[allegro]

I obviously don't have a Prius yet as I still am deciding if this is the right car for me. I've been wondering about a situation if the car stalls or does not start and you have to manually push it somewhere on the side of the road. On regular cars you can simply turn on the starter, place it in neutral and push away.

Can this be done to the Prius without having to start the car?

 

[lensovet]

Re: Pushing a Prius

As is the case with most automatic-transmission cars, the Classic Prius had a switch under the steering wheel which would allow you to change the gear without depressing the brake pedal or starting the car. This would allow to switch into neutral.
In the new Prius, I do not know if this is still true. I would think that it is, since most cars have these "reset" mechanisms in case of emergency.
Paul

 

[AronRubin]

AFAIK you have to have power to the car to change gear. Also the car shifts into park when you turn it off. So I have to tell the car wash folks to keep the car on.

Aron

 

[moocatdog]

Re: Pushing a Prius

As is the case with most automatic-transmission cars, the Classic Prius had a switch under the steering wheel which would allow you to change the gear without depressing the brake pedal or starting the car. This would allow to switch into neutral.
In the new Prius, I do not know if this is still true. I would think that it is, since most cars have these "reset" mechanisms in case of emergency.
Paul

According to the 2004 Owner's Manual, if the parking lock mechanism is malfunctioning or the auxiliary battery is discharged, it is impossible to move the car with the front wheels on the ground. There is no mention of a method for manually switching to neutral. I looked around under my steering column and dash and was unable to find anything. Perhaps I'm just not looking carefully enough? This is an interesting point, as it is a bit troubling to think one could be stuck in the middle of the road with no way of pushing the car out of traffic. Obviously there are instances when any vehicle could leave you in such a situation, but I still find it curious.
Drive happy,
Moo

 

[mrv]

I haven't read the 2004 manual in
its entirety to know if it has the
shift interlock button under the
steering wheel like the classic
Prius had. (IIRC you had to remove
a small panel to expose the button,
that would let you move the shift
lever.) I don't know if this would
even be available for the joystick
in the 2004...

But for both the classic and 2004
Prius neither should be towed with
the front wheels on the ground
(transmission issues).

 

[RSnyder]

Hmm, sounds like you've discovered a disadvantage to having an electrically operated parking pawl instead of a manual one.

 

[moocatdog]

Hmm, sounds like you've discovered a disadvantage to having an electrically operated parking pawl instead of a manual one.

Yep. A parking brake that refuses to loosen is no fun. The manual does warn owners not to use the parking brake in freezing temps and that's good advice. A friend and I once spent a couple of hours in cold and nasty weather trying to free up a parking brake that had frozen stuck while we were skiing.
Drive happy,
Moo