on a mega large scale. This isn't to say that the car isn't proven, quite to the contrary they are proven every day. But because the mechanical operation of the vehicle is at the beck and call of the computers it is essential that the software running those computers do their job correctly. Toyota has learned and continues to evaluate the programming in the Prius and now the rest of their hybrids and as such I think we will see minor software updates coming out rather frequently.

Realizing the need for occasional software updates, Toyota moved over to the ability to flash the programming with new programming with the 04 and up models. The fixed programming of Prius I makes it hard for Toyota to upgrade them as events and improvements occur because it requires the replacement of a piece of hardware with the old software onboard with a new piece of hardware with the new software installed. Cumbersome and expensive.

Lars_T · #14 (**permalink**) 01-05-2006, 02:18 PM

I had a complete breakdown of my 04 Prius on my daily commute. This was in August.

It would not start, I could not change gear, the front wheels were stuck and not even the engineers at toyota could free the wheels enough to roll it into their shop so they had to drag it off the tow truck with locked front wheels.

Turned out that it was the inverter that had died. It was pretty quick to get a new one actually even if they had to get it from Japan. (or so they said)

Thought I's share this... pity the poll is closed...

Regards
Lars T