The information/display screen on my 9 month old 04 Prius has been acting up for a week. The basic screen grid often appears without any current information, the buttons to the left of the screen become inoperable, making it impossible to bring up the climate screen and change heat/ac settings, etc, and the radio shuts off automatically. The problem is intermittent, and the screen sometimes works fine for a few minutes before acting up again.
The dealer I went to said it was the "computer", they've ordered a new one, and will have to dismantle the dashboard to install it. (BTW, I have little trust of dealers after several horror stories with my Subaru Forester and dealers who made the car worse before it got better.) Even though the Prius is under warranty, and I don't have to pay for the $2000 to $3000 part, I'm not comfortable with the situation. Any ideas on this? Might it be a software fix rather than a parts replacement? Any suggestion where else I might go to verify the situation? Thanks for any input you can provide.
The dealer I went to said it was the "computer", they've ordered a new one, and will have to dismantle the dashboard to install it. (BTW, I have little trust of dealers after several horror stories with my Subaru Forester and dealers who made the car worse before it got better.) Even though the Prius is under warranty, and I don't have to pay for the $2000 to $3000 part, I'm not comfortable with the situation. Any ideas on this? Might it be a software fix rather than a parts replacement? Any suggestion where else I might go to verify the situation? Thanks for any input you can provide.