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Australia Prius v - Do they have voice command?

Discussion in 'International Owners' started by Richard Gregg, Feb 20, 2014.

  1. Richard Gregg

    Richard Gregg Junior Member

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    Location:
    Hobart, Tasmania
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    N/A
    Still waiting on delivery of our Prius v in a week or so. But curious to find out the answer to this.

    Does the Australian model Prius v (7 seater) have voice commands? The AU Toyota web site is pretty hopeless for getting a definitive list of features (we've ordered the i-Tech model).

    I also wish the manual was available as a PDF (I've seen the US version of the manual though).
     
  2. Rob.au

    Rob.au Active Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    i-Tech
    The website certainly makes no mention of voice control anywhere for the v, nor does the PDF brochure.

    After you've taken delivery of the car you should be able to create an account on Toyota Ownership (for me I had to wait a few weeks for them to send me some random customer number that appears nowhere else on any of my documentation, but it seems they have since seen the stupidity of this and the page now suggests you'll only need information on the delivery card in your service book). Once you sign up for this site, somewhere in there you'll get a link for the PDF for your vehicle. It's not as nice as the US site where you can get to any manual easily (and no, the URL is non-obvious so I can't guess my way to any manual other than for my own model).

    Note this only is for the main vehicle user manual - it does not include the service book or the audio system manual (which for the c is bigger than the car's manual).

    The site keeps track of your Toyota Service Advantage services and lets you keep your details updated so you get any notice of any recalls, but it otherwise is pretty unexciting.
     
  3. Richard Gregg

    Richard Gregg Junior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius v wagon
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    N/A
    Thanks for that Rob. Good to know we can get access to an electronic manual once we get the car.

    I've since asked a friend that has the same model in Canberra and it appears the voice commands do work to some degree. Hopefully I'll be able to try for myself sometime in the next week!
     
  4. MarcSmith

    MarcSmith Active Member

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    Other Hybrid
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    if the voice commands are the same as what I have in my 2010 prius iv... be ready to be upset... not very logical, takes forever just to make a phone call, and don't even try to use it with the nav... mind boggling frustrating and annoying.
     
  5. Richard Gregg

    Richard Gregg Junior Member

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    2014 Prius v wagon
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    N/A
    Yeah, I don't think I'll be blown away. More a gimmick that may be used once in a while.



    RM-821_apac_australia_new_zealand_218 ?
     
  6. Rob.au

    Rob.au Active Member

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    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    i-Tech
    In my c I only use it for making phone calls and it is fairly painful... partly the steps are so slow and in the end I only remembered the sequence for this crucial requirement.

    For example, to start off, I press the handsfree button then have to wait for

    Voice command please.... DING

    It's as if it's quitely counting to itself "2, 3, 4..." between the "please" and the "DING".

    "Handsfree"

    ....Handsfree.... DING

    "Call Joe Bloggs"

    ....Call... Joe Blogs.......Home.... DING

    I never want the home number.

    "Mobile"

    ....Call... Joe Blogs.... Mobile...........Is this correct?.... Please say "yes" to proceed...... DING

    "Yes"

    .... Calling..... Joe Blogs..... Mobile.....................................[ring tone]



    I agree that voice control in the GPS system is worse than useless. Wait for a red light or pull over. Voice control for music if and only if you have an iPod plugged in is okay if and only if you want to play all the songs by a particular artist in alphabetical order. Otherwise forget it.
     
  7. MarcSmith

    MarcSmith Active Member

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    I got one of the last of the GPS speed interlock bypass. I hope to install very soon. its not that I use the GPS much, but when I need it. It will be nice to not have to stop, or have my passenger be able to do the searching while moving...

    I was using the voice command to search for a restaurant... OMG I just wanted to drive headlong into a telephone pole. it was so counter intuitive and it kept telling me that it did not recognize the commands (which i was reading off the screen) windows rolled up and english is my first language... My daughter was with me and she had the info pulled up on her cell phone before i punched the screen. But then you still can't enter the address via voice......Argh...
     
  8. Richard Gregg

    Richard Gregg Junior Member

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    Model:
    N/A
    Yeah, I'm not expecting miracles. Also with the phone calls I assumed you'd be able to bypass the toyota voice commands and instead use the voice controls on your phone? (I sometime use that with my bluetooth headphones. You can make calls and reply to text messages all with voice)
     
  9. Rob.au

    Rob.au Active Member

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    i-Tech
    Might depend on your phone... the iPhone Bluetooth compatibility is half-hearted and you can't use Siri without touching it, which is a no-no in NSW.
     
  10. Richard Gregg

    Richard Gregg Junior Member

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    2014 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    N/A
    I'm surprised you need to use the phone to activate Siri. On Windows Phone I just hold down the answer button on the bluetooth headphones for a couple of seconds and it goes into voice command mode, I assumed Siri would do the same (and I believe it does, will have to test on my old 4S). I was hoping that if you held down one of the buttons on the steering wheel it would do the same.
     
  11. Emcguy

    Emcguy Member

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    Location:
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    2012 Prius v wagon
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    The Aussie base model v doesn't have it and I was a little surprised actually. My commuter vehicle is a 2012 yaris which has the very clumsy system as highlighted above.
     
  12. Rob.au

    Rob.au Active Member

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    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    i-Tech

    The c has no hardware bluetooth buttons in Australia - the answer/hangup buttons exist only on the touchscreen, which you can't "hold down".
     
  13. Richard Gregg

    Richard Gregg Junior Member

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    2014 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    N/A
    Having picked ours up yesterday I can report that yes it's very basic voice control. We only get 3 options, "Call <Name>", "Dial <Number>" and "Go Home". If we had an ipod or USB stick plugged in we'd get 2 more options it seems.