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I've just been notified by Bishops Stortford Toyota that the parts are in and the car will be ready next week which is fantastic...... I have to say the team at Steven Eagell Bishops Stortford have been amazing in getting the parts so quickly and giving me a lovely 23 Yaris on loan within 4 days of the car going in!

My 2009 gen 3 Prius is having problems with the hybrid system. It’s definitely not working and a mechanic friend of my sister, who admits he’s not an expert on hybrids seems to think the hybrid battery needs replacing. A new battery for a 2009, 120,000 mile Prius probably isn’t worth it, but a rebuilt one might be. I’m trying to book it into a Toyota dealer to check that the battery is the problem but they seem a bit busy. I spend some time out of the country and I’m having trouble getting it checked before I leave again. The battery may well need replacing, but there are a few things that make me think that may not necessarily the case. The car isn’t used that much now but I still have it serviced well within the 10,000 miles, although not necessarily within the 12 months. It was serviced as usual at the main dealer in December 2022 and the battery check was fine. The next service was about 4000 miles later in July last year at a Lexus, Toyota specialist but the battery wasn’t checked but the car was working OK. When the MOT was done, whilst I was away it needed a new 12v battery and when it was driven back it started to go wrong. Apart from the fact that the hybrid system is clearly not working, four lights come on in the central display. All these are amber, not red. The engine management, traction control/hill start assist, brake warning and master warning triangle. Apart from a slight lack of power at higher speeds, at lower speeds up to 50 or 60 mph, in town or on country roads where it is most of the time you wouldn’t know there was a problem. I’ve tried braking heavily and they seem to be OK, although it’s possible any ABS or other braking assist may not be working. Obviously the Power, Eco and EV modes don’t work, but the cruise control also won’t turn on. That wouldn’t seem to be connected but I have seen it suggested on some forums that the cruise control is affected if there’s a problem with the control system for the hybrid mechanism. One thing that I’ve noticed is that on the central display there is the “Check Hybrid System” message, but if you switch to the energy monitor screen the battery shows as fully charged. It doesn’t go down as normal as the battery isn’t being used to power the car but it does lose one bar sometimes, and then it goes back up again. This display doesn’t show any other information regarding the power transfer. Does any of this suggest that replacing the battery might not solve the issue and instead it may be another problem, possibly with the hybrid control system?

Depends on what the foam is for - car windows or house windows? - you don’t say. If it’s for cars, then it should be OK on plastic lenses. Jack, the mind boggles when you mention using a pole. If you are referring to the car (you mention ‘lights’), do you work for Snow White by any chance? 😜

Last hitch hiker I picked up was in a race. Six had had a day out in the peaks. At the end of the day they split up only to RV at a pub. Mine did not think they would win as my drop off was not the best for the next ride.

Back in the day as a young apprentice, I would swop news cars with dealers up and down the land, often hitching a lift with trade plates, in those days, if the dealer you worked at had a Blue Corolla in stock, but the customer wanted a Red one, the only way to get it would be a dealer swop. I have literally hitched a lift all over the country, happy days, paid cash in hand too

Just to demonstrate you are not alone Jared, and off topic, when I installed my dashcam and "piggybacked" of the ACC fuse, I found a perfect nearby bolt for an earth and connected the ring terminal to that. Lo and behold, no power to the dashcam. Whatever I tried it wouldn't power on. I didn't think of even trying it plugged directly into the 12v socket.🙄 Thinking that it was faulty, and all set to remove and return, I fortunately found the issue. The bolt I had used was not connected to the car's body directly. Used another bolt - perfection.😇

Going private was always a Tory government’s excuse that it made for efficiency and competition to keep prices down. Ha,ha! I wonder how many MPs/ministers have shares in these privatised companies?

In our area they don’t even put them back on the edge of the drive - usually leaving them in the middle of the pavement.

IIRC, push the handbrake button down for a few seconds until it beeps to disable auto-handbrake, pull it up a few seconds until it beeps to enable it.

Good to know, confirms what I suspected with ours, we also had wiring at touchscreen and behind bumper, but I went the adapter and cheapo camera route cos even 2nd hand cameras were over twice cost of way I did it. Good to see bracket for stock camera is there as well, I used a number plate light camera so didn't need to remove bumper either, but also I wasn't too keen on cutting the bumper. But as you say, always need to check because bit like the Mk1s, depending on model or year, wiring can be there or maybe not.

