Misc. Problems: Sat Radio, Smart Key entry, Starting noise

I'm a newbie. Apologies in advance if these are known issues. For some reason, the search function always returns an error when I try it.

I've encountered a few issues with my '06 Prius, package 5 since I got it back May. The dealer has been no help. Would like to know if others experience these issues.

1) I have the smart key package. At times, the car does not want to lock when I press the door lock button (on the outside handle). Sometimes I need to press it multiple times. Sometimes I end up opening the door and reclosing, then it works. Seems to happen less as the weather has cooled. Couldn't get it to happen at the dealer, and they were otherwise clueless.

2) Sirius reception seems to be quite weak. I actually have quite a bit of familiarity with RF, so I'm well-aware of the issues that impact closing the link, and Sirius coverage issues -- but I have the impression that my system's performance is worse tha others. I have the front windshield mounted antenna. A colleague of mine, with Sirius in a Dodge minvan (I believe) reports very infrequent dropouts. For example, he says he doesn't drop out going under overpasses unless it is about 4-5 carlengths wide. I experience very regular dropouts. In the summertime, I get dropouts going under highway signs! In fact, I've experienced inexplicable open air dropouts on the highway, on somewhat hazy days. Seems like this antenna/receiver is abnormally weak. I'm still on the free service period that came with my car. It's hard for me to imagine many people would pay for this kind of coverage!

3) My radio sometimes comes up in a mode where it's as if I don't even have the Sirius radio. i.e., hitting the Sat/AM button will only bring up AM. If the radio was left in Sirius mode, it will come up silent. This is relatively infrequent, but seems to be more frequent in cold weather. Looks like there must be some kind of error on bootup, because I can usually observe that the initial display takes longer to go away than normal. If backing up immediately on start, it will taking longer than normal for the display to switch to back-up video.

Seems like others must have experienced these issues -- at least #1 and #3. Anybody know if there's a TSB, or whether Toyota will be aware of them, if I call the company, directly?

The last issue I have is recent, and I've not yet discussed with the dealer. Since the weather got colder, on startup, I've been almost always hearing a nois. Hard to describe here, but it's two-part noise -- dit-dit. Ring any bells for anyone?

Oh, one other thing:

Naturally, my mileage is down 10-15% with the colder weather. (I know there's a separate forum for that.) But I've also observed great sensitivity in the fuel gauge with the cold weather. It now reads empty 2-3 gallons sooner than it did during summertime. Is that a known behavior?

Thanks for any feedback!

 

Thanks for the info.

I got mine at Westbury Toyota also. (Called around looking for one, and they happened to have one unallocated, that had just come in.)

The Sirius radio comes with the package 5, so the antenna (I assume) was factory installed. (I daresay it has to have been, because the dealer wouldn't have had time to install it in the one I bought.)

The dealer closer to my home, where I've taken it for service, says that by late 2006, Toyota had switched to a rear antenna. I'm thinking Toyota knows that the front windshield-mounted antenna doesn't work as it should, and changed the design -- in which case I figure I might be able to get them to pony up to replace mine with the new style. Was wondering whether anybody else had pushed them on this.

My perception has been that MFD boot up issue isn't associated with anything I do. The only thing that I would do quickly is shift. And usually if you do that too quickly, it just ignores the shift. I've definitely had that happen, without any adverse impact to the boot-up/sat radio.

But I'll double check, to see if I can make it occur, but doing something quickly after power-on.

Agreed that shutting off and restarting the car normally fixes the problem.

I have figured it for a software bug, and thought Toyota might have a firmware upgrade. Likewise with the door lock issue. But the dealer knew nothing of such when I last asked, a few months back -- though I didn't get a great sense that they were well-informed. Was pretty much just a "Well, if it's not doing it now, there's nothing we can do" response.

Guess I'll try calling Toyota directly, and see what they say. Will update this board if I learn anything useful.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(syclone @ Jan 21 2007, 12:25 AM) [snapback]378556[/snapback]</div>

Where is the wire run? I assumed it ran under the headliner, and that it's normally nontrivial to remove and replace such.

I could be wrong about the whole thing, I suppose. Since the sat radio is part of a Toyota package, I assumed it was installed at the factory. The guy at the local dealership seemed to confirm that, when I asked.