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Oh No I can't shut the seat belt buzzer off 2010 Prius Taxi!

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by lucky1, Sep 9, 2011.

  1. lucky1

    lucky1 Member

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    I was able to shut down the very annoying seat belt buzzer on my three 2008 Prius taxi's but when I tried on my 2010 Prius tonight it didn't work.
    I have done some searches on this forum and haven't found any solutions.
    Just imagine the pleasure on a busy day of having 30 to 40 calls or more and most people not putting their belt on. Not looking forward to having to listen to the annoying seat belt buzzer/bell whatever you want to call it.
    Any suggestions? (other than ear plugs)
     
  2. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    Your dealer can change the setting... For the 3rd Gen it's not something you can easily change yourself anymore.
     
  3. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    Should you own a OBDII Programmer (the scangauge II will work) you can change it yourself, otherwise the dealer is your best choice.
     
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    You could insist your passengers put their seatbelts on.
     
  5. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    I was going to suggest that too! :D

    I find it a great way to remind them. Also, yes you can get it turned off by the dealer, though my understanding is that they can only turn off the rear belt reminders.
     
  6. markrivers

    markrivers Junior Member

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    seatbelts.. airbags.. such a waste of space. ( sarcasm sarcasm!)
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    One of the conditions of your cabbie license just might be that you ensure your fares buckle up. Annoying, eh? :rolleyes:
     
  8. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    Not here! Despite it being the law to wear a seatbelt front and rear, it is against the customers human rights for me to force them to wear one! I do always suggest it to my customers and in the front they sort of have no choice - wear it or be plagued by the beeps.

    Also, legally I don't have to wear mine being a taxi driver, but I always do - seen too many accidents and don't want to end up dead!
     
  9. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    How about spoofing the seat pressure switch. It should be reasonably straight forward.

    JeffD
     
  10. car compulsive

    car compulsive Active Member

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    Being a cab: $5 surcharge for riding without a seatbelt.
     
  11. lucky1

    lucky1 Member

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    Thanks for the advice I have been busy and finally got a chance to see what everyone thinks. I find my local Toyota dealership tough to deal with (I guess someone with 4 Prius taxi's is not a good customer) I do know a couple of the mechanics that are very helpful when I bypass the front counter guys. Hopefully one of them will help out.

    Grumpy how many kilometers do you have on your taxi? My oldest one has 450,000km and I am sure will give a good shot at 1 million k the way it keeps running so great.
     
  12. Dozer42

    Dozer42 New Member

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    I'd like to hear more about what your maintenance schedule is, what repairs have been required, and at what point in the vehicle's life (km/years).

    What mileage are you getting?

    I'm putting 30k/year on mine, but hearing from taxi owners who do far, FAR more than that would be great insight. (Pun intended).
     
  13. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    Not that many as I'm an owner driver (just me). I manage about 30/35k miles pa (50/55k km pa) and have just short of 60k miles on the Prius at 20 month old. The car is still mainly running ok though am starting to see a steering issue :( which I hope to get sorted before the 60k mile warranty expires.

    There was a link that I liked about a cab company in Vancouver which ran a Prius to 1 million km! I have no intention of going that far though with a 9 year age limit I'd be lucky to get 300k miles.
     
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  14. lucky1

    lucky1 Member

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    Grumpy--------- Must be nice to only be putting 30,000 km a year on your car. Each of my 4 Prius do about 130,000 to 150,000 km a year. Of course when I was in London I saw how expensive cabs were to take and realized you probably don't have to do the business we do to make a good living at those rates. Of course we are $1.30 a litre and you pay much more. I pay for about 600,000 km a year in fuel and the Prius save me around $35,000 a year plus when you factor in the savings on repairs and the car never breaking down and always working my savings are much more than the $35,000 in fuel.

    Dozer----- One of these days I will do a 450,000 km taxi review. We had one with our company at 750,000 and it was written off in an accident recently. We were disappointed because we wanted to see one hit 1,000,000km. The way my oldest car is running I fully expect it to be on the road at 800,000 or more because it is running as good as it did when I got it. I don't keep real close records mostly because between the 4 cabs and looking after my house etc. I don't have time. I will do a 450,000 report soon which won't take too long because so little goes wrong with these cars.
     
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  15. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    lol I'm not sure how to take this! ;)

    I do 50,000 km (30,000 miles) a year but much of this is very short runs - maybe a mile or two at most. Fuel here is £1.36 a litre (CN$2.13) and insurance is about £1,500/CN$2,350 a year and going up at 30% a year at the moment. You then have the taxi registration fees, 6 monthly vehicle tests, servicing and sales tax at 20%. Our tariff/rates are no where near as good as Londons either! :eek:

    So do we have to do much business to make a living - hell yes. In fact at the moment it is becoming very borderline as to whether it's viable. Thankfully because of the Prius my fuel bill is 40% or 50% lower than my colleagues but being a cabbie at the moment is certainly no walk in the park.
     
  16. lucky1

    lucky1 Member

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    Grumpy---- My insurance is $4,500 a car per year so we really get hosed by the insurance companies and they are very picky about who they insure. Makes it tough to find qualified drivers.
     
  17. AussieOwner

    AussieOwner Active Member

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    You should not complain - I just got quoted $11,000 per year for my first cab, plus statutory $4,500 third party personal insurance that every vehicle must have (but it is only $600 odd for a private car) and this appears to be the accepted price for cabs in Sydney.

    In Australia, it is illegal to ride in a taxi without using a seatbelt, although, like the UK regulations, the driver is not required to wear one.
     
  18. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    That is MAD! I thought £1,500 was bad but is for full coverage with a £350 excess/deductable and £10,000,000 liability insurance. Some of the guys pay about half what I do but I like to have wider, fuller liability coverage. I also amazingly have a clean licence and no accidents.

    Seeing some of those figures you guys pay I won't complain again. Saying that, my insurance is due next month so I reserve the right to change my mind about complaining! :D