[prius2001]

First, I must say that we love the Prius, but I'm wondering if any of you have the same nagging little problems.

First, the weather stripping on the driver's side keeps wearing out, almost as if the seat belt is getting caught. Is there a general problem with the seat belt retractor? We've had the weather stripping replaced once, and withn 2 months, it needed replacing again.

Second, I can't make the cassette tape player to rewind for more than 2 seconds.

Third, does anyone know whether we can get an odometer that has 10ths of miles? We live in the country, and sometimes go places that require knowing how many 10ths of a mile it is, because the roads aren't marked very well.

Fourth, twice so far, our radio just forgot some of the radio stations, and switched possibilities for us. Twice in two years isn't bad, and really doesn't give a mechanic anything to go on.

Told you these were petty complaints, but can anyone offer solutions?

 

[RSnyder]

For question 3, the trip odometers both show 10ths of a mile. Should be perfect for your country distance measuring needs. Press the ODO button to cycle between the main odometer and the two trip odometers. Press and hold the button to reset the currently displayed trip odometer to zero. The main odometer cannot be reset.

For question 4, if the radio really is forgetting, I don't know the answer. But be sure you're not just getting confused by the three different FM display screens. The labels in the upper left corner are "FM1", "FM2", and "FM Type". Cycle through the screens with the FM side of the AM/FM rocker button.

Hope this helps.

 

[award]

Radio station jumping

If the radio only changed stations, it may also be the "AF" button is selected. I believe it stands for auto-frequency; when the station gets weak enough, it will automatically find a new station. It's done this for me a few times on interstate trips. Luckily, NPR is in about the same area on the dial when it happens and I'm listening to Garrison Keillor.

 

[mrv]

First, I must say that we love the Prius, but I'm wondering if any of you have the same nagging little problems.

First, the weather stripping on the driver's side keeps wearing out, almost as if the seat belt is getting caught. Is there a general problem with the seat belt retractor? We've had the weather stripping replaced once, and withn 2 months, it needed replacing again.

Second, I can't make the cassette tape player to rewind for more than 2 seconds.

Third, does anyone know whether we can get an odometer that has 10ths of miles? We live in the country, and sometimes go places that require knowing how many 10ths of a mile it is, because the roads aren't marked very well.

Fourth, twice so far, our radio just forgot some of the radio stations, and switched possibilities for us. Twice in two years isn't bad, and really doesn't give a mechanic anything to go on.

Told you these were petty complaints, but can anyone offer solutions?

1. a few have reported that the weather stripping needs to be replaced, and a few other owners have had issues with the seat belts (not retracting or retracting too much). <shrug>
2. Try holding the rewind button for differing periods of time. You might be getting the "rewind to start of last song" option rather than the "rewind to end of tape" option.
3. Use the trip/ODO button to cycle between the main ODOmeter, and the trip A/B odometers. The two trip odometers use tenths of a mile.
4. Pay attention to what programmed FM bank that you are on. There's FM1, FM2, and FMType (non-programmable RDS search bank). Check to see that AF is off (when using the RDS bank, the radio will switch to a similar type station if the station that you're listening to gets too weak). Also make sure that TRAF is off (switches your radio station to one that supposedly may carry a traffic report, but in practice doesn't do so...)

 

[prius2001]

Thank you for your suggestions!

I have learned more in the last couple of days about the quirks of my Prius than I thought possible. Thanks very much! We brought it to the dealer to get its oil changed, and we will be getting a new tape deck. They couldn't get it to rewind either.

Weather stripping disintegration does not seem to be caused by the seat belt, but the dealership says that they guarantee all parts for one year--they might just order weather stripping for each time I get the oil changed. :roll: Could it be a problem with the door fitting just too loose and vibrating the weather stripping to shreds?

 

[badcat]

The day I drove my Prius home, the weather stripping along the bottom of the windshield came loose and started flapping in the wind! I just pulled over and pressed it back into place, and it has stayed put ever since.