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Safety Connect locations wrong after Nov. 2, 2019 (Toyota Campaign K0P)

Discussion in 'Prius v Main Forum' started by Elektroingenieur, Sep 18, 2019.

  1. Elektroingenieur

    Elektroingenieur Senior Member

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    Toyota’s Limited Service Campaign K0P, “Safety Connect System – Vehicle Location Inaccurate,” was just published and applies to certain Prius (2013–2017), Prius V (2012–2017), 4Runner (2013–2019), Land Cruiser (2011–2017), and Mirai (2016–2017) vehicles that have the optional Safety Connect system. There is a similar campaign (KLG) for certain Lexus vehicles.

    The problem is in the Data Communication Module (DCM), the cellular modem and GPS receiver used by Safety Connect. Toyota writes, “Due to incorrect programming in the DCM software, after November 2nd, 2019, the GPS coordinates for this system will be calculated incorrectly. This will cause the system to use incorrect vehicle coordinates if one of the system’s features is activated.”

    The remedy, done by dealers at no charge until December 1, 2022, is to check the software in the DCM and reprogram it, if necessary. This requires a Toyota Techstream diagnostic system, a special set of cables, and special software. The reprogramming, if needed, can take 75 to 85 minutes, and on Prius, Prius V, and 4Runner vehicles, also requires disconnecting the front passenger seat.

    At this writing, the dealer letter, technical instructions, and updated firmware are available by subscription to techinfo.toyota.com, but I expect the documents will eventually be posted on NHTSA’s website, in the Manufacturer Communications section for each affected model.

    Toyota doesn’t explain the reason for the November 2 date, but it seems there are many devices, including some older Apple iPhone and iPad models, that will malfunction because of the last GPS week number rollover, which happened in April, but only after a 30-week delay. The GPS receivers in the devices were programmed to compute the actual week number from the transmission week number (see IS-GPS-200K (PDF), 20.3.3.3.1.1) by using the rule that the actual week number would be at least 1054 (March 19, 2000). Once the transmission week number reaches 30, this rule can be satisfied by a week number in the earlier epoch, so the device no longer has the correct date and time needed for positioning.

    The navigation systems in these vehicles, by the way, use separate GPS receivers, which as far as I know, are not affected. This campaign applies only if you subscribe to Safety Connect or might in the future.
     
  2. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    I wonder if this is related to the same issue referred to in an email I received a few months ago from TOMTOM - saying my GPS needed updating. That GPS had died long ago - so I didn't take a lot of notice.

    Re PRIUS - as far as I know I don't have "Safety Connect System" - unless it's called something different here. I don't have Navigation.
     
  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    If you have an S.O.S. button up by the front dome light, you have Safety Connect.

    My old Garmin GPS II Plus became useless back in April ... I checked it on the 13th, and it had decided it was 28 August 1999.

    It's one thing to hoard old electronics of historical interest ... I guess another to still have them after they're no longer usable....
     
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  4. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    That's good - I don't have a TOMTOM, nor a S.O.S. button. Thanks!! I think I've had 2 GPS units since the TOMTOM.
     
  5. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    It's GPS' version of 'Y2K', except it's real. Numerous aircraft guidance systems had to be reflashed after the April fiasco.
     
  6. Offline

    Offline Active Member

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    I wonder if there will be a way for an owner to verify that the software update was successful ... maybe press the SOS button and ask the operator if he/she can tell where we are.
     
  7. Offline

    Offline Active Member

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    Is there more specific information in the Service Campaign K0P document that you can provide or can you upload the document to this forum?

    We have a 2012 Prius v Five/ATP with an active Safety Connect subscription but have not received any communication about this service campaign from Toyota. Lexus owners received letters about the KLG campaign in September.

    No open service campaigns are shown for our Prius v when I enter its VIN on Lookup Safety Recalls & Service Campaigns

    I'd be surprised if some 2012 Prius v Five/ATP were affected and others weren't since obviously very few were sold. A 2012-2014 Prius v Five/ATP with Safety Connect is easy to identify by it's panoramic roof and quad LED headlights and I've seen few if any others on the road.
     
