my prius not reliable any more

[jamarimutt]

I bet the dealer will say there's nothing wrong with the car. Been there!

[jamarimutt]

I bet the dealer will say there's nothing wrong with the car.

[formerVWdriver]

Please let us know what you find out.

My car beeped at me yesterday. I was travelling in a straight line, had plenty of gas, nothing plugged in, changing nothing....

Had just hit a small bump. Very small.

What was that all about? (The only time it has beeped at me before was when it thought I took a corner too fast and VSC came on for about a second.)

What's this beeping stuff?

Thanks!

[auricchio]

Bruce, right now you're excited about the incident.

But please try to keep things in perspective. This wasn't an aircraft engine failure while on instruments.

Cars die on the freeway all the time, and you don't hear about death and destruction. You wouldn't have been killed as long as you stayed on your side of the freeway.

Unfortunately, I suspect there were no codes stored, so the dealer will find no problem. If it happens again, then you'll have an opportunity to determine what conditions cause the failure.

I must agree with gupchurch: One time is not a pattern.

Galaxee, if the 12v battery were to have loose terminals, couldn't that cause a complete shutdown of the systems?

[derkraut]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rick Auricchio @ May 28 2007, 06:22 PM) [snapback]451256[/snapback]</div>

Bruce, right now you're excited about the incident.

But please try to keep things in perspective. This wasn't an aircraft engine failure while on instruments.

Cars die on the freeway all the time, and you don't hear about death and destruction. You wouldn't have been killed as long as you stayed on your side of the freeway.

Unfortunately, I suspect there were no codes stored, so the dealer will find no problem. If it happens again, then you'll have an opportunity to determine what conditions cause the failure.

I must agree with gupchurch: One time is not a pattern.

Galaxee, if the 12v battery were to have loose terminals, couldn't that cause a complete shutdown of the systems?
[/b]

Talk about over-reaction. Are you sure you took your meds today?? When I read the title of your post, I figured a wheel fell off or the car caught fire. I'll lay odds there's nothing wrong with your car...you probably inadvertently shifted it into park or nuetral.

[brucefern]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rick Auricchio @ May 28 2007, 09:22 PM) [snapback]451256[/snapback]</div>

Bruce, right now you're excited about the incident.

But please try to keep things in perspective. This wasn't an aircraft engine failure while on instruments.

Cars die on the freeway all the time, and you don't hear about death and destruction. You wouldn't have been killed as long as you stayed on your side of the freeway.

Unfortunately, I suspect there were no codes stored, so the dealer will find no problem. If it happens again, then you'll have an opportunity to determine what conditions cause the failure.

I must agree with gupchurch: One time is not a pattern.

Galaxee, if the 12v battery were to have loose terminals, couldn't that cause a complete shutdown of the systems?
[/b]

hi
about the complete shut down , the entire car did not go off
i should be more clear , the car was on but no drive
i wish i could remember seeing the state of the gear on the dash
before power cycling the car , and then some how just
write off this one time event as a glitch , cross coupling noise , EM pluse.. whatever...
which cause the switch from D -> N or P

if an error code were to appear where would it show on the touch screen
or on the display

Bruce

[auricchio]

Bruce, it's understandable that you couldn't remember details about the displays. You did the right thing---getting out of people's way. That goal was more important than reading the dash.

(In flying, we were taught to Aviate, Navigate, and Communicate in that order. Fly the plane first and foremost.)

The error codes we're talking about must be read by the dealer with an instrument called a ScanGauge.

Do you recall if you hit a bump or slippery patch just before the power failure? The VSC and AntiSkid systems will cut engine power. If they don't have a few seconds to restore power, then you could experience a longer term loss. (You have to get your foot off the pedal for the system to let go.) Is it possible you got onto the gas immediately and perhaps the system wouldn't clear the condition?

You would have seen the yellow light on the dash.

When you say you just completed the 10K service, how long before?

[mellowyellow]

you should sell that car now how much ?

[galaxee]

the 12v only matters when the car is being started. once it's running, loose connections don't do anything to it.

[SW03ES]

I completely agree with Rick, lets get a little bit of perspective here. You didn't "almost die", your car broke down. Cars have been breaking down on highways since cars began. My mother tells a story about how her power steering went out on her old Ford LTD when she was 8 months pregnant with me. She didn't "almost die" and niether did I. I had a blowout one time at 70MPH on the highway in a Ford Explorer. I didn't "almost die" and thats MUCH more dangerous than a loss of power situation. You simply flip on the hazard flashers and pull over, which you did.

Now, thats not saying this isn't a serious situation, but as Rick says its not like you lost both engines on a 737 or something. Be reasonable, you'll get a lot farther when dealing with Toyota.

Now, onto questions. You say you are running "Shell V-Power". V-Power is their premium fuel, 93 octane. The Prius is not designed to run on premium fuel. I doubt that had anything to do with your issue, but in the very least its a complete waste of money.

It sounds to me like the car went into neutral somehow...