Car creeps forward in Drive unless foot is on brake

Did you did not make sure the car was actually powered down before you started to exit the vehicle? And yes, when the car is actually powered down, and you take your foot off the brake, there is some slop in the mechanism, I note about 4 inches of travel before my car stops. I have had other cars that were much worse!

 

I don't think it's dangerous, but I think you should get in the habit of using the park button before something worse happens.

 

It behaves like a conventional automatic: the car creeps in D. The key reason is that it stops the car rolling back on a slope. My wife's actually used to more creep in D.

 

I always use the parking brake and park button.

 

Then put it in park... You don't just turn off any other car, you need to disengage the transmission whether that be park, neutral, or pushing the clutch in on a manual.

And if you are "jabbing" the button, it might not turn off because it is designed to resist short jabs. Stop, foot on brake. Then push the power button, or park then power.

 

They all do that. The Prius actually doesn't have to do that, it emulates it to make it feel "normal".

In a regular car, even when you are stopped, the engine is spinning, maybe 1000 rpm to 1500rpm. In a manual car, you push in the clutch when you are stopped so that the engine can spin with the wheels being stopped. There is no such thing in an automatic car, it goes through a torque converter. This is like a magic fluid chamber that allows the engine to spin the liquid inside but not transfer that much power to the wheels. Some still does, so the car "creeps". This is what the Prius emulates by just moving ahead on electric so it behaves like all other automatic transmission cars out there.

You can read more here: HowStuffWorks "How Torque Converters Work"

 

Maybe a faulty parking pawl

 

I've always put my foot on the brake before I turn off (or on) my car. Same for seat belts (always on before I start car) It's just a good practice. I once had a 1965 American Motors Rambler Classic I thought I put the gear shift in park, got out of the car to close garage door, car moved forward and smashed into the cement wall. learned my lesson!

 

Yes my bad though I guess.

Forgot my phone inside my cube at work so I stopped next to another entrance. It would only take me seconds to retrieve my phone so instead of turning everything off, locking the car etc... I Set the E-brake but forgot to set the [P] park function. Luckily I noticed the vehicle creeping before I went in as it may have rolled into something. I really don't agree with the [P] button and wish it were a position in the shifter selection instead of the rather inconspicuous button that it is. My first thought was that somehow my throttle position sensor or whatever they are using had become uncalibrated and the pedal was sensing input with nothing on it. I don't feel comfortable that the traction motor is engaged with no pressure on the pedal. I don't know maybe its normal for all prius, this is my first one...

 

In the PiP (and I think all Prius models), when you take your foot off the accelerator pedal while moving, the system engages a bit of regenerative braking to simulate the compression braking you get with an ICE. Just like the forward creep when in "Drive", it was explicitly programmed in to provide a familiar "feel". This is important to non-geeks like my wife who want to "just drive it" as if it were a "normal" car.

 

2k1toaster is right. EVERY single automatic I've ever driven does that.

Please read Federal Register, Volume 68 Issue 94 (Thursday, May 15, 2003). Search for the word creep.

Some quotes from there:

Prius is mentioned a bunch of times in there.

 

It's annoying, but worse, it is using up the battery and if you're not moving, the drive motor is getting hot (and wearing out). All for simulating an autotransmission. Didn't these guys ever drive a manual transmission car.

I just got my first Prius. This is my only complaint. Great to watch the energy flow diagram, but hate to see the wasted energy.

Stupid. This was my only complaint in the new buyer survey they sent. Probably will go no where.

As for notice of making shift error, that's ridiculous Federal nanny garbage for low IQ drivers..

 

It is not wasted. If you press on the brake not just lightly apply the least amount of pressure to stop moving, the electric motors shut off completely. No heat, no wear out, no excess energy.

 

In every automatic car I've ever owned or driven, if you park the car without engaging the Parking Brake (which is called a Parking Brake for a reason), the car will move slightly forward or backward if you're on an incline. The car's being held in place by air -- the compression of air in one of the pistons. When I park on a hill in San Francisco, I usually let the car move until it stops, and then I apply the parking brake, so that both the parking brake and the transmission are holding the car in place. If one should fail, the car won't lurch forward, causing stress on the other system.

 

I can see with a manual transmission, if you leave the car in gear with the engine stopped, that engine compression is what keeps you from moving . But with an automatic transmission, power transfer is by fluid in the torque converter, and it will just slip if the engine is off. If the engine is idling and the transmission is in gear, then the torque converter is exerting a force to move the car, which you can override with the brakes; the energy is dissipated as heat in the torque converter. But with a Prius (PiP or standard), if you press the brakes, the ICE will either be turned off, or the energy will be directed to the generator and usefully consumed to charge the battery.

 

Jabbing is Baaad!
Well unless you are with your significant other, naked, and having fun!