The Prius: so fun to drive, you'll never want to turn it off!

I think Toyota should do a commercial with you and that million dollar smile, your Prius, and Camper. You guys could be a Super Bowl commercial sensation!

What a life saver you are! I was freaking out for a minute about this issue.

One more important thing. You want all (or at least enough of) your 12v-emergency supplies easily accessible from the driver's door, when you use the mechanical key to get in. Charged lithium jump starter somewhere in the driver's seat area is ideal. Or in a weatherproof box secured under the hood would be fine, too. The idea being, the mechanical key gets you to the driver's seat and the hood release. Getting under the hood gets you to the 12v + jump starting terminal under the fuse box cover, and any nearby ground. I use the corroded nut/bolt between there and the windshield, a spark when connecting to it will confirm it's good enough. And last but not least, applying 12v there will get the locks working to unlock the hatch and prop it open foraccess to the 12v battery no matter what else happens, even if your jump starter pack drains. Keeping the hatch from relocking is often the key to success. Speaking of which.... Neil and Buzz had an interesting exchange when Neil was on the moon and Buzz was starting down the ladder. Buzz: Now I want to back up and partially close the hatch. Making sure not to lock it on my way out. Neil: {laughter) A pretty good thought. Personally, I remembered it as Neil saying "A particularly good thought", so I wonder if the raw NASA transcript (not copyrighted) was later corrected (and possibly copyrighted). I'll have to watch it on video/audio to see if I've been wrong for 51 years, hahaha. I was very fortunate to have met them a few times apiece in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Moral of the story: Prop your hatch open with something if you want to definitely get back in. Having your 12v emergency stuff in the cargo tray accessible only from the hatch is a big mistake. Doing the crawl is bad enough in an empty car, doing it in a car loaded full of stuff takes forever plus putting your stuff out on the ground.

I put up with that for a few years in my 08 Prius, but I finally broke down and pulled out the board and put in the little capacitor as demonstrated elsewhere on youtube. Problem solved. Of course, putting in a new 12v battery can help, and I also installed a battery disconnect in the back on the negative cable which is the simple way to reset everything. Got tired of that though. Only problem is that it did take a day of work to pull off the dash and I broke two of the air grilles. The capacitor cost a dollar. My time was free and interesting project, but those little grilles set me back $200 I think, but you want your home to be nice, right!! BTW, I have had better luck with a 35ah 12 v Mighty Max AGM battery for $65 than the next alternative which cost 3 or 4 times as much and lasts longer. I just had modify the way I attached the battery cable and put a wood block under it. FYI Thanks for the great videos and inspiration.

My Gen2 Prius has the dash display problem and for a year it's been out more then on. I have the capacitor to replace but getting good "take the dash apart" weather and spare time has held me back. Now along came Nikki and her fix. I tried it today and it worked...I felt like I just won the lottery. Thank you doesn't seem like enough, but thank you Nikki!! Safe travels

I've watched four videos and this is the first that not only worked but helped me understand what was going on with the car and what I was doing. Consise and to the point and made sense.

THIS WAS HELPFUL AF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you, God bless you!!!!! Headache of years has ended!!!!!!!!!! Mwaaaaah!

Great advice Camper. Thank you!

Awesome. I bought my 05 with a brand new hybrid battery in 2014 and still have it, despite only driving it 5K miles in the last 3 years after buying a 17 Prime new. The 05 definitely acts funky when the 12v gets weak, so for any chronic or weird problems, the very first thing to do is replace the 12v AGAIN. I've added your two procedures into my old (Blackberry!) phone which is my repository of notes now, then backed up in other places. The most impossible weird situation for turning the car off is when charging a near-dead 12v battery with too weak a charger to power the car up. I've experienced it with a cheap 2A trickle charger from Harbor Freight, a superb 3A computer-controlled DieHard charger, an old-school 2A/6A manual charger, and a 6A computerized charger. What happens is you get a relay clicking on and off near where I hook the charger up at the fuse box under the hood. When the relay clicks, the horn beeps. How loud the horn beeps can be annoyingly loud, or pitifully feeble. Usually the parking lights flash with it. If you're lucky, it applies enough power for the door locks at some point in time to work, so you can unlock and lift the hatch to get at the 12v battery. If you're unlucky, you'll need a much bigger charger, a lithium jump starter, or jumper cables to another car, just to unlock without doing the interior crawl and trim disassembly trick to get at the secret hatch release. I never do the crawl anymore, I always get good 12v to the fuse block and ground under the hood instead. One thing to remember if doing the crawl/unlatching is that the hatch is heavy enough to rel-latch itself as you crawl back out, and lifting the hatch from an awkward position is best done by leg pressing it rather than testing whether your rotator cuff won't tear. Though doing the crawl is obsolete if you can get 12v power under the hood, a video of Nikki doing the crawl/unlatching and leg pressing the hatch up should get as many views as the showering video. ;-) Anyway, when you get the car into feeble honking mode, and the 12v is not strong enough to power up the car, not strong enough to charge the battery with the honking and flashing draining it as fast as it charges, yet not feeble enough to stop clicking the relay and horn, the car will just sit there clicking, flashing, and honking pitifully. There have been times when I left it silent and presumed to be dead or off, or clicking but not beeping, and it reverted to honking and flashing parking lights while I was away. "Your car is flashing and beeping, what can I do" messages could be responded to only with "It will stop when the 12v battery is totally dead again." If the charger is attached, you can tell them to unplug the charger and wait it out. The Gen2 can definitely get into weird modes where it is hard to know whether you'll be able to turn it on, turn it off, lock it reliably, be able to open the hatch again if you close it, or be 100% sure that if you leave it for dead, someone won't be able to jump it and drive it away. That, and the lack of an "Almost Ready" mode to do anything you want except drive it (such as leave it running as a generator, or with the AC running for your dog, without worrying about someone driving it away) are the most frustrating things about the car.

