MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

[toyoprius]

Another data point:

I have a 2004 Prius purchased in 10/03. After about a year, I would get sporadic MFD and/or radio problems. They would all be solved by simply rebooting the car.

In 12/06 at 46K miles, the MFD started operating intermittently, with the well-documented symptoms. After a month, it failed completely. I brought it in, aware of the TSB but got nowhere with my dealer. They wanted $4200. I had it elevated to the Regional Toyota Customer Care representative, and the answer was the same.

So I have been driving around with no MFD for the past year--no Navigation system, limited AC control, no ability to change radio stations, and no fuel mileage bars to geek out over. I wasn't going to pay $4200, and I kept saying I was going to elevate this, but of course life intruded.

Finally motivation struck this month and I got ready to type out a letter to corporate. Then, motivation waned, and I said to myself "Hey! They have an 800 number, right?"

For those that don't know the drill, a polite customer care representative will take down all your information, and provide you with a gushing amount of California compassion. They tell you that a case manager will call you within two business days. This occured, and I provided additional information concerning the dealer visit a year earlier. The case manager said that she would research this, and call me back within two days.

She called back in one day, and asked me to bring it into the dealer again to "verify" the failure of the MFD.

I did.

I am now the proud owner of a Prius WITH an MFD again. No charge!

(Sorry for the long message--but this has been bugging me for a year, and I'm ecstatic.)

Karl

[Sally Krasne]

Thanks, Evan. Mine just failed 3 days ago, at 30,000 miles (in a 2004 Prius out of warranty last March)!!! Perhaps we could get a better response if we did some sort of online petition which also brings up the possibility, perhaps, of an online warning about this fault to people considering buying a Prius? After-all, the MFD's of more recent models might fail early as well; they just may not have had enough time yet.

[marisabrandt]

@toyoprius What number did you end up calling?

Here's my situation:

I have a 2004 Prius that's definitely having the MFD issue. We first noticed the problem at the beginning of a cross-country road trip as we moved from Minneapolis to Seattle. We didn't realise until we got here that it was a *big* expensive deal to have it fixed.

Unfortunately, our 75,000 mile warranty expired during our trip (we're now at 75,800). I wrote to Toyota's "extracare@toyota.com" warranty folks (per the advice from the representative I spoke with when I called them at the 800-number on my extended warranty).

The dealer told me that they can do nothing - all warranty decisions are made centrally. Is that true? Anyone have any advice for me?

[felton]

Great information and very timely. I have a 2005 Prius w/nav that is coming up on it's third year anniversary in April. I wasn't aware of the MFD issues before reading this thread, but I have noticed, on rare and infrequent occasions that the miles driven and avg mpg normally displayed at the bottom of the MFD did not load upon starting the car. In effect the information was missing. If I restarted the car, the information would appear and all was well. I sort of assumed that this was a quirk brought about as the Bluetooth connection was being made and the satellite radio was connecting, all accompanied by their beeps and messages. I haven't noticed any other quirks or reasons to be concerned, but this did plant the seed that perhaps there was a problem lurking patiently waiting for my basic warranty to expire

I do have the Dice unit installed, XM radio and the factory Bluetooth, all of which seem to require a start up process. If this is indicative of a problem, I can make a note of it with my service adviser prior to the expiration of my warranty. That may do some good, although they wouldn't be able to do anything if the problem doesn't occur in their presence, I suspect. I have been on the fence about purchasing the extended warranty as I currently have 5000 miles and 3 months remaining to do so. Is this the sort of symptom that those of you with MFD failures noticed or am I being paranoid?

Thanks to all and especially Hobbit. Amazing resources here on Priuschat that are the best on the net.

