Personally the constant beeping is annoying but a single beep would be nice. Dealership programming is free as I understand?
That's a somewhat plausible scenario, but one could just as easily make the same error with a non-hybrid, on which reverse beepers are not required. The lack-of-a-clunk excuse wouldn't apply in that scenario. I wouldn't mind it so much if it weren't so alarmingly loud.
I wish there was a mod to reverse the shifter functionality. It isn't intuitive to move the shifter forward to go backward and backward to go forward...
Sadly NHTSA regs say that the shift pattern has to be PRND clockwise around the steering wheel, so it is. (B or L can be anywhere in the pattern)
I believe it depends on the dealer, your negotiating skills, and when its done. It's easy to get it done as a condition for buying the car. If they are hooking up to the car's computer anyway for another purpose then its easy and quick for them to do it. If they are doing it as a special task, it's a little more work (find the instrument or wait till its available and hook it up). It's still not much work but they probably have a minimum (not necessarily minimal) charge they want to apply. If they want an unreasonable charge, my approach would be to politely express my concern that the continuous beep is very distracting to me and I am concerned about the safety hazard, particularly given the challenging sight lines of the car. I'd then express my astonishment that the problem won't be fixed for free as Toyota has not made it owner programmable.
IIRC, an internal beep for reverse was Toyota's choice, not a regulatory requirement. I like the single beep but hate the continuous beep. Some others feel differently so its good to have the choice
If you're adamant to completely disable it, there's surely a connector you could disconnect. Still, this is there for SAFETY. For you, or future owners.
Until proven otherwise, I'd be concerned that disabling it by crude methods such as cutting or unplugging a wire might also disable other warning beeps that are actually valuble. The loud continuous inside reverse beeper, in my opinion, is not a safety feature but a HAZARD, because it tends to induce undue panic, and because it would make it difficult to hear any warning that might come from outside the car.