C, D, and N are classed as repairable. S is structural but can be repaired. I'd still avoid S unless I was convinced by repair evidence. Official details If buying a written off car you want someone who is upfront and honest about it and can show you photos of exactly what it was that was damaged and how it was repaired. Many times it is things that are expensive but completely fine to repair. Like a damaged door or body panel that can easily be replaced and brings the car completely back to normal again. Demand photos photos photos... and receipts.

What you describe sounds like a slipping clutch. That is not related to the topic of this thread. You most likely need the clutch replaced.

Hi Bob and thanks for the reply. If that is the case then yes it seems useless. Before I got the car I though the days of going out on a frosty morning and defrosting the car were over thanks to remote climate but it looks as though I better keep my gloves for next winter. I have discovered the Navibridge app to send routes to the navigation system and that seems to work but really only usefull if you drive regularly to unknown destinations. Also I couldn't see how the map updates work - all you get is a message to speak to your local dealer. When I log in to my account on the Toyota web site there is something called 'MapCare Toyota - MM21 Map Care rule for free service' for free map updates till 2029 but the information on how to install it refers to an older multimedia system. I think I'll ignore the so called smart stuff and just drive the car!! Dave

What if this is happening when you’ve slowed down got enough revs and in the correct gear and the car while foot on accelerator to then increase speed sounds like the clutch is being ridden and foot is no where on or near clutch pedal

Hi thanks for your input .the car is fully loaded as they say its got all the bells an whistles so it sounds like a good deal but we all know that line . We had a few insurance quotes but as it my sons 1st car (which we all want 100%safe for our kids ) the insurance is high compared to ours with him on it . £1500 they asking . They said in the old add its just very light damaged to bumper . But as you guys said ppl lie does say they got photos . We don't really think we going to be selling it in few years as it's his learn car . I'm just trying to get as many others inputs in to this as poss . Would you guys buy it for your son . Its a price that's he can afford but I'll be asking a few more questions now they do say its got full toyota service so that's good right. Thanks for your advice still like your thoughts now .

Why not get a few insurance quotes and see if it's a price you're prepared to pay?

Likewise. We had an Excel on order November 2023 - 2 weeks later the updated version was announced, so we cancelled the original order and now have a Silver Premiere on order. The dealer has indicated production this month delivery in May. I won't be surprised if that is pushed back a bit.

I have the same information as Mr Blibby from our dealer... the dealers were sent a powerpoint (or similar) presentation with some details of the specs, colours etc. There have been copies of parts of this presentation posted in this thread. Your dealer should have had this from Toyota.

Kent

Mrs B didnt like the Khaki as is too similar to another car we already have, so went for the silver.. would have preferred the blue....as I understand it, its a combination of the available colours + the production plan for each as to whether you'll be able to get a specific model in a specific colour in in a reasonable time frame .... note also, this info is a month or so old now, so things may have changed....cant believe it takes so long to produce a brochure

Sandwich

My Yaris MK4 hybrid system failed a couple of weeks ago, the dash lit up like a Christmas tree and I managed to limp it back to the local dealer. Having read the forum regarding this issue I thought I was in for the long haul but after just over a week the car was ready to pick up, having had a new damper installed and I have to say it feels better (tighter) and more responsive. Thankyou Toyota and thankyou RRG Huddersfield for your prompt assistance, my faith in Toyota which had been slightly dented, has been fully restored.

Found a company called Noise Killer Group (close to Manchester) that offer that service https://www.nkgroup.co.uk/product/car-soundproofing-full-kit-no-engine-blanket/ I had my 2023 Touring Sports Gr 1.8 fitted (£425 in total). They used my car to prepare templates for other TS owners, if you are interested in fitting it yourself. The internal acoustics have been massively improved. Note that they won't soundproof your doors - but provide you with some material to do so yourself. I haven't done that yet. The noise from outside has only been reduced a little so far. I assume that's due to the doors not having been done and issues others describe in this thread and elsewhere (GR has noisy tyres, 1.8 doesn't have the acoustic windows fitted, etc). Photos attached from the NK fitting, before and after (shocking how little had been added by Toyota). Having the speakers replaced soon and the doors soundproofed at the same time 🤞

But subject to the same errors with tyre size as the onboard calculations unless you are using google maps or GPS to give you the distances. 🙂

(Mmmmm...) Bacon