There are a few reports of the shift lever failing. Have them check the connections to it and if necessary replace it.

 

It's a little unfortunate that these things are just a little to heavy to pick-up and shake. They do need a little shaking every once in a while.

 

I have a 2007 Prius with 30,000 miles and it too slips out of drive and reverse and into neutral. It seems to do it on really hot days.

 

Since this past Sunday have been experiencing some really strange behavior from my ‘07 Prius as well.

Afternoons when temps in West Texas have been staying around 99+ and the battery status indicator on the center console display registers 1 purple bar, moving car drops out of gear, goes to neutral. Makes no difference where I am and how fast I am going, happened in parking lots and has happened as I’ve climbed and descended San Augustine or Transmountain Passes in Texas and New Mexico. Little discomforting… Have not been idling or letting it sit without moving for any period with other systems on.

After the gear drop, have been able to get it back in Drive and stays after load shedding, i.e. AC, lights and radio off. No other power draws that I’m aware of that I can impact. What I mean by that is after the incident, I load shed, sit for couple of minutes, restart with those systems off, shift to Drive and either drive slowly or coast enough to regenerate and stores power in hybrid batteries and then it stays in gear. Another indicator something is amiss is that the letter B in the shift pattern to the left of the speed display disappears when the gear.

Common thread has been high use of AC and low battery. AC performance has not appeared to degrade, no means for me to check other than “feel”. Moving around parking lot is not much stress and usually ICE comes on when AC is on and car moves more than 8-10 mph. Dealer maintenance at turn in desk says that there may be something generating a high current draw that contributes to issue.

I'm not sure that this is a mechanical or switch problem, seems like logic of low power, a fail safe kicks in. It's in the shop, will see what is diagnosed.

 

It's cold in Arizona (was in the 30s overnight) and I had the same problem driving my 2005 Prius this morning. Have had no problems with this car except the 12 volt battery replacement last month (no warning on the battery level). When shifted into reverse, it slipped into neutral within 5 seconds. Same thing trying for drive. Tried turning off and restarting. No luck. I'll try again later. I would love to hear whether others have had solutions or sold their Prius. I'm looking for the dealership to solve this and am not encouraged by what I'm reading online.

 

Did you see any error codes or any displays on the screen? Also, are you in snow country? Did any of this happen while driving on snow and ice?

Before you take it to the dealer, you might try disconnecting the 12v battery for a few minutes to reset all systems.

 

Later the problem did not happen (temperature was increased by then), but this morning getting ready to take it to dealer, it happened again. No snow involved, just temperatures around freezing. No warning light. I'll be trying it every 1/2 hour to see if I can get it to stay in gear.

 

I have the same problem with my 2005 Prius currently in the shop. I am in northern Arizona, and on supercold days (7F to -21F) the car shifts back to neutral (N) and can only be driven if I hold the shifter in place. I also noticed that in colder weather, when shifting it sounds like I am breaking cheap plastic. My car is currently in the shop.

 

Hi Elenah,

Are you still having this issue. I have a 2008P and its having the same issue as you described. Just wondering if you got a tech diagnosis or just living with the problem. I have an appt with my mechanic next week.

 

Curious is anyone has been able to get a repairable diagnosis or is this just something we Prius owners have to live with. Any help would be great!

 

Hi , I have a 2004 prius that has this problem in cold weather , when put in yo either drive or reverse, it goes into neutral, I solved this problem at a cost about 20 cents and it took less than 15 mins ,
I posted this solution on this site , and others have followed my method . It always has worked for me and never failed . Look it up on this site ,, or contact me for further information.

 

I was hoping there would be an answer to this bizarre issue but I don't see any. 2005 Prius bought last summer. this morning very cold (15) and I didn't first start it and let it run. I tried to drive it after it had been on about 2 minutes and it kept putting itself back into neutral. Grabbed the code scanner thing and scanned all systems (no error lights on car at all) and it said all was fine. After about 5 more minutes of warming up it stayed in gear and drove. Is this some type of weird safety feature does anyone know?

 

Same problem with 2014 Prius w/ 125K miles. This has happened 3 or 4 times over the years. If I hold it in gear (D or R) for a few seconds while moving it stays in gear. Am I overriding a safety feature?

