UN-friendly Prius User Manuals

[yadax3]

Is it just me or has anyone else found their Prius manuals difficult to use?

For me it started when we tried to activate Homelink. My husband and I read, reread and tried to follow Toyota's instructions several times but it still didn't work. Frustrated, I decided to get out our Honda Pilot manual and VOILA - we identified the area of confusion and had it working in a couple of minutes. Ever since then it seems like I'm forever reading every instruction several times only to figure out the problem by trial and error or even finding the answer on these forums. I realize the Prius is supposed to be a technically advanced vehicle but I can't remember using manuals that are more difficult to interpret.

[qbee42]

Toyota does not write good manuals. It's surprising, given their considerable resources. They should pay one of us to rewrite them.

Tom

[Blind Guy]

If I were a betting man, I'd wager they have a Japanese writer with a modicum of understanding of English syntax and grammar.

I also struggled with the manual, and like the OP, had to reread certain passages multiple times, often with NO final comprehension of the material I had just read.

David (aka Blind Guy)

[jdcollins5]

Include me in the list of those that agree that the Toyota manuals leave a lot to be desired. Before I bought my Prius, my daughter bought a Toyota Sienna minivan. I tried to help her program her Homelink with the Toyota manual and finally gave up.

I was able to go to the garage door vendor's website that gave very detailed instructions for the Toyota vehicles in plain English. We had the Homelink programmed in less than five minutes with these directions.

[JimboPalmer]

I have to confess, I read John's manual while I was waiting for my Prius, so I understood the Toyota manual better than if I read it cold.

John's Stuff - Toyota Prius User-Guide

[Dark_matter_doesn't]

Wow - compare the Toyota manuals to ANY American car's manual, and you'll think Toyota writes Nobel literature!

[bedrock8x]

LOST IN TRANSLATION !!

The user manual is translated from the Japanese manual by Japanese writers, who are not know to have good grammar.

[TonyPSchaefer]

I'm not a TechWriter but I interact with my company's TechComm group alot. I know that the policy in our company is the Docs are written in English and then translated. You would be tempted to wonder if the other languages read as bad as some pseudo-English manuals. But it's corporate policy that the translators are native speakers of the destination country and they translate TECHNICAL data verbatim. When it comes to the language, they are supposed to translate it - not as it is written - but as they would speak it. Of course, I for one wouldn't know how well they do their jobs.

[ffitzgerald]

I found this when I went to change the clock from daylight saving time. I looked in the owners manual index under clock and found the page which said to press setup- clock- daylight saving- out- save. I did this three times with no effect on the clock. I then looked all over the dash and found 2 small buttons labeled H M. I pushed these and reset the clock. I am not sure what the manual instructions were for.
I also had the same problem setting the Homelink opener. It would not work until I used the manual from our Jaguar which stressed that you had to clear the system before you set it. Toyota fails to tell you this. They tell you how to clear it but not that it is necessary on a new car.

[creativeguy]

As soon as I saw references to "driving enjoyment" in the Prius manuals, I knew I was reading a cheap Japanese translation!