Wth? Car wouldn't shut off...very exciting...

So everything goes off, but the ready light stays on? Please be clear on exactly what's staying on.

 

Jeeps have among the worst reputations reliability. My mom had a 96 Grand Cherokee. That stupid thing went through 3 fuel pumps and she finally ditched it when the transmission died. She very much appreciates the Highlander that replaced it

That said, one possibility here is that you have one of those weird behaviors due to dying 12V battery problems. I swear, checking the 12V battery should be step 1 in all troubleshooting charts for the Prius.

 

I have a 2007 with similar mileage and have not seen this on mine. But the other poster is correct. You need to do this simple test first:

http://priuschat.com/forums/newbie-forum/73400-weird-stuff-happening-mpgs-dropping-test-battery.html

Also how many times have you had to jump start the car before?

 

If it happens again, you'll need to press and hold power for a few seconds to shut it off.

Yes, test the 12 volt battery first. If it's fine, then you could bit hitting Luscious Garage | Blog | LG TV - Prius Dead Dashboard.

 

The combination meter (which includes the speedometer and various other gauges and warning lights) needs to be replaced.

 

Patrick, The OP indicated that the cluster came back on as normal after they were able to get it to finally shut off. Do you still think it's an intermittent cluster?

If the cluster goes offline, the power ECU may not get a speed report and think you are still moving. If this is the case, then the power button will not work unless you hold it for 3 seconds. Also, the rear-hatch release will not work for the same reason. The car should start as normal with a short press, but if the cluster fails you will not get a display or ready indication.

If the cluster is indeed intermittent, it's likely just a bad solder joint. I'll offer to attempt repair this for a nominal cost, but you'd have to ship it to me. The car will still run w/o the cluster, but there will be side effects as mentioned.

 

Yes, this is a known problem. It would be great if you were able to identify the root cause of the problem, much like Hobbit did with the 2G MFD loose solder joint.

 

Well Tigressa, we are waiting to hear what happens! If you decide to let the Stealer fix it, I'd love to at least have the old part so I can perform a failure analysis as Patrick mentioned, that way we all benefit!

The offer of repair still stands, this way I can do the Failure Analysis and also save you a bunch of $!

 

Tigressa, also you've never mentioned your location. Might you be close to the SF bay area?

 

From one of her previous posts, she's in Alameda (unless she's since moved).

 

Well, I'm only minutes away if that's the case! But it appears she's went AWOL. I suppose it's likely it is just the beginning of the intermittent cluster problem, and the fault has not re-occurred. We will probably not hear from her until it re-appears.

 

Update: I now definitely have a solution for this problem. Please see [this] post.