Randy
Dallas

[efusco]

Originally Posted by felton

Great information and very timely. I have a 2005 Prius w/nav that is coming up on it's third year anniversary in April. I wasn't aware of the MFD issues before reading this thread, but I have noticed, on rare and infrequent occasions that the miles driven and avg mpg normally displayed at the bottom of the MFD did not load upon starting the car. In effect the information was missing. If I restarted the car, the information would appear and all was well. I sort of assumed that this was a quirk brought about as the Bluetooth connection was being made and the satellite radio was connecting, all accompanied by their beeps and messages. I haven't noticed any other quirks or reasons to be concerned, but this did plant the seed that perhaps there was a problem lurking patiently waiting for my basic warranty to expire

I do have the Dice unit installed, XM radio and the factory Bluetooth, all of which seem to require a start up process. If this is indicative of a problem, I can make a note of it with my service adviser prior to the expiration of my warranty. That may do some good, although they wouldn't be able to do anything if the problem doesn't occur in their presence, I suspect. I have been on the fence about purchasing the extended warranty as I currently have 5000 miles and 3 months remaining to do so. Is this the sort of symptom that those of you with MFD failures noticed or am I being paranoid?

Thanks to all and especially Hobbit. Amazing resources here on Priuschat that are the best on the net.

Randy
Dallas

When did you get your '05? Only a few of the early '05s are affected by the MFD problem. The easiest way to find out if you have the new/non-affected version is if when you hit the "INFO" button on the steering wheel that you can switch b/w the Energy screen and Consumption screen.

If you can switch b/w Energy and Consumption with the button on the steering wheel, and with the symptoms you're describing I'm much more likely to blame the DICE. I'm pretty much fed up with my DICE unit...it crashed my MFD during a trip to Kansas City last week, I couldn't access the NAV, CAN-View crashed..basicly all I could get were the Energy and Consumption screens. When I disable the DICE I have no problems at all.
--evan

[toyoprius]

marisabrandt and sally,

I finally ended up calling the 800 customer care number I found on Toyota's website. Although I was extremely frustrated for a year after a negative responses petitioning through other channels (Regional Toyota Rep--I didn't know better), the 1-800 process was fast, professional and simple. Of course, I was only a few months and a few thousand miles over the standard warranty.

I've sifted through hundreds of 2004 MFD failure related messages here and am still confused regarding Toyota's response. As is normally the case, those that have problems, post. Those that don't, or have the problem resolved by Toyota, probably don't. It might be helpful to hear from those who were unsuccessful in getting Totota to replace the MFD out of warranty after elevating the issue to corporate. I didn't keep a tally, but it sounds as if most here were successful in getting the MFD replaced with a new, or remanufactured, unit.

[felton]

"When did you get your '05? Only a few of the early '05s are affected by the MFD problem. The easiest way to find out if you have the new/non-affected version is if when you hit the "INFO" button on the steering wheel that you can switch b/w the Energy screen and Consumption screen.

If you can switch b/w Energy and Consumption with the button on the steering wheel, and with the symptoms you're describing I'm much more likely to blame the DICE. I'm pretty much fed up with my DICE unit...it crashed my MFD during a trip to Kansas City last week, I couldn't access the NAV, CAN-View crashed..basicly all I could get were the Energy and Consumption screens. When I disable the DICE I have no problems at all.
--evan"

I got my Prius on April 1, 2005. Yes, I was thinking the same thing about getting a car on April Fool's Day, but nothing bad to report

I am able to toggle between the energy screen and the consumption screen using the wheel info button. Thanks for that useful hint! I really do suspect it has something to do with the start up process involving the Dice/Sat/Bluetooth. It only happened a few times and I haven't experienced any other problems.

Thanks again! I appreciate the help.

Randy

[ScottY]

Originally Posted by felton

... I really do suspect it has something to do with the start up process involving the Dice/Sat/Bluetooth. It only happened a few times and I haven't experienced any other problems.

Thanks again! I appreciate the help.

Randy

Randy, I suspect your suspicion is correct. The DICE is known for causing MFD failure like symptoms. When my 05 acted like it has the bad MFD, I power reset the DICE and it works again. To power reset, unplug the 12V cable from DICE, wait a few seconds, and plug back in. It is NOT the cable going to the back of the radio. I had to do it twice since installing DICE a year ago. That's why I install it back of the plastic hump under the radio for easy access.

[galaxee]

our 05 was made in 2/05 and no dice, no problems.

[hobbit]

Remember that the IEbus runs between the MFD and the stero, among
other things, and that's what the DICE unit needs to talk to
as well. The DICE is an aftermarket unit, developed at a time
when these digital communication protocols were somewhat new,
so if something spits bad protocol or waveforms onto your AVCLAN
then certainly the stereo and MFD will be affected.
.
_H*