brake issues, whine in new 2010 Prius II

Just like anything new this car takes some getting use to. I have mine now over a year and it seems old hat. Had the brake surge once. Did take me by surprise but I make sure to leave plenty of room between the car in front.
The whine from the inverter is normal as mentioned. No worries.
You can have the dealer set the lights off to 0 seconds and that should take care of worrying about that.
Wheels look better without the covers. Though I would mention it to the dealer to see if they will get you an new one for free.

Welcome by the way! Hang in there and try to relax.

 

It's not a surge. The decelleration decreased, but did not switch signs. Meaning you did not gain velocity, you continued to loose velocity albeit at a slower rate.

You can replicate it on demand with any pothole or uneven surface and light braking. You can search to read more about it.

The backwards was probably because you were on an incline. Same as if you lurched forwards when parking downhill from park with your foot on the brake. It is part of the automatic parking pawl that all autos have. Use the parking brake to prevent (well minimize) this, but dont forget to take it off.

Dome lights could have been a door open, or could be on always on. But I doubt a simple counter will go bad. Operating as normal, probably in an abnormal situation such as the door actually being ajar.

As for the wheel hub, that sucks. Are you sure it fell off? There are numerous reports of people stealing them.

 

Welcome.

See others' comments (and other threads) about the braking issue--the 'campaign' (yeah, I love those weasel words too) fix only lessened, not eliminated, the characteristic. See the poll 'did it work for you?' on the main page. Personally, I've gotten used to it, but, yeah, it is disconcerting when you feel it the first time.

I'd bet the dome light issue is just the light going on when you got near the vehicle. Try it some time--sneak up on her in the dark, heh heh... See what happens. I bet it'll put your mind to ease.

Re the reverse issue, are you sure it was a surge, and not grabby braking for a few seconds that, when released, makes the car appear to lurch? Mine, when new (and I've read of others as well) would do that if I started backing up shortly after starting up--almost as if it needed a moment to 'wake up' or something, for lack of a better word. The thing is, when the brakes grabbed, they grabbed hard (instant embarrassing stop) and when released, you couldn't gently 'feather back' on them--it was all or nothing, so the car would lurch (also embarrassing). I had it happen several times in reverse, once going forward, and (perhaps as a consequence of my waiting longer to move the car) not at all after the first month or so. Never got a suitable answer on that one, least of all from a Toyo service rep.

Re the wheel cover, if you're sure you didn't hit something hard, don't think it was stolen, and legitimately think it fell off under normal usage, try pleading your case to the dealer. It easily could have not been snapped fully on. (Have you tried removing one? All you have to do is yank it off; when putting it back on, you kind of have to bang around the edges to secure it). It can't hurt to ask.

Bottom line, it's your car, you paid a considerable sum for it, and deserve to be treated with respect. In your shoes, I'd go to the dealer and ask that they check up on these things--and request that they give you a print-out of the results of the test for the brake recall/campaign/whatever nicey-nicey name they want to call it, if that is possible for a build after the cut-off date. Try to get an explanation better than "it's normal" or "they all do that" or "it is within specifications." You want to know *why*.

Oh yeah, and the whine is normal. Enjoy its minimalism, before the Powers That Be mandate that all hybrids make annoying and unnecessary noise like a traditional ICE-only car.

Good luck.

~T