Thanks so much for this information. This happens often to my 2008 Prious.

I've not run into that issue with my Prius, but if it happens, I know what to do now. Thank you!

I randomly saw your videos and subscribed because we have exactly the same prius (2008, 2nd gen, same color) right down to the combo meter issue! I even fantasized about traveling the country in the prius but, unlike you, never mustered enough motivation to do it! Safe travels, Nikki!

Thanks for the info! I really like your lift idea for the Prius! I might suggest catalytic converter protection sometime if you haven't done so.

Just had this problem and did it on my 2011 Prius and it worked thank you

I don't own a prius but its never bad when campers teaching you something😉

Thanks Camper, think Camper should do all helpful hints and maybe a intro or a out lol

yep get that combo meter repaired or replaced mine does it every once in a while did it last night meter has a weak capacitor going to pull mine out and replace it.

I dont even have a prius but im so committed to watching all her videos im going to sit through this one as well! lol

Wow! Why didn’t I look this up sooner? Just tried it & it worked. Thank you for the tricks!

There is another way to fix this, if you remove the passenger side cover in the rear there is 3 plugs that power all the electronics in the car, unplug all 3 give it about 60 seconds plug them back in and you are good to go! works every time!

The dog is such a wise guy pushing on that button. 😀

Great video. You are so amazing. Camper the dog is a big help. Got to love Camper❤️

OLE CAMPER IS ALWAYS ON THE LOOKOUT LOOKING FOR SOME LIVE ACTION!!!

Your the best! I was really stressing getting to be late for work trying to figure out how to turn this thing off. So simple you're awesome have a great day!

Triple take, love it! Wound up investing in a 2006 to study up on and pleasantly found the gen 2 fit my 6 foot 1 self, along with my Mom liking, better. Great price and since I was already using an old smartphone with Hybrid Assistant to monitor the gen 3 knowing the head gasket was going to start going eventually, I pretty much immediately planned to use and do the same in the gen 2. So, now twice I've had where the methods to turn on the combination meter didn't work. So, drove with the HUD and I forgot about the double tap since I guess the capacitor decided to work. The prior time holding down powered down. This time did not when at the grocery store. However, when I got back home and I guess the humidity went up enough for the electrolyte to function in the going bad cap, powered down no problem Good times! 🙂 lol Well, with this one I'm top of the line model and riding in ghetto hood class.

I have a gen 2 prius also. I hope this never happens to me (215k miles so far, knock on wood). Thanks for the heads up on what to do.

I did it three times then it worked! Thanks sooo muchhhhh ❤

Camper is sooo cute!! Hope you both have a wonderful Christmas!

Thanks Nikki & Camper! I just bought a 2010 Prius Saturday! Yayyyyy!! But it’s like learning a brand new phone 😂 I can’t wait for my first camping trip! And even better I can’t wait to get a remote job so I can do it full time!!! Much luck in the road to you guys 🙏❤️ #priuslife

Camper has such a beautiful smile... :)

I have had 2 Priuses. I had a 2007 that I had to put a new big battery in when it had 130K miles. And I kept it until 164K miles. ($4000 for that big battery). I purchased another one new in 2015. I do love Prius!!

Get a protection plate for the catalytic and also I recommend add tilt sensor to the alarm system. Also the combination meter can be fixed by resoldering and capacitor replacement, it's a common problem for this generation. Prius chat is a good source or feel free to ask me any questions related to prius and I'll be glad to help.

It was the sudden influx of love I sent you when I found your channel. No worries =)

I think I will stick with my Tundra, those Prius' are just a little different. But, good that you are able to show others how to overcome obstacles.

As soon as I seen the dog's paws I lost it😂😂😂😂

Prius Chat is awesome isn't it? I assume you know about the guy in Texas who will sell you a new multi meter board with the new mo-better parts attached. I have to do this very same fix on my 2005.

If I had a Prius, I would surely appreciate this.

good to know. I should follow your lead and get that little jump starter too!

I found a clean 1owner low mileage 2012. I feel good win it. It has a mouse problem also

Thank you Nikki for this info. I own a Prius v for 6 months and still learning the ins and outs! Love you videos and of course Camper! How lucky you both were to have found each other :)

Same for me. Thanks for your post.