 

I have a 2004 prius , in icy conditions , the selector won't stay engaged. The on line solutions are both difficult and expensive , or driving whilst holding it in position until it all warms up .
My solution cost about $0.2 and took me about 5 mins maximum .
I measured to surround , cleaned the surround with methylated spirits on a clean cloth ,
Cut a circle of 1/8 rubber sheet to the size of the selector surround . Cut the rubber circle in to a segment that when glued in place , covers approximately one third of the slot . Job done .
The knob moves freely to where I want it to be , the friction between the rubber segment and the selector shaft holds it in place , the car drives perfectly in forward or reverse . When everything warms up , I return the selector to its normal position , this works perfectly every time , without fail .
I am in my 80s , I am not sure of the technology to send a photo , I will try . Hope this is of some use to someone

 

I have a 2004 prius , in icy conditions , the selector won't stay engaged. The on line solutions are both difficult and expensive , or driving whilst holding it in position until it all warms up . My solution cost about $0.2 and took me about 5 mins maximum . I measured to surround , cleaned the surround with methylated spirits on a clean cloth , Cut a circle of 1/8 rubber sheet to the size of the selector surround . Cut the rubber circle in to a segment that when glued in place , covers approximately one third of the slot . Job done . The knob moves freely to where I want it to be , the friction between the rubber segment and the selector shaft holds it in place , the car drives perfectly in forward or reverse . When everything warms up , I return the selector to its normal position , this works perfectly every time , without fail . I am in my 80s , I am not sure of the technology to send a photo , I will try . Hope this is of some use to someone

I take it you never experienced the Red Triangle of Death. I've had this problem for a while as well, and holding the lever where you want it works for a while, until the triangle shows up and the beeping starts.

 

2010 Prius, Went to back in to a driveway today and as I put the car into R and slid back into N. Did it several times. Couldn’t even put the car into P. Turned it off, waited a few seconds, started it up and worked properly. Did they same thing earlier in the day trying to go from P to D, the car kept popping back in to N. Planning to call the dealership tomorrow.

 

Cost of dealership repairs will exceed $1000 usd
If that expens is within your budget , that's great. .
If not , I solved that problem and detailed it to this sute . It cost about $ 0 .20 and takes 5 mins , and has never failed to function properly since I carried it out .
No skills required. I am in my 80,s but I cant afford the $ 1000 plus . Give it a try. You only risk 5 mins time and 20 cents

 

I have had this Prius for less than 30 days. Monday I get in the car put it into reverse and it goes into neutral. I had to keep the gear shift pushed up to make it go in reverse. Then I tried to put it into drive and same thing I had to keep the gear shift pushed into drive to make it go forward.
I then parked it and called the dealership. They had never heard of such a thing.
Made arrangements to to have it towed the next day. Of course that evening I started the car again and it did not do it again. I took it in anyway and they could not duplicate the problem.
It has not happened again.
Anyone else had this problem? Any ideas?

brake light switch on the pedel .hold your foot on the pedel lighting up the stop lights it should engage,,,simple fix ,,flat headed screw driver ,, now it is awkward ,you needv to reduce the gap where the switch engages the pedel ..

 

My 2005 Prius started slipping out of reverse about 3 weeks ago. Holding the shift lever while backing up works, but would rather not have to. After reading forum I'm curious - did charging the 12V system work? And why would it?

 

When the 12 volt battery gets low things get erratic. I have my 2009 Prius because the previous owner went out for a drive on a 4th of July and stopped to get gas. I'm guessing left the doors open so all the dome lights were on but when he went to start it up it wouldn't. I ended up buying it for a grand and found the 12 volt battery low. Charged it and I have put 100k miles on it since. Just had to replace the inverter coolant pump. Had the hatch open the entire time. Car started just fine but wouldn't stay in gear, forward or reverse... and couldn't put it in park. Always went to neutral. Took it for a test drive holding the shift knob in place... after about 10 minutes I didn't have to hold it any longer. Everything essentially runs off the 12 volt battery accept the drive motor and the a/c. If it goes low... the computer loses it's mind.