1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Experiences with getting dealer to set Customization options for FREE

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by mrolfer, Aug 21, 2009.

  1. wvgasguy

    wvgasguy New Member

    Joined:
    May 6, 2009
    1,255
    185
    0
    Location:
    a
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    You need to make it part of the "deal". When through negotiating add that final item to the deal. They won't walk away from that for a few minutes of technician time.
     
    1 person likes this.
  2. neilz

    neilz Member

    Joined:
    Aug 30, 2009
    134
    10
    0
    Location:
    Staten Island, NY
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    I got a 30 day free check coupon from Route 22 Toyota in Hillside, NJ.
    I went there for them to check the car and asked to have the reverse beeper changed to 1 beep and all doors to open when I touch the drivers handle. I told them if there was a charge to change the beep and door lock settings, not to do it. They did it and there was no charge.
     
    2 people like this.
  3. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2005
    4,089
    468
    0
    Location:
    Bahstahn
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Has anyone yet figured out if these settings revert to factory
    default when the 12V battery is disconnected, like in the gen II?
    .
    _H*
     
    1 person likes this.
  4. swerthei

    swerthei Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2009
    15
    11
    0
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    I bought my 2010 Prius on September 19th, and brought it to my dealer (Novato Toyota) today to get two more dealer-only customizations done (I don't want it to beep when locking and unlocking - just flash the lights only). I already had had them disable the reverse beeper before I bought the car. Before I bought the car, they were more than happy to do it for no charge.

    I wish I had read the manual more carefully before buying the car and realized that I also wanted these other things done, because I would have had them done as a condition of buying the car. Of course, today it was a completely different story - it's a $69 job, and the service folks have to get approval from the sales folks to do it for no charge, and my sales guy can't approve it without his manager, who isn't here now, and some BS from my sales guy about how this is so much harder than just plugging in the computer and clicking the mouse a few times (he actually said to me in all seriousness "... you know, the tech has to find the right menu ..." :) ).

    They did end up doing it for free after about ten minutes of holding my ground. I didn't even have to threaten to call Toyota Customer Care or remind my sales guy that I haven't received my survey yet. And they did it correctly the first time. So I guess they're not the worst that we've heard about in this thread. Got a free car wash out of it too.
     
    1 person likes this.
  5. Ralph2

    Ralph2 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2005
    10
    2
    0
    Location:
    Lafayette, Indiana
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Rohrman Toyota in Lafayette, Indiana charged nothing to change the backup beeper to one beep; the headlight turn-off to one second; and all doors to lock when the vehicle is put into gear.:):)
     
    1 person likes this.
  6. rrolff

    rrolff Prius Surgeon

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2009
    1,610
    246
    0
    Location:
    So Cal
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I know there are a few threads based on settings, but could someone kindly repost the major settings that we may want???

    Backup beep (setting from ?? to ??)
    Headlights (???)
    Seat belts (???)
    etc ???????

    TIA!
     
    1 person likes this.
  7. skyking

    skyking Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2009
    5
    2
    0
    Location:
    merlin, or
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    According to the Toyota Service manager in Grants Pass, Or the setting are lost when the 12v battery is disconnected. Bummer. There is going to be a lot of unhappy people because of this, plus the added expense to have it redone at the customers expense.:(
     
    2 people like this.
  8. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2005
    4,089
    468
    0
    Location:
    Bahstahn
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    That's *insane*. Haven't these people heard of NVRAM??
    .
    _H*
     
    1 person likes this.
  9. mrolfer

    mrolfer Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2009
    4
    1
    0
    Location:
    CA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Came across this yesterday:
    autosportcatalog.com/index.cfm?fa=p&pid=52

    It is a small battery which, it purports "Before you disconnect your car's battery, simply plug in our Memory Maintainer to hold important functions like your clock setting, radio station presets, stereo tone adjustments, and engine computer diagnostics. Just plug it into your cigarette lighter."

    Hopefully this might be a cheap solution to the problem. It would make sense for dealers to have something like this.
     
  10. lawboy

    lawboy New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2009
    53
    7
    0
    Location:
    Texas
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Toyota of Mt. Pleasant (Texas) did my changes for free, including changing the reverse beep, turning off the headlights after one second, and turning off the seat belt warning. I had them do the changes when I came in for installation of my USB port. The USB module was faulty, so I had to come in again the next week for that, but they handled the customization without ever bringing up a fee.
     
  11. bobisbob66

    bobisbob66 New Member

    Joined:
    May 19, 2008
    14
    2
    0
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    I just picked up my new 2010 yesterday at Carmax/Toyota in MD. First they claimed to never have heard of these settings. Then they said they couldn't change them b/c they were safety features. Then, when I pointed them to the manual, they said they could change the backup beep but would not change the passenger seat belt due to safety/liability issues. But, they were going to charge me. Mind you, this is when I'm buying the car. I told them about all the experiences people are having around the country that I'd read about on PriusChat. They scoffed and said something like "oh... a blog". Finally they agreed to change the backup beeper.