"3rd times a charm" ahah Good stuff champ ⚘⚘😁💞

Nice to see you Nikki. But a little more with lovely Camper in your videos please.

Thank you, was very helpful, well done

Another great class session Thanks for all the great information Finding more videos to watch while I'm on my break

Thank you. You are friggin awesome.

tip in the end worked... I am interested why the heck it is happening and if i can keep driving car

thanks helped so much just got one and it wouldnt shut off

Thank you so much!!!! Just saved me so much anxiety

I've had similar issues with my 2005 Prius, several times the dashboard won't light up but it drives and turns off normally. Once or twice it didn't want to turn off unless the button is held for 3 seconds. I've learned to never turn off the A/C, because it makes the electrical problems happen much more often; if it's this sensitive to humidity I'm honestly terrified of forgetting to roll up a window before a storm. One day, the car started up normally but with an engine light on as soon as I left from an oil change, the engine would not start while driving even if I floored it; several restarts and a low hybrid battery warning later it finally responded and I'm still not positive how I "fixed" it but the error code went away the same day and stayed away. I can't remember the error code, but it said the throttle actuator was stuck open. This also happened a year before when I'd loaned it to a relative. I think it has a lot to do with someone playing games with the ignition switch; I know my relative would try to drive the car off before the dashboard completely lit up, and she locked the starter on her vehicle trying to turn her car on halfway through turning it off.

Very good. I just did mine and it worked as you said it. Thank you.

I lived in my Prius for a bit! But an opportunity came for me to move to Hawaii for a little while! So of course I had to take it lol. I'll be hopefully driving to Alaska in June!

Hi nikki...Merry christmas and happy new year... Hope your car doesnt give u much of a problem during this winter.. stay safe, take care..

Worked on the first try.. thanks

I need more Prius tips! #Priuslife !

Thank you!!! You saved me 🌹

A great jobs superb the best IV encountered yes everything she said worked out just like that cuz I was freaking out I'm freaking here at the beach😅😊😊😂

Suggestion works. Thank you.

You are a lifesaver 🙏🏻💜🤟🏻

This video just saved my butt, thank you so much! And I thought the voodoo steps to fix your display would be total bull but I was SHOCKED when they worked lol. I felt like I was entering a video game cheat code 😂

Its nice and warm in quartzsite.

thank you so much...at -6 temperature on garage right now..lol

One of the most hilarious things I've learned about my Gen 2 Prius is.. if you want to make a backup remote, you can clone your original to a blank remote with a method called 'the chicken dance' XD

My 09 Prius has done this only once so far, i think, because a door was not closed , but still its freaky cuz i could still drive... maybe time for new 12v but battery check with meter shows okay.

Thank you thank you thank you for this!!

My key fob battery was bad an that’s the result no dash lights had trouble turning off . That’s what happened to me . New battery in fob all back to normal.

Seems to only happen when it's very humid out (and in)(the car)

Yep i had that issue even in the texas heat...now when i hop in the car, i keep my door open, pump the brake a few times until i see the door light on the dash then i know i'm, good to go.

_Did you turn it on and off again?_

Thanks for the tip. I would just thump the dash with my fist - Fonzie style. 99 times out of 100 I would look like a fool but that 1 time out of 100 when it worked, AAAAY! Unfortunately, I will still never be a cool as Camper 😉

Battery terminal seems a lot easier if this isn’t a common issue

When Your Car is your home you must know it even better than average.

Thank you! Btw cruise control at least for me, stops working when the combo meter goes out, as well as the check engine light. Do you know if the low fuel beep still works? Anything else I should expect to stop working if I continue to drive with it dark lol?

Omg!! The last trick worked for me too Lol

I love you videos you make good videos I like them you really get to the point of things seemed to solve every video you don't really good God-bless show ever beautiful person find and a dog and taking care of the dog God-bless you may God always bless you for the rest of your life you want a dog in your family I was a very nice thing you have to be very beautiful girl God-bless you boy Whenever get shoes real lucky your real angel

YOURE AMAZING

Thanks Nikki I def took a snapshot 💓

Thank you!

Thanks!

Thank you!!

Do you, can you leave the car on to stay warm? In my Toyota Camry, the motor only comes on if it needs.

So beautiful

Great information , also will share 👍

Same issue! 🙏

Computers Nikki got to love them. Lol

Hey guys, Well you’re both are very handy with car repairs ! Is Camper the lead mechanic

What does bad combination meter mean

Why it happened?

Love it

It worked!!!

I have the same color and car

Good tip, I have a similar car.

Do you ever fell sick of the car because of problems like this

It's 2006 Prius right?

Cute smile 😊.

Hello so what was the fix how did u repair it? I have a 2005 prius and I am having the same issues. Any luck with that?

Great video, Nikki how many miles did your Prius have when you purchased the car? Been toying with the same idea.

great vid

Call me old fashioned, but that's why I like beat up old pickups with V8's. LOL