I had an unusual experience today with our 2008 Prius. I drove to an appointment and parked. When I returned to the car I pressed the Power button (with my foot on the brake), the Ready light came on, and then, with the Prius still in Park, I spent a moment looking something up. I then released the parking brake, shifted into Drive (I thought) and stepped on the accelerator, but was surprised to note that nothing happened -- the car didn't move. Repeated efforts to shift into Drive were unsuccessful and the indicator continued to show I was in "P". I then shifted into Reverse and the car was able to back up. I could then successfully shift into Drive and the problem was over. Anyone know what happened? I did a quick search here on Priuschat and Google but didn't find an answer. Bob N.
Bob, I have had a couple of "what the hell" type experiences like you describe, but each time I realised that I was only resting my foot on the brake when shifting to D rather than having the brake on. Like most automatics, you must have the brake "on", or at least the sensor must think that the brake is on to shift a car from park into either drive or reverse. Most likely, you pressed that little harder when you moved it into reverse, and, of course, had braked to a halt after moving and thus was able to successfully move to drive.
Thanks to both who responded. I guess that's the only logical explanation, as the car remains completely normal in all ways. I shall pour some lead into my right shoe. Bob N.
