Just hauled a twin mattress set on a 4 hour drive - naturally the tailgate was tied down, sort of half open. But why in heavens name does Toyota not let the beeping expire after a few minutes ? Of course I know the hatch is open !! Anyone know a way to defeat the door open beeper when carrying long loads?
Boy that must have been annoying. Good to know that you where able to haul a twin though (for reference).
I find myself trying to picture the designers behind the Prius: they seem a pretty self-assured, we-know-what's-best-for-you bunch. Cases in point: "You won't be needing a tachometer, or a coolant temp gauge." "There's no need to put the car in neutral with engine off." "You will be needing a weird-and-wonderful ignition method." "Conventional speedo (digital or analog)? No, no, no: you'll much prefer this little dim oscilloscope display, off somewhere towards the centre of the dash." "And incessant warning buzzers? In spades!"
I agree with your other points. I have found with my car it will go into N from the ON mode as well as the READY mode. The ON mode being the mode you get into by pushing the Power Button twice without your foot on the brake. After it is in ON I can put my foot on the brake and shift back and forth between N and P. Give it a try, unless Canadian cars are different in that respect yours should work the same way.
Does the engine stay off in ON mode? I think you're right, but not sure. I really miss that capability (putting car in Neutral without firing up), just to roll the car out of the garage for a wash, for example. (sorry for going off-topic, btw)
Yes ICE stays off, I believe in the ON mode everything that runs off of 12V is available but the HV battery remains disconnected.
So... It was beeping because the hatch was open... Easy... There is a plate on the hatch receiver. You can pop that off and manually latch the rear hatch. Push something into the double blacked hooked piece. Screwdriver or a small finger. It's easy to rotate. It will click twice. One click is good enough. Two is best. (you can even simply grab a rope loop and click it in there) I tend to usually tie a knot in the rope and click it into the base. I use the rest to tie the hatch down. When I want to release it. I simply touch the hatch button/handle (I see it as a giant button, not a hatch handle)
Great solution thanks, works well. Silly me. I used the built in tie downs instead of the closed latch. It was my first time with a long load and the Prius, and never expected the warning buzzer to continue past a few minutes. Next time I will know what to do. I must say that driving with a partially opened rear hatched killed my gas mileage by about 10 mpg.
