IV would not move after stopping

[montesalpha]

I just got a IV and love the car but today the car performed very strangely:

I came to a full stop at a stop sign. The road was flat and dry.

When I tried to move, i.e. push on the accelerator, the car *wouldn't move* -- after several times pressing on the accelerator.

Naturally, this was a safety concern and scared me tremendously.

I then put the car in park and shut off the engine. I then restarted the car and the car *believed that it was in reverse." This meant the reverse beeping and the backup camera on.

I then put it into drive and it has since responded normally.

It is in the shop now.

Has anyone else had this experience?

The car has about 560 mi.

[quantumslip]

did you push the brake pedal all the way down? you might have inadvertently activated the hill start assist. it's normally deactivated after you let up on the brake pedal (maybe 1/2 way?) and makes a beeping sound. i've done the same thing and wondered why the car wouldn't move forward before.

[montesalpha]

Yes I pushed the brake all the way down. The beeping was from the reverse gear. I've never heard hear assist beeping and I have some the steepest hills in San Francisco.

[quantumslip]

when HSA is normally activated there should be a yellow icon next to the gas tank level. when it deactivates the car beeps and then the light goes away. i believe it also beeps when the system is activated.

it is weird that your car started up in reverse mode though.

[montesalpha]

Originally Posted by quantumslip

when HSA is normally activated there should be a yellow icon next to the gas tank level. when it deactivates the car beeps and then the light goes away. i believe it also beeps when the system is activated.

it is weird that your car started up in reverse mode though.

I've never experienced HSA -- in terms of icons or beeping.

[montesalpha]

Toyota Attributes Prius Shutdowns To Software Glitch
y SHOLNN FREEMAN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
May 16, 2005; Page B5

Some buyers of Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius gas-electric hybrid cars are complaining that their vehicles are stalling or shutting down at highway-driving speeds, a problem Toyota attributes to software problems in the sophisticated computer system.

Toyota said the problem involves Prius cars from the 2004 model year and some early 2005 models. The U.S. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has logged 13 reports of a Prius stalling or stopping unexpectedly. Edmunds.com, a popular vehicle-information and shopping site, has had 13 individuals post complaints in a Prius forum about the car suddenly shutting off. No injuries or fatalities have been linked to the problem.

In one complaint, a driver told NHTSA that the car shut down while driving at 60 miles an hour. The Prius continued to lose power as the driver pressed the accelerator. The car had to be towed back to the dealership for repairs. In another report to NHTSA, an owner complained that the car's computer system shut down in fast traffic, while the owner's daughter was driving the car. "Her life was in danger," the owner reported. Police in the area helped to divert traffic around the car, according to the complaint.

A NHTSA spokesman said the agency is monitoring the complaints, but no formal investigation has been initiated.

Toyota spokesman Sam Butto said the auto maker identified a "programming error" in the computer systems of 23,900 Prius cars last year. He said that last May Toyota sent owners of those cars service warnings telling them to go to their dealerships for a software upgrade. But he said he wasn't sure how many people went in to receive the hour-long fix.

He and another Toyota spokesman said the auto maker isn't sure if the latest problems associated with 2004 Prius models involve buyers who never got the upgrade or if an altogether different glitch is shutting the car down.

The Prius has been a big hit for Toyota as U.S. gasoline prices have steadily risen. To get the car, some buyers have endured long waiting lists and paid thousands of dollars above the car's sticker price, which ranges from $21,000 to $26,000. Toyota has scrambled to increase production.

Introduced in 2000, the first versions of the Prius were criticized as too small and underpowered. Still, they spawned a cultlike following. When the 2004 model arrived with increased interior room and a peppier engine, demand took off. So far this year, Toyota has sold 34,200 Prius cars, more than doubling the sales of 13,600 in the same period a year earlier.

Hybrid vehicles combine a gas engine with an electric motor to increase fuel efficiency and decrease emissions. The Prius is estimated to average as much as 60 miles per gallon of gasoline.

[a priori]

Originally Posted by montesalpha

Toyota Attributes Prius Shutdowns To Software Glitch . . .

Toyota said the problem involves Prius cars from the 2004 model year and some early 2005 models.

Are you suggesting that this new model has a similar glitch as the newer model had in 2004?

[montesalpha]

Originally Posted by a priori

Are you suggesting that this new model has a similar glitch as the newer model had in 2004?

i don't know but i could imagine a software glitch

[a priori]

Originally Posted by montesalpha

i don't know but i could imagine a software glitch

The big thing is to see whether this repeats on your car or happens on someone else's 2010.

Keep close track of it. If it does happen again, please make certain you have pen and paper handy so you can write down everything at the time it occurs. Remember to write down the time, ODO reading, where you are at, exactly what happened (sequence is critical), and make certain that you write down which actions you have absolute certainty about and which you surmise or at least "think" happened.

[montesalpha]

Will do. I have kept a careful log of another problem which is annoying but probably not a safety issue: the skid indicator coming on unexpectedly on totally flat, dry surfaces with no metal (such as manhole covers) or plastic lane dividers.

I've been in software in my professional life and some bugs are very hard to duplicate -- until there's enough cases.

I would appreciate it if other drivers experience this stalling to report it.