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Prius driving has made me an idiot

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by spudnut, Oct 19, 2019.

  1. spudnut

    spudnut Active Member

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    Location:
    Idaho Falls/Pocatello, ID
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    My 2013 PIP is what I drive 95% of the time, unless I'm hauling a big load (BIG) then I use the 1 ton Chevy flatbed (which I drive like most people think a Prius driver drives, like a little old lady, in a futile attempt to better it's horrendous MPG), and there is the 1999 Toyota RAV4 I drive during the winter when the snow gets deep on the mountain I live on. Or, when I need to haul something on the light weight utility trailer a bit too much for the PIP, but not heavy enough for the flatbed.

    For whatever reason, i was in town the other day with the RAV4, and I stopped at my grocery store of choice. When I came back out 15 minutes later, I couldn't fail to notice that some yahoo had let his car roll back from it's parking space, blocking one parking area. As I got closer....I saw I was the yahoo, it was the 4. Luckily no damage was done, it was almost level asphalt, and just a slo mo creep back about 15'. Best of all, no one was waiting for me or even noticed as I got it and drove the heck out of there.

    I don't lock any of my cars or trucks, ever, so I just pull up somewhere and push OFF and walk off. I think what happened is that the PIP has dumbed me down, so once I turned the ignition key of the 4 off, I subliminally assumed the parking brake was on (and yes I realize the Prius has a old school mechanical parking brake plus the tranny one) and walked away to get my groceries. I was in auto pilot, the muscle memory of the process of parking the PIP got me, and I will now try and pay more attention when driving my other vehicles! So far, in 50 K miles since I bought the used PIP, this is the only drawback I have had to deal with it concerning it. That, and it's low snow clearance in the winter. Glare ice, I'll take it over my 4x4's, as it has Michelin IceX tires, but much over 6" of snow, I'm walking. The new AWD version does not interest me for this reason.
     
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    If you turn it off it should go into "Park", ie: there's a pin in the transaxle that shifts and solidly locks the transmission, prevents any more than a few inches back and forth rocking. Maybe a brain bubble and you left it on? I've done this, but puzzled by beeping sounds as I start getting out, so far I've figured out what's happening.
     
  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Maybe the 1999 RAV4 didn't have the automatic-park-on-shutoff.

    Speaking of autopilot and muscle memory, my left foot goes down on the parking brake at the same instant my right hand goes for the power button. Trying to do one without the other would be like trying to wiggle my ears (which my dad was actually good at ... his ears, I mean).
     
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  4. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Yup. That's the problem. He got used to that and forgot that the Rav isn't that smart. I can see that happening to me if I'm not careful in rentals.
     
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  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Completely missed that he was in a Rav4 :oops:.
     
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  6. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    He might have a manual transmission version, and I've never heard of any manual with a Park 'gear' at all.

    Or, forgetting to pull the key out, he could still leave an automatic in gear. Does the torque converter allow an easy roll in this case?
     
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  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Yeah most conventional automatics with keyed ignition: you can't remove the key without first shifting to Park. Idiot proof, lol.

    I like that approach; I'll take unavoidable impediments over bells-and-whistles, every time. :)
     
  8. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Not idiot proof, merely idiot resistant. As someone who doesn't regularly drive a conventional automatic, and hasn't owned one myself for 35 years, I do sometimes get fouled up with dad's current car. I keep trying to take its key out without or before shifting to Park. All the stick shifts I still drive, both my own household's and dad's other rigs, are supposed to be left in gear when turned off.

    So it doesn't surprise me that someone else can experience mixed automatic motions from different vehicles, leaving it in an improper condition. E.g. no key to remove (from Start-button keyless-fob vehicles), plus no shift out of a moving gear (from a manual transmission), plus no parking brake (from folks (not me) afraid of it freezing in winter weather), could lead to OP's incident.
     
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  9. spudnut

    spudnut Active Member

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    As most have figured out, the 4 is a stick shift, though why I didn't have it in 1 st. gear when I shut it off is beyond me. I should also mention the PIP is only the second vehicle I've owned, until last year anyway, with an automatic tranny, (OK, CVT), and I'm 70. One day, going 35 on the main drag through the small town that's on the way to my rural home, as I pass the one and only local watering hole, I see there is someone there I need to talk to, so I make a snap decision to pull in, and stomp down on the non existent clutch pedal, prior to down shifting, before remembering there is a brake pedal there now. No harm done but pretty embarrassing. The first comment I heard as I walked in was, "I think you've had enough." Hadn't had any, to be clear.

    In my defense somewhat, I drive a range of vehicles from my 55,000 pound crane truck, down to the Prius, and it's amazing things like this don't happen more often. I also fly a small plane several times a week, depending on the weather, and operate the crane, so I have that whole hand/eye coordination figured out, I thought, so even worse for me to do what I did with the RAV4, damn Prius!
     
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  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Geesh, no moss growing on you. (y)
     
  11. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    My spouse, never ever having lived in a household with a traditional automatic transmission, occasionally does that with rental cars. Ouch!

    I learned to drive on a mixed household & farm fleet, so learned to hit the 'clutch' in a slower, more measured fashion.
     
  12. spudnut

    spudnut Active Member

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    Plug-in Base
    The other day, I started down the 1200' vert grade on the mountainside I live on, it's a 8 to 12% grade, and as usual I felt a bit smug as I gently applied a bit of brake, just enough to engage the regen, thinking again that my '13 PIP is the best rig I ever driven up here in 40 years of living here. Then I realized I was in my '07 Silverado 1 ton gasser pickup, bummer. Scrubbing off excess speed with mechanical friction only, now seems so archaic. And we don't want to talk about how the 1 ton's engine keeps running when I am dead stopped at a red light, drives me crazy, now.
     
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