Some very nice qualities, but car does not inspire confidence...

I like certain aspects of my Prius. I got it used, it's a 2008. But it seems that I myself and many others always have questions about their Priuses that are difficult to get a straight answer for-- noises after the car is shut off, ability to determine for instance why the Master Warning Light would come on, the inability of a Toyota service department t be able to properly diagnose a problem because particular codes did not show up-- even though the problem would be indicated on the touch screen. It seems that as far as diagnostics, it's completely up to what the computer thinks/decides, leaving no room for insight on the part of the technician. But the straw for me was being stranded with a carload of food in the parking lot of a grocery store because the battery in my key died. You know what? It's really sweet that all you have to do is press a button to make the doors pop open and lock, but when it gets to where you can't make the car start, that's where I'm ready to bail, sell the car, and get something that comes with a lot less stress.

Beyond that, because of the faulty diagnosis I mentioned earlier due to the code system/diagnostics, I really doubt that the car saves enough money in gas to justify dealing with these kinds of things. For instance, someone messed my grill up in a mall parking lot, my insurance took care of it, but there was a problem with the cooling system which was not diagnosed by the dealership at the time of the repair, but a week later it came up and now the claim is that it is unrelated-- even though the touch screen indicated at the time that it was a temperature problem with the little red thermometer symbol. I was told that it was showing that in error because the problem was a low battery. The point being: nobody knows anything because these cars are way too complicated. The noise, loud and grating once the car is shut off, is also troubling. I have read different takes/theories online. Not really a car I am confident taking on a long trip with my family, let's put it that way...

 

Thank you.

 

Thank you.

 

It's apparently the system storing warm anti-freeze, it lasts a finite amount of time, both when shutting off and, I think, when staring it. To me it sounds grating. I really noticed it when I parked in my in-laws' garage. I see other people have asked the same question/had the same concerns, in many places online, there seems to be no perfectly correct answer. It's just frustrating. The dealer(s) and many other Prius owners will say that if there's a problem that a light will come on to indicate that there's a problem. It's just not a confidence-inspiring Fail/Safe as far as I'm concerned. I took it to my dealer once so they could hear it and of course that time the noise did not come on, lol. Then I'm upset because, like a moron, I'm driving across town and back for nothing. I just seem to be dealing with dealers and talking about this online and stuff rather than getting on with my life. Never really had a car that was such an emotional time eater before, that's all.

 

Others have experienced a similar situation. It's just very aggravating. Then, you take it to the dealer, they'll find something wrong...
Strange sound after shutting engine off | PriusChat

priuschat.com › ... › Gen II Prius Main Forum
Mar 4, 2011 – Very hard to describe this sound but it is coming from under the hood ... After you shut off the car, this pump fills the thermos-like tank with hot ...Whirring noise after shut-down‎ - Dec 16, 2010
Prius makes humming sound after turning off‎ - Jan 31, 2010
Unusual engine noise after engine is turned off‎ - Jan 17, 2010
question about noises under the hood just after shutdown‎ - Nov 4, 2008

 

Because I am reading people's descriptions of noises and there is no way that their explanations of these noises are accurate or empirical relative to the noises I'm hearing. My father-in-law heard it and said, "What's that noise? Sounds like a problem." I said, "No, it's just the cooling system." But see, I don't know if the volume of the sound is within a reasonable range of where that sound should be. How could I? What's loud to one person might be normal to another. It seems highly speculative. One man's "humming" is another man's "whirring," for instance, whereas to me, those are two separate types of noises.

 

Thank you.