Car creeps forward in Drive unless foot is on brake

Nader's assertions to the contrary, there aren't very many dangerous cars......however (comma!) there are a LOT of dangerous drivers.
If your car creeps forward after you've powered it off and set the parking brake?
You have a problem. Go see the dealer.
If your car creeps forward after you've powered it off and you didn't set the parking brake?
You have a problem…but it may not be the car.

As stated above, there is always a little slop between the time (place) you select "Park" (or the car selects it for you) and the time (place) that the parking pawl or pin engages and mechanically locks the transmission. This "play" or temporary freedom of rotation expresses itself in the fact that the car is allowed to roll (either way) until the pawl or pin locks into place.
For this reason and as a SAFETY FEATURE your car is also equipped with a PARKING brake.
Toyota is the buzz-kill car company, so your parking brake is foot operated and is on the floor of your vehicle next to the other brake, instead of being the "hand-brake" that more enthusiastic car drivers know and love.
No E-brake turns allowed from the folks at the Aichi Iron Works....
OK.
So...since the OEMs hire herds of sniveling bed-wetting attorneys (I checked.....the collective noun for asses is a herd or pace... ) your owner's manual probably says something to the effect that if you wish to stop your car and keep it stopped that the parking brake should be used in conjunction with the parking feature...or mode of the transmission, even if you live in a geologically dull (flat) area like I do.
Do I use my parking brake?
Yup.
Every time....but only because it's a company car, and I have to.
My personal cars are usually parked sans parking brake unless there is a reason to do otherwise (sloped driveway, hill, etc...)
Like many people...I'm not always as smart or as careful as I think I am, and I know that the parking brake should be set every time that the vehicle is…uh…parked.
Unlike 99.44 percent of Americans...I know that if the parking pawl fails in one of my personal vehicles fails and my car does damage or injury...it's not the car company's fault.
It's my fault.

Usually? I'll at least cock the wheels so that if my vehicle is hit or tries to run away it won't go places that are likely to cause injury, and most of the time that I'm parked....I'm waaaaaaaaaaay off by myself somewhere.
YMMV...



Reader's Digest Version: Don't worry about it. Or...if you don't want your car to creep forward (or backwards)....use the parking brake.

 

looking at the original post and the post title, I'm still confused on what the problem is. Are people upset that when D is engaged and they let off the brake, the car starts driving?? Isn't that how every single automatic transmission vehicle works? why would you expect it to drive like a manual? how is this even remotely dangerous?

also, how did the engine "not shut off" if you've hit the "turn off" button? (what button is that anyway?). and, as mentioned elsewhere, ANY car will roll slightly after you engage park unless you are on absolutely, completely level ground. in the case of a manual transmission, it's even worse, since you have to engage the parking brake to prevent the car from rolling.

why is this still under discussion? *confused*…

 

I found that to be a problem when I tried to creep slowly through the drying fans at the end of a car wash. Foot off the brake it moved too fast, the least bit of brake and it stopped. My work-around is to apply the parking brake lightly when I want to get a smooth extra slow forward speed. I only do it for about 25 feet through the fan so brake wear isn't an issue.

 

LMAO, one sentence that made the time I wasted on forums today worthwhile.

 

I don't know if the standard Prius does it, but when I hit the POWER button on my PiP to turn it off, it automatically goes into Park if it was in Drive.

 

Gen 2 Prius definitely does this too. I'd think that Gen 3 regular Prius does as well.