As they said on Monty Python, "and now for something completely different" . . . I was driving down a street in a local town this afternoon (four lanes, two-way, I was in the left lane heading south) and approaching a stop light. I applied the brakes lightly, and as I passed a particular point on the street about 50 yards from the intersection, I hear a loud "Ding Dong" like a door bell from the vehicle's speakers. I could see no source for a radiated signal outside the vehicle. No dashboard lights came on. I made a U-turn and drove back along the same street, passing the same point but northbound - no noise. I kept going, did another U-turn and went down the street southbound again, in the same lane, and braked for the stop light at the same point. As I passed the SAME street location, the "Ding Dong" occurred again! I repeated this process FOUR TIMES, with the radio volume up and down. Same noise, same location each time. The sound volume is independent of the radio volume. If I drive the opposite direction in the left lane and pass the location (within a car width), nothing happens. I did have my iPhone connected to the car via Bluetooth for music, which I couldn't hear when the volume was turned completely down BUT the "Ding Dong" was still very audible. I do have a Doorbell ringtone on my iPhone, but it's not selected for any function. I haven't heard this ANYWHERE else I've traveled in the Seattle area, the Vancouver BC area and cities in between. Anyone have an idea what's causing this "Ding Dong" sound? At that particular location??
At one time, there were reports that passing a 'way point' caused the NHW20 navigation unit to issue an audio alert. Just a thought. Bob Wilson
We have multiple here in the Seattle area, don't we? We need to get other Prii to drive past the same spot and see if they get the same thing.
You made an interesting suggestion. I did have a destination in my Nav system which may have included that road. I deleted the destination, and I'll try that street tomorrow. Thanks!
Could you also just turn the Navigation off? Wouldn't that take care of the 'ding-dong'? If it doesn't work tomorrow you'll have to reset the destination in to see if the ding-dong returns. Can't you do this today--right now?
I wasn't using navigation when the sound occurred. And the street involved is a half-hour drive away.
If the navigation unit isn't on then how could you get any 'ding-dong' from passing any way-point? Is the navigation always on even if the screen is turned off and you aren't following any course?
Unless they've made changes from GEn2 to Gen3, the navigation continues to run in the background as long as there is a destination or way point entered. When you think about it, it has to be this way. If it shut down when you stop the car, long trips would require that you restart the system when you stop for gas. If switching screens stopped the system then adjusting the A/C or audio would require re-entering the info.
An update: deleting the destination stored in my Nav system did stop the noise occurring at the prior location. For what it's worth, the destination was originally entered as a location saved rather than as an address. That may be why a waypoint was created & saved?
I understand your point and considering the audible ding-dongs it must be something like that I guess. But there are other ways. I can have a course set in my portable Garmin Oregon 400t tun it all off when stopped and when I turn it back on it updates and resumes right where I left off pretty much. What the Prius does might be a nice solution--I just haven't worked the Navigation enough yet.