  8. Elektroingenieur

    Elektroingenieur Senior Member

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    The Remedy Notice (PDF) and Technical Instructions (PDF) have been published on NHTSA’s website.

    According to the Remedy Notice, there are 1,300 potentially affected Prius V cars, made between April 2012 and November 2017. Your car’s production date is shown (in MM/YY format) in the upper right corner of the certification label attached to the driver’s door pillar.

    If you have a Toyota Techstream diagnostic system, even without the special tools needed to install the updated software, I believe you could check the current calibration ID (CID) for the telematics system. The update is needed only if the CID is among those listed in the table on page 8 of the Technical Instructions.
     
  9. Offline

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    Wonderful! Thanks. I should have looked at the NHTSA website, duh. The manufacture date of our Prius v is July 2012.

    I don't have Techstream but I found some very interesting information in the documents.

    If a Toyota technician would look up our Prius v's VIN on TIS per the instructions, our Prius would not be shown as being subject to the service campaign. I had already also looked up the VIN on TIS as well as through Toyota.com since there is no subscription required to do it.

    An especially interesting sentence in one of the documents is:

    Note: Only vehicles which currently have or previously had an active Safety Connect subscription on or after
    10/1/2017 are involved in this Limited Service Campaign.

    This means that the separate company that provides the Safety Connect service would have had to notify Toyota that our Prius v had an active subscription on 10/1/2017.

    10/1/2017 has a particular meaning to me since that was the effective date when the annual fee for Safety Connect was dramatically reduced.

    And that date is even more important to us since the Safety Connect people and I got into a bit of an argument about the pricing change. I called Safety Connect shortly after announced price reduction to verify that I would get the new prices applied to our current Safety Connect subscriptions for both our Prius v and Sienna. I was told there was nothing I had to do and that a refund check for each vehicle would be automatically mailed to me.

    Several months passed and no refund checks arrived. I called Safety Connect again and asked what happened to the refund checks. I was told that there were no automatic refunds and that the old higher rates would be charged until the next renewals of Safety Connect on our two vehicles. The Safety Connect employee told me that I had been misinformed during my earlier call and that there was nothing she could do. I told her that if I had been given the correct information about there being no refunds, I would have cancelled and re-subscribed to Safety Connect during the first phone call to get the lower rates.

    I didn't let the issue die and escalated the issue up the Safety Connect management chain. I was told by a Safety Connect manager that their accounting system didn't allow a retroactive refund but that our subscriptions on both vehicles could be extended for a substantial period at no cost to make up for it. They weren't exactly liberal in the settlement and extended the subscriptions exactly the number of months needed to compensate me for not getting refunds of the price difference.

    Now I'm wondering if the Safety Connect organization notified Toyota that we had a Safety Connect subscription which we have had on the Prius v continuously since we bought it new in 2012.

    And now I understand why only 1,300 Prius v's over the entire five model year are subject to the service campaign. Very few had the Advanced Technology Package that included Safety Connect. Based on what I've read on various Toyota and Lexus forums, a high percentage of owners did not subscribe to Safety Connect after the included 1-year trial subscription expired. There were likely very few Prius v Safety Connect subscriptions in effect on or after 10/1/2017.

    So ... based on the information in the documents you provided and our Safety Connect billing SNAFU, I will first contact the Toyota dealer in an attempt to see if our 2012 Prius v is subject to the service campaign even if the Safety Connect organization did not report that an active subscription was in place on or after 10/1/2017. If they can't tell me based on the VIN alone, won't look up the CID with Techstream or if I have doubts about the quality of information provided by the dealership, I will escalate the matter to Toyota corporate customer service.

    Thank you for providing the information needed. I place a lot of value on Safety Connect since it somehow works in the rural areas we drive in where we have no service on our hand held cell phones.
     
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