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New 2010 repeatedly needs to be towed in...

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by SteveChm, Aug 17, 2010.

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  1. SteveChm

    SteveChm New Member

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    rural NC
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
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    III
    Vann York Toyota in High Point, NC. Just got the car back from them. Was told they replaced the ECM which I'll assume stands for Electronic Control Module. They put 99 miles on the car testdriving averaging about 35mpg which now puts total mileage at just over 1000. Document I have in hand says "bad ground in ECM" which resulted in "R&R purge VSV always pulling a vacuum".

    Upon receiving the car it has half a tank of gas and the battery is only showing two bars of charge. Through the first 4 weeks I'd never seen the battery below 5 bars (out of 7 total I think). After driving it for 10 minutes the battery shot up to 6 bars ... nearly full. Then when I hit a bunch of stop & go traffic (mostly stop for about 5 minutes) the battery is down to 3 bars. Is this normal? It seems much more volatile now that it was before.
     
    #21 SteveChm, Aug 18, 2010
  2. jburns

    jburns Senior Senior Member

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    Deleted by poster.
     
    #22 jburns, Aug 18, 2010
  3. Michaelvickdog123

    Michaelvickdog123 New Member

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    Glad you have the car back. I'm, surprised they put soooo many miles test driving...but if it solves your problem, then sobeit. Seriously...a good dealer would have at least detailed your car and, filled up your tank. Which gets me back to my earlier point - I think I would look for a new dealer. From everything you've said, I think their business practices leave a LOT to be desired.

    Going down to 2 bars is quite normal. It should swing (ie charge/discharge) between about 80-90% down to about 20%. That is very normal. The rate by which it goes from a full charge (ie, 80-90% of capacity) down to 20% of capacity (ie 2 bars) depends a lot on whether your're running a lot of juice from the Ac, lights and driving in EV mode. I think Toyota states that it can go about 1 mile in EV mode. I think I've done better than that, but basically, it can go from 80% to 20% in about a mile (or two)...and that can be a few minutes up to maybe 8-10 minutes (that's just a guess).
     
    #23 Michaelvickdog123, Aug 18, 2010
  4. silverfog

    silverfog New Member

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    I URGE you to disclose the name of the dealer.
     
    #24 silverfog, Aug 18, 2010
  5. RichardinNC

    RichardinNC New Member

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    I think he did name the dealer in his last post.

    We are western NC and bought from a dealer in Gainesville, GA
     
    #25 RichardinNC, Aug 18, 2010
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    stop and go will definately drain it. it just depends on how much. mine mostly stays in the middle, but certain situations charge it way up and others drain it way down. all on a 25 mile trip.
     
    #26 bisco, Aug 18, 2010
  7. silverfog

    silverfog New Member

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    You're right! And I do hope Toyota is monitoring this.
     
    #27 silverfog, Aug 18, 2010
  8. SteveChm

    SteveChm New Member

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    III
    Thanks for the reply, that was helpful. I hadn't noticed the battery fluctuating that much prior but perhaps *that* behavior was anomalous and this is the appropriate behavior. Had the AC and stereo where I normally have them. Was stuck at lights way more than usual though so ...

    Their idea of detailing it was to run it through the wash (only after I had asked) and then leave it in the sun to dry. Lots of little water spots on the windshield now. And the interior has light grease streaks still. I think these are from the towing company and not their techs but cmon, really?
     
    #28 SteveChm, Aug 18, 2010
  9. RichardinNC

    RichardinNC New Member

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    I agree - Can't see how Toyota would tolerate much of this behavior from a dealer.

    Is there some kink of a customer advocate's office/liason person at the Toyota corporate level? Does anybody know?
     
    #29 RichardinNC, Aug 19, 2010
  10. cobradb

    cobradb Member

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    this is so sad, man i havent had a issues except for alignment
     
    #30 cobradb, Aug 19, 2010
  11. Skoorbmax

    Skoorbmax Senior Member

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    That is some bad luck. I'm at 9500 miles now and no issues so far.
     
    #31 Skoorbmax, Aug 20, 2010
  12. Ricklin11

    Ricklin11 Junior Member

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    My general experience with Toyota cars is they are near perfect!
    I have had 5 new ones beginning in 1975, plus three used ones over the years.
    The worst: Diesel Pickup, engine was done at 120K miles, all 38 horsepower of it:) Not Toyota's best work.
    The best: My Gen 2 Prius, only issue was the dealer installed sat radio antenna. Otherwise 77K trouble free miles, fluids and filters only. It was totaled out in front of my house.
    I expect no less from the Gen 3 that replaced it, so far so good.
    I also have an 03 V8 4Runner 117K it's been trouble free as well, except the A/C compressor has died. Don't really need A/C where I live so it will remain unrepaired.

    I will continue to recommend Toyota to friends, esp. Prius.
     
    #32 Ricklin11, Aug 30, 2010
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