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Is there a downloadable owner's manual for the 2005?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by norbert, Nov 6, 2004.

  1. norbert

    norbert New Member

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    I'm only going to have to wait about a week for a Prius, but since my dealer doesn't accept deposits, I have to pay for it before it gets here. Anyway, is there a downloadable manual for the 2005 I can get?

    Norbert
     
  2. tag

    tag Senior Member

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    You should be able to d/l the manual by following this link:

    https://techinfo.toyota.com

    However, it's subscription based and NOT free of charge. The manuals (and other materials) are protected by copyright so you're not likely to find them downloadable anywhere for free.
     
  3. aarons12

    aarons12 New Member

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    i respectfully disagree. i can download the manual for almost any part of my computer or peripherals, or any piece of electronic/audio/video from the manufacturer's website almost any time. i never bother looking for original manuals any more.

    most manufacturers are happy to give you easy and fast access to a replacement manual. after all, why would you want a manual if not to use one of whatever it was they sold you, including a car? industrial espionage? maybe the technical manual, but not the user's manual...

    and that doesn't mean i think that the manual IS available, just that i don't see why it shouldn't be.
     
  4. tag

    tag Senior Member

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    I agree.... :) ......I don't see why it shouldn't be either. HOWEVER, Toyota, for whatever reason, has chosen to copyright this material and has chosen not to make the manual available free of charge.

    So, the point that the manual should be available is moot; if you want the thing you have to pay for it.
     
  5. GeoffM

    GeoffM Junior Member

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    And if you do decide to pay for the download be prepared for Toyota's bizarre maze of PDFs. I think there are something like 26 different PDFs that make up the full manual, and if you decide to put them back together into the one PDF that should be available, as I did, you'll need the full version of Acrobat, not just the reader.

    Geoff
     
  6. aarons12

    aarons12 New Member

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    i just checked the manuals for a few programs and 'toys'.. as i suspected, they are all copyrighted. i believe that is done as a matter of routine.

    i think toyota is just taking a more traditional automotive route, as opposed to a more modern approach, in charging for it.
     
  7. Hytec

    Hytec New Member

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  8. tag

    tag Senior Member

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    Couldn't find the Owner's Manual......just the Service Manual and, of course, it isn't free either. :)
     
  9. LisaMarli

    LisaMarli Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GeoffM\";p=\"48986)</div>
    The Question of the Day is though, Is it worth the $10 for a day's access at the website? I can always create a folder for "Prius PDFs" and just go rummaging through that, since all I have is Reader.

    My Prius is on order, and I'm currently waiting and waiting... :violin:

    Lisa
     
  10. Bob Allen

    Bob Allen Captainbaba

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    The question of copyright is quite simple: Toyota is obviously concerned that someone will take the splendidly written, precisely clear, owner's manual and reverse engineer a Prius in their garage. THEN where would they be?
    :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
     
  11. GeoffM

    GeoffM Junior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LisaMarli\";p=\"49056)</div>
    The Question of the Day is though, Is it worth the $10 for a day's access at the website? I can always create a folder for "Prius PDFs" and just go rummaging through that, since all I have is Reader.

    My Prius is on order, and I'm currently waiting and waiting... :violin:

    Lisa
    [/b][/quote]

    Guess it depends how badly you want the manual and how bothered you are by rummaging through PDFs to find what you want. I think the biggest drawback to the seperate PDFs is that you lose true search capability if you don't know which chapter of the manual has what you're looking for. The other day I was looking for the procedure to turn the MFD back on once you had it set to auto-off. Took about 20 seconds to find it searching the entire manual in one shot. Not sure how long it would have taken me to find it guessing at the chapter.

    Geoff
     
  12. Hytec

    Hytec New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tag\";p=\"49049)</div>
    I don't understand...it didn't cost me anything to visit that site originally, and it doesn't cost me anything each time I return, including this evening to verify the URL. Furthermore, the site may call it the "Service Manual", but it compares word-for-word with the 2005 Owners Manual that was provided with my 2005 BJ Package delivered 2 weeks ago.
    do not know what to say....????
     
  13. tag

    tag Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Hytec\";p=\"49072)</div>
    do not know either!????

    Below is the page clicking on the link you provided brings up for me. Further, when I clicked "Buy a Subscription", I was transported to a page where the latest year available was 2003.....???

    [web:9b6928a395]http://www.diyautomanuals.com/service-manuals/Toyota-Prius-Service-Manual.html[/web:9b6928a395]
     
  14. tag

    tag Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(GeoffM\";p=\"48986)</div>

    Yeah, the full version of Acrobat.....which, you know, only costs about as much as a new set of tires for a Prius. :roll:

    I've often wondered how many more copies of Acrobat Standard Adobe would sell if the price were a bit more reasonable.
     
  15. GeoffM

    GeoffM Junior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tag\";p=\"49188)</div>

    Yeah, the full version of Acrobat.....which, you know, only costs about as much as a new set of tires for a Prius. :roll:

    I've often wondered how many more copies of Acrobat Standard Adobe would sell if the price were a bit more reasonable.
    [/b][/quote]

    Well the good news, ever so slight, is that Adobe is apparently being a lot more lenient on price with the new "Standard" version of Acrobat, at least as far as OEMs are concerned. I just ordered 300 new desktops from Dell and they included Acrobat 6 Standard edition at no charge. A year ago I would have only gotten the reader.

    Geoff
     
  16. tag

    tag Senior Member

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  17. GeoffM

    GeoffM Junior Member

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  18. DanMan32

    DanMan32 Senior Member

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    You can download a 30 day eval copy of the pro version for the 'stitching' together. May want to download using a fully patched reader though, as the eval is not patchable, and unpatched it is not compatable with the Toyota site.
    That's how I did it.

    Once the eval is done, you have to uninstall the eval version, and reinstall the reader, as the browser plugins point to the eval.
     
  19. toyotapartsnow

    toyotapartsnow New Member

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    Being the fact that I work for a Toyota dealer, I have access to this information. I don't know however what the legalities of me offering up the copy righted material to this or any other forum or even posting it on a site for download. I am sure that if Toyota has a subscription based site they would be a little ticked at me for just giving their info away.

    I posted this not to hijack the thread but to have folks possibly offer up suggestions on a work around.
     
  20. kettledrum

    kettledrum Member

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    Our department here at work all got new machines from Dell between February and March of this year, and they all had Acrobat Standard 6.0 on them. I don't know if we paid extra for them or not. If anyone needs any stitching done I'd be more than happy to help.