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2010 Prius Complaints | That Bleeping Beep
One of the most annoying “features” of the generation 3, 2010 Prius is the beeping noise you hear while backing up. As soon as you move the shift lever into “R” for Reverse, the beeps start. I would estimate about one beep per second, for the entire time your backing out of the garage, driveway, or wherever. A few weeks ago I had to drive in reverse for nearly a full minute as I was behind another car that was backing out of a long drive, and both of us had to wait on some oncoming traffic. Thats when it hit me…this was the most annoying safety feature on my new Toyota.
I’m guessing the engineers had good intentions when they made this bleeping beeping noise the default setting from the factory. Probably the easiest way to imagine what it sounds like is to compare it to the noise you hear when a garbage disposal truck (or similarly equipped large vehicle) backs up. The difference is, nobody outside of the vehicle hears the noise. It’s not like it is there to tell everyone…”Hey you, look out now, I’m backing up my Prius here!”. What it tells you (the driver, passengers, and other occupants) is, “Hurry up and back this hybrid up…nobody can stand this noise any longer!”.
The good news is that it is possible to turn off this annoying beep…well, sort of. If you take your ‘10 Prius back to a Toyota dealer (preferably the one you purchased it from), some of them have the necessary laptop, software, and knowledge to change it from a constant beeping sound to just one (uno) reminder beep. That would solve a lot of headaches and complaints. Better yet, if you’ve ordered a Gen III and you are waiting for the boat (from Japan) to arrive, ask you salesperson or manager to program this before you take delivery. That way you might not get charged for the change, and you’ll avoid the issue all together.
In addition to getting this changed, there are several other settings and customization options. Most of them have to be changed by your dealer (including how the fob unlocks the doors, time elapsed before automatic door lock, buzzer volume, how doors lock when you shift out of park, light sensor sensitivity, time for headlights to automatically turn off, etc.). In case you want to read about them all, here are the six pages of the 2010 Prius Owner’s Manual Customizations in pdf.
From what I’ve read, there is no other way to turn off the beeping noise you hear when backing up. Don’t waste your time…call your dealer and make an appointment (unless you actually like it…and then, enjoy!).
Update 8/26/2009: Just wanted to let everyone know that I got my backup beep issue resolved today. I was due for my first oil change at 5,000 miles (all synthetic by the way, and $55) so I emailed the service department and salesperson in advance, telling both that I wanted to have the beeps switched from constant to just one beep. Not much of a reply from them except that it shouldn’t be an issue. When I arrived for the appointment, I let the assigned technician know that I wanted this changed. He said he’d take care of it.
45 minutes later, the tech met me in the waiting area with bad news. He said the options were to leave the beeps as they were, or change them to one constant, nonstop beeping noise. I told him that I’d researched this and emailed everything I could find about how to fix it. The tech agreed to print my email and try again. 5 minutes later he returned with good news. The issue was resolved.
Bottom line…this can be done and it appears to be quite easy, but you’d be wise to send the above link or printed version of the .pdf to your service tech in advance. In the end, mine didn’t charge me for the work, and even though I know it took less than five minutes, you might not be so lucky. Good luck…my beeping nightmare has ended!
Comment by Jay on 6 August 2009:
I’ve tried the instructions that worked on the older Prius models and they don’t seem to work on the 2010 model. This is really annoying that I have to be inconvenienced by making a service appointment just to turn this stupid beep off. I’m sure they will charge me an hour’s labor to do it too.
Hey Toyota, if it’s a configuration setting it should be configurable by the owner.
Comment by Gary on 19 August 2009:
I totally agree with Jay. They should at least have the salesman or service manager cover this before it leaves the dealership.
Comment by Chris K. on 20 August 2009:
So we picked up our 3g this week. We’ve owned a 2001 Prius for years but never a 2g. I actually find the shifter counter-intuitive (pull down to move forward?) So I’m thankful for the backup beep, it’ll keep me from going the wrong direction accidentally.
But yeah, allowing me to disable it (once the shifter has become second-nature) would be cool. Particularly as I back out of my driveway every morning.
Any way to disable the damned door lock beep? (Can the dealership disable it?) I’m sure my neighbors will hate it after a couple weeks.
Comment by Paul Aleksinko on 18 September 2009:
Well, I have it done.
Al Hendrison toyota in pompano beach florida 954-972-1100 mute the reverse beeping noise to one short beep.
It took 1 minute to do it and no charge.
Comment by AndyB on 9 October 2009:
I’m in the UK – had a new Prius a week and that damn noise was driving me round the blasted twist!! Went to one dealer who point blank refused and said it couldn’t be changed. Went to another and said: ‘how would you like to get the servicing contract for this car?’; five minutes later – job done! Stick it in reverse now and I get one single short beep – heaven! Peace at last – my sanity is restored. Now if I can just find a petrol pump that will fill the tank without clicking off every two seconds – still trying to solve that one……
Comment by TC on 21 November 2009:
how did you turn the beep off the reverse?
Comment by Bell Hell on 15 March 2010:
I have to have the triple beeb-beeb-beep- turned off for the ‘door lock’ button on the door panel. My 04′ Prius had a nice little button on the out side of the door to lock to door. This beeb is driving me bleeping crazy. Anyone?
Comment by Francisco on 26 April 2010:
I don’t recall a beep at the door-lock when I shift to Drive (out of Park). However, I did have the repetitive beep changed to a single beep when engaging Reverse. It adds to the driving pleasure… Besides, beeps are nagging to me. I just don’t like them.
Comment by NickelDime on 9 July 2010:
Here is the routine for removing the reverse beep (from http://www.vfaq.net/FAQ-misc.html#reverse)
Do the following:
Power on (not necessarily ready, IG-ON will do).
Set Trip/ODO to ODO (if it’s already set to ODO, you still have to cycle through the options: ODO, Trip A, Trip B, and back to ODO).
Power off.
Power on to ready (brake on).
Within 6 seconds, press and hold ODO for 10 seconds or more.
WHILE STILL HOLDING ODO *after* 10 seconds, Shift from P to R, then back to P. Now release ODO.
You’ll see in the trip display “b on” or “b off”.
Press ODO to toggle.
Now power off.
Comment by Rich on 28 July 2010:
I don’t like the beeps and my wife likes it less. The dealer said they would charge 1/2 hour of service to change this option. I decided that it would not be worth it.
I guess that Toyota made the beeps standard to cover their you-know-whats or collect additional service charges.
Note: The oil change interval is now 10,000 miles, but I will have the car in for tire rotation (a curious term as I rotate my tires each time I drive) at 5,000 miles – maybe they’d do it then for no additional charge.