My daughter just got a 2012 prius 4 ..it has been nice..but the head unit keeps rebooting. It eventually works and then reboots over and over....help.
I probably can't be much help, but I know that a lot of people have reported problems trying to access music files on USB memory cards. Does she have anything plugged into her USB port? Is it possible she has an unreadable disk in her CD player? Is there anything in particular she is trying to do? If it will not even bring up the home screen, it would seem there must be a loose connection behind the unit or the unit itself may be defective. I don't believe there have been many reports of the head unit failing to do anything, so your problem must be quite rare. Is it possible rodents have gotten into the wiring at some point?
Ah, I knew that was a problem on some Gen 4 cars, although ours has not been afflicted by that malady. I had not seen too many Gen 3 owners reporting that problem on PriusChat, but that is possibly because I have not been paying as much attention to the Gen 3 specific forum, not owning a Gen 3 car myself. I'm glad there is some hope your problem can be solved relatively easily.
Update..dealer says they can not re flash..only update...so they suggest a head unit replacement or aftermarket system. Suggestions? They want 600 for a swap and 90 for labor.
Wow, a Toyota dealer is suggesting an aftermarket system. It sounds like an admission that the factory unit is not competitively priced. There are audiophiles on this site that routinely replace their factory systems with an aftermarket unit as soon they buy a car, but I am not one of them. We have the highest priced factory installed JBL system in both our Gen 2 and our Gen 4 cars and I am happy with the sound quality from both. In general, I have never been one to try to personalize my cars by replacing factory equipment with something that appeals to my unique taste. I think it comes from having an appreciation for classic cars that have never been modified in any way. If you just want your factory head unit to work properly, I'm sure your could get an OEM unit from one of those aforementioned audiophiles on this site or from EBay or a wrecker. It's too bad that a piece of technology that is 100 years old and should be almost 100% reliable by now has failed on your car. Best of luck however you decide to proceed.
