I also have a Garmin, which I got a couple years ago for when I have to fly and use a rental car. So I have used BOTH for a few thousand miles on car trips, just to compare.

I have noticed that the Garmin finds better routes than the Toyota nav units. Note that "better routes" means, usually many miles shorter, using the new highways that were only built less than 10 years ago, and not routing me through unpaved alleys behind old industrial building just to save fifty feet of driving on a nice wide paved road.

The next car WILL NOT have a built-in navigator, unless the car manufacturer does two things: 1. License the software and maps from Garmin; and 2. Guarantee that map and software updates will be reasonably priced. Paying several hundred bucks for a map update, that STILL DOES NOT HAVE 10-YEAR-OLD INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS, really sucks.

 

I agree that the toyota nav is poorly updated, and I also think it has a very clunky user interface. That aside, I have it, and I want it to work!


I have noticed that I can actually see the information on the screen by shining a flashlight on it! To me, this is important because it verifies that the screen is working, and it is a backlight issue.

I will pull it out this weekend and take the unit apart to find the source of the backlight.

 

Since it displays information on fuel economy, etc. Is is covered under the emissions warranty???

 

I just had a thought. ... Have you tried adjusting the brightness?
It could be that somehow, the brightness just got turned all the way down, or the screen got turned off.

From page 178 of the navigation owners manual:

The brightness or contrast of the screen can be adjusted depending on the brightness of your surroundings. You can also turn the display off.
1. Push the “DISP” button.
2. Touch the desired button to adjust
contrast and brightness.
“Contrast” “+”: Strengthens the contrast
of the screen.
“Contrast” “–”: Weakens the contrast of
the screen.
“Brightness” “+”: Brightens the screen.
“Brightness” “–”: Darkens the screen.
3. After adjusting the screen, touch
“OK”.
The screen goes off when “Screen Off” is
touched. To turn the display screen back
on, push any button such as “INFO”, etc.
The selected screen appears.
INFORMATION
When you do not touch any button on
the “Display” screen for 20 seconds,
the previous screen will be displayed.


Assuming that adjusting the brightness does not correct the problem, and you go ahead with surgery, I would be very interested to see pictures of the disassembly / reassembly process, if you feel up to it.

 

My initial thought was the screen had turned off. Pressing the display button does not help. If I shine a flashlight on the screen, I can see the brightness buttons, and even at the brightest setting, it is impossible to see without an external light source.

I have noticed 2 or 3 times that when I turn the car on, I will get a momentary flicker of the Toyota logo on the screen at correct brightness, and then a return to the black screen.

My assumption is that the backlight is functioning, but not receiving power. If it has the ability to receive power momentarily, I am led to believe that the wires are good, but the signal is lacking.

So, my first step will be to pull the unit, clean out all connections, and reinstall. Then, I will get further into it.

I work in aviation, and we repair electronic displays all the time for this kinda crap. I am calling Toyota USA to see if there is a Toyota certified repair facility I could possibly send the unit to if all else fails.

 

I found this on the web. I have no idea whether it is a good shop or not. Even if you don't send it in, you might give them a call and see if they can advise the likely point of failure.

http://www.hitechserv.com/electronic...nger-repair/85

http://www.theportermethod.com/blog/...n-unit-repair/

ymmv!!

 

There are some facilities that a capable to do this repair at a reasonable price. Contact:

1. Peef - an engineer who is very knowledgeable and repairs/redesigns Prius electronics for Luscious Garage in CA
2. AutoBeYours.com - Rebuild salvaged Prii and repairs their MFDs (Indianapolis)
3. Hobbit - Helped many of us fix our Prius MFDs ourselves (Boston)

Search for them on PriusChat.com. Good luck.

JeffD

 

Thank you, Scooters and JeffD...I am going to look into those contacts before I tear into anything.

 

Any updates???

 

I spoke with High Tech...

They ballparked me $375 for the repair. I am going to pull it out and ship it on Friday...I had too many projects goind on last weekend.