Toyota Prius: Problems & Solutions - READ ONLY

711 messages, Last post on Oct 27, 2006 at 3:23 AM

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#682 of 711 Re: Prius in the snow [grandtotal] by stevedebi Sep 13, 2006 (8:28 am)
Replying to: grandtotal (Sep 13, 2006 8:19 am) "I rented a (2005) Prius while on vacation in Arizona this year. While visiting the Grand Canyon I experienced difficult snow and ice conditions." The problem arises when the Prius is stuck in the snow. On conventional cars, one can "rock" the vehicle back and forth to get the car moving again. The 2004-2005 Prius (at least) would not allow the wheels to spin in this situation, resulting in the car just sitting there, dead as a doornail. There was nothing mechanically wrong - but the computer would not let the driver engage the wheels. The situation would not come up unless the Prius got stuck. You simply never encountered the proper conditions. Some people are posting that the 2006 Prius corrects this problem, but so for no one has posted any personal experiences. Perhaps next winter... Replies to this message: terry92270 (Sep 13, 2006 8:38 am) midnightcowboy (Sep 13, 2006 11:01 am) terry92270 (Sep 13, 2006 12:28 pm) and 4 more...
#683 of 711 Re: Prius in the snow [stevedebi] by terry92270 Sep 13, 2006 (8:38 am)
Replying to: stevedebi (Sep 13, 2006 8:28 am) Rocking, IMO, has never been the "best" way of getting out. Placing sand, cardboard or a wood plank has always worked best, and would for the Prius. Seems most would prefer not getting out, to actually getting themselves unstuck! Replies to this message: midnightcowboy (Sep 13, 2006 11:01 am) terry92270 (Sep 13, 2006 12:28 pm) stevedebi (Sep 13, 2006 2:03 pm) and 3 more...
#684 of 711 Re: Prius in the snow [terry92270] by midnightcowboy Sep 13, 2006 (11:01 am)
Replying to: terry92270 (Sep 13, 2006 8:38 am) terr92270 said : "Rocking, IMO, has never been the "best" way of getting out. Placing sand, cardboard or a wood plank has always worked best, and would for the Prius. " Your are absolutely right Terry and you can accomplish this is you plan ahaead and carry the sand , cardboard, or wood plank with you. But what hapens if you don't have any of those items on board, either a freak or unexpected ice/storm comes up or you just didn't plan ahead and put the supplies in your vehicle. What do you do? That is why you rock a card back and forth! Might be too far or too cold to walk! good luck, MidCow Replies to this message: terry92270 (Sep 13, 2006 12:28 pm) stevedebi (Sep 13, 2006 2:03 pm) Mr_Shiftright (Sep 14, 2006 8:40 am) and 2 more...
#685 of 711 Re: Prius in the snow [midnightcowboy] by terry92270 Sep 13, 2006 (12:28 pm)
Replying to: midnightcowboy (Sep 13, 2006 11:01 am) When I lived in big snow areas, I certainly did always have a couple of 2x6's about three feet long, along with a knocked-down cardboard box or two, in my trunk. Even if only for putting on chains, those boxes often came in handy! I also always keep, even in So California, a camp shovel, which I could always use to dig down for dirt, if really stuck. I mean, just how much space do those take? Replies to this message: stevedebi (Sep 13, 2006 2:03 pm) Mr_Shiftright (Sep 14, 2006 8:40 am) stevedebi (Sep 14, 2006 9:48 am) user777 (Sep 15, 2006 8:03 am)
#686 of 711 Re: Prius in the snow [terry92270] by stevedebi Sep 13, 2006 (2:03 pm)
Replying to: terry92270 (Sep 13, 2006 12:28 pm) Having other options is not the point. The question posed originally was dealing with how well the Prius does in snow situations, not how well an enterprising owner can find solutions other than the car itself. Many people have said they drive the Prius in snow, but a few have had the "immobile" problem, which is related to the Prius. Heck, I can make a Prius do 10,000 MPG, if I ride a bike... Replies to this message: Mr_Shiftright (Sep 14, 2006 8:40 am) stevedebi (Sep 14, 2006 9:48 am) user777 (Sep 15, 2006 8:03 am)
#687 of 711 Re: Prius in the snow [stevedebi] by Mr_Shiftright HOST Sep 14, 2006 (8:40 am)
Replying to: stevedebi (Sep 13, 2006 2:03 pm) I called a friend at San Francisco Toyota (they sell more Priuses than any other dealer in the country!) and he said he hadn't heard any complaints about this....but then, it doesn't snow very much in San Francisco. He also said he didn't think the 2007 Prius would allow disabling of the traction control, and the only change he was aware of is that the VSC system now goes on base model cars. Replies to this message: stevedebi (Sep 14, 2006 9:48 am) user777 (Sep 15, 2006 8:03 am)
#688 of 711 Re: Prius in the snow [Mr_Shiftright] by stevedebi Sep 14, 2006 (9:48 am)
Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Sep 14, 2006 8:40 am) "I called a friend at San Francisco Toyota (they sell more Priuses than any other dealer in the country!) and he said he hadn't heard any complaints about this....but then, it doesn't snow very much in San Francisco. He also said he didn't think the 2007 Prius would allow disabling of the traction control, and the only change he was aware of is that the VSC system now goes on base model cars." Hopefully some people will post their experiences this winter. Any Prius owners out there want to deliberately drive into snow to see if the 2006 Prius will "rock"?
#689 of 711 Re: Prius in the snow [Mr_Shiftright] by user777 Sep 15, 2006 (8:03 am)
Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Sep 14, 2006 8:40 am) Shifty, It's not likely any but the most inside engineering people at the manufacturer know what was done (if something was done) to mitigate a problem like this. I highly doubt it would perculate up to the dealers, specially one in such a temperate zone as San Fran. Now then, if some smart tech living in the snow belt was running to ground a root-cause for claims of an owner, and if that tech made the report through channels, well then, maybe that tech would know what was happening, and what was being done. The point is, with highly computerized complicated control systems going in our vehicles, how does the user community (or service technicians, or salespeople) end up "knowing" what the system is really doing, and if it is working per design... if it's a bug, or a "feature". Systems behaving as normal or being problematic? That's our future.
#690 of 711 energy screen by seroq Sep 16, 2006 (7:15 pm)
The illustration of the battery charge reprented by blue lines. The blue lines never get up to the top. Does this in dicate a faulty battery? 2006 model Seroq Replies to this message: terry92270 (Sep 16, 2006 8:52 pm) pathstar1 (Sep 17, 2006 7:35 am) kdhspyder (Sep 18, 2006 12:38 pm) stevedebi (Sep 18, 2006 2:18 pm) Mr_Shiftright (Sep 19, 2006 7:06 am) stevedebi (Sep 19, 2006 12:04 pm) and 1 more...
#691 of 711 Re: energy screen [seroq] by terry92270 Sep 16, 2006 (8:52 pm)
Replying to: seroq (Sep 16, 2006 7:15 pm) No. I have read here that the battery is kept at 70+% to allow head-room for charging on the go, and all of that. There has to be some place for the energy to go to, when being generated. If the battery was at 100%, that could cause problems. That was the non-techie answer, but I am sure someone will be along and provide the specifics. Replies to this message: pathstar1 (Sep 17, 2006 7:35 am) kdhspyder (Sep 18, 2006 12:38 pm)