Adaptive Cruise Control Messed up after deer collision

The front Toyota emblem, right in front of the radar unit, is different on the package V with ATP, to ensure proper function of the radar cruise control. If front Toyota emblem was damaged in the deer incident (oh dear) and replaced with the standard emblem (about $50), this may be the source of your problem. You'll be shocked by the price of the ATP emblem that is something like $1,000. I have found that the radar CC will work with the standard emblem as long as it remains dry, although it gives phantom signals and warning that the emblem needs to be cleaned when it starts to rain.

 

Somebody backed into my 2012 Prius Five ATP and it was in the ballpark of $6,000 in repairs. This was just from a hit a run in a parking lot. They replaced the emblem and it was close to $1,000. The emblem should be flat and the Toyota emblem is not raised. Make sure they put the right emblem on there. Go on a test drive when you take it back to Toyota and show them what is wrong. That is probably the best way get the problem fixed.

 

You may also want to have a look at the radar device. It is bolted on a strut in front of the rad. and must be perpendicular to the direction of motion. That strut may have been bent slightly to the left.

 

I struck a deer on rt 422 (you probably know this highway if you're from the Philly area). Long story short, park assist was not working properly after the repair, although it was fine prior to the repair and after the deer strike.

It took several returns to both the body shop and dealer to finally demonstrate what was wrong. The dealership did t even know how to operate the park assist.

They wanted to replace a bunch of stuff that wasn't even associated with the park assist system. Ultimately, I had to bring in copies of the relevant pages of the service manual and show them what to look at. Just a loose wire going to the sensor.

Apparently the dealerships are not too familiar with some of these advanced systems. You will probably have to be your own advocate here if you want to get it done right.

If anyone does happen to know a repair shop with expertise with these advanced systems in the Philadelphia area, please share.

 

In the repair manual, there is an elaborated procedure on aiming the radar unit, which involves rough physical aiming with an air bubble gauge, then using a reflector target and TechStream to read back the signal.

The procedure is on Pages 1,936 - 1,942. Titled: 1. ADJUST MILLIMETER WAVE RADAR SENSOR ASSEMBLY

I cannot post this due to copyright reasons. But you should be able to mention this to the service tech and ask them to execute that procedure. There is more to this than simply road testing it.

 

Do the techs even look at the manual?

 

Don't know. But I know they certainly have access to it.

 

In their defense, they are not radar techs. It takes a lot of training to understand that level of technology. Especially millimeter radar. But if they are pointed to the right page in the manual and follow the procedures they should be able to get it right.

This is a perfect example of what happens when you put "high tech" equipment in the front of a car. Just like the GII and the thermos. If I remember correctly, 90% of accidents are at the front of the car. You're lucky you didn't destroy the radar unit. I don't even WANT to know how expensive it is!

 

I understand the problem of untrained technicians being baffled by the system. What I don't get is the expense of the repair parts . . .

Bob Wilson

 

Even if they don't fully understand the theory behind radar, the troubleshooting procedures in the service manual are pretty detailed. It shouldn't be to difficult to just follow the procedures.

 

I have 2012 with adaptive cruise. I hit a deer recently that broke emblem($910) and radar emitter($1931) after 2 trips to dealer it is still not working properly, 3rd trip is scheduled. I don't think they know what they are doing as they claim they have worked on the radar system for over 11 hours. I am taking along info that Jonny Zero submitted, thanks Jonny.

 

The thing is that the service manual has a fairly detailed procedure for troubleshooting these types of issues. But it seems very few service departments take the time to read the troubleshooting steps; apparently, they know better by randomly replacing components.

Perhaps we could start a thread here with reputable mechanics who truly understand these advanced technology systems. I don't know of any yet but I'm sure they're out there.

 

Isn't that how much the cost of the entire advanced technology package is? I just don't see how an emblem can cost a grand, or that an emitter can cost two grand.

 

To be fair, the service manual's procedure for troubleshooting usually IS randomly replacing components.

(Well, OK, not randomly - but they'll list maybe 5 or 6 parts in decreasing order of likelihood times cost. It's impossible to anticipate every possible failure mode, and every possible way needed to determine which piece of an incredibly complex system is misbehaving...)

 

Service parts are always more expensive. If you bought a whole Prius by buying the service parts and putting them together, I would be surprised if you paid less than $200,000 for it. Some of that is profit, and some of it is the added cost of maintaining stock, and warehouses, and low-volume old parts, and distribution networks, and ...