    Here's the funny part... they never did it. I didn't test it (I was just happy to get out of there after 2.5 hours). Backing into my driveway I was treated with "beep... beep... beep", etc.

    (I even told them my wife was going to buy a Tacoma and my experience would influence from where. Go figure.)

    Hey, I got my new Prius though! :)
     
    1 person likes this.
  12. archermoo

    archermoo New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 15, 2006
    118
    8
    0
    Location:
    Pittsburg, CA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    Bought my V with Nav a couple of weeks ago. While waiting for the car to come in I mentioned to the dealership that I would want to get some of the dealer settable settings changed. His reply? We'll be happy to take care of that, just get me a list of what you want changed. As it turns out they forgot to change one, but fortunately it is one that is changeable by the end user anyway (driver's door unlocking all). Never mentioned money, and didn't seem to consider it an unusual request. Toyota Marin in NorCal.
     
    1 person likes this.
  13. leeb18c

    leeb18c Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2009
    272
    202
    0
    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Dropped by City Toyota service dept today and they do it for no charge since i bought it there. The service adviser does not know about it and I show him the customization section in the manual and he said he'll talk to the prius tech. So he took the car into the service area and brought it back out in ~10 min and said it's changed. I tested it and drove out very happy. :)
     
    1 person likes this.
  14. johnkodem

    johnkodem Prius Owner since Aug 25 2009

    Joined:
    Sep 21, 2009
    17
    1
    0
    Location:
    North Coast, PA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I had mine silenced yesterday. I told the service manager that others were having the customizations done for free, and he said that they would as well. The single beep is such a relief after seven weeks of beep, beep, beep. "Free" is good too.
     
    1 person likes this.
  15. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2005
    4,089
    468
    0
    Location:
    Bahstahn
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Is someone willing to volunteer a little time to prep the rear
    hatch for easy battery-terminal removal, go to the dealer, have
    them set an option, disconnect the battery and wait a little
    while, reconnect and see if the option is set or if it's reverted
    to factory setting?
    .
    It would be easier to pull the relevant fuse, of course, but
    I don't think anyone's sure which is the right one for something
    like the backup-beep yet. In the third-gen we had "dome" which
    pretty much did it for all the various keepalive memory.
    .
    [Oh, and that's just the 12V battery, not the big one!]
    .
    _H*
     
    1 person likes this.
  16. specul8tor

    specul8tor Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2009
    5
    1
    0
    Location:
    Florida
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Does the dealer have to switch to a singe beep in reverse or can it be done directly on the Prius by the car owner. I note in an older thread "disabling reverse beeper" the following instructions were given. This is probably old and outdated, but thought I would check and see if anyone knows if we can do it ourselves? Following are the instructions that were given, I haven't tried it yet, as I don't want to mess anything up if this is outdated information:

    # How do I turn off that annoying beeping in reverse?
    1. Power on (not necessarily ready, IG-ON will do).
    2. Set Trip/ODO to ODO
    3. Power off.
    4. Power on to ready (brake on).
    5. Within 6 seconds, press and hold ODO for 10 seconds or more.
    6. WHILE STILL HOLDING ODO *after* 10 seconds, Shift from P to R, then back to P. Now release ODO.
    7. You'll see in the trip display "b on" or "b off".
    8. Press ODO to toggle.
    9. Now power off.
     
    1 person likes this.
  17. spinnsilly

    spinnsilly New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2009
    84
    4
    0
    Location:
    Bay Area
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Must be b/c you bought a package 5 b/c I bought a package 2 and marin claimed that they could not alter the settings due to safety/liability issues!!
     
  18. LeadingEdgeBoomer

    Joined:
    Aug 8, 2009
    289
    29
    0
    Location:
    New Mexico
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    Based on what I had read at PriusChat, and since I had the manuals online, I copied out Section 6-2 and highlighted eight customizations I wanted done as part of dealer prep when the car came in. Gave it to the Service Dept. at Beaver Toyota in Santa Fe, NM. Told them the car was in the prep building, and wanted them done when I picked up the car.

    No problem. In fact, I get NO beeps shifting into reverse. They did mis the seatbelt beeper, which goes off a few times starting out. When I'm back there I'll have them fix it.
     
  19. archermoo

    archermoo New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 15, 2006
    118
    8
    0
    Location:
    Pittsburg, CA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    Or possibly it was due to a difference in which settings we wanted changed. I only had them change the backing beep to a single beep and change the driver's door unlock to unlock all doors.

    Of course it might also have been due to dealing with different sales personnel. I went through the direct sales department.
     
  20. lenjack

    lenjack Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2006
    804
    114
    0
    Location:
    Pennsylvania USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I believe this applies only to the G2.
     
    1 person likes this.