IMPORTANT -- the Camry has an air vent for the hybrid battery located right behind the rear back seat head rests in the passenger compartment.

Do NOT block this. If you do put an umbrella up, books, etc. up there, you can cause significant damage that will cause over $5000 in repairs. I have a 2007 model and this is addressed on page 11 of the owners manual.

Toyota will NOT cover this (and neither will Lexus). I personally know of a situation where a Toyota hybrid owner will get stuck with an $8,000 bill to repair this problem.

 

Aside from that, anything placed on the back shelf will fly during an accident (or a sudden stop) and in all likelihood strike someone in the head. The floor is a good place to put stuff.

 

I've always been a bit puzzled by these types of warnings.

Why not have a temperature sensor within the battery compartment and simply put the car in DERATED mode if the compartment begins to overheat.

That's what they do with the new EPS, Electric Power Stearing, it goes into derated mode if it begins to overheat. Many modern cars will even disable the A/C before the engine coolant rises to a critical level.

The Escape hybrid relies on the A/C for cooling the battery compartment so the A/C cannot be shut down. If the battery compartment begins to overheat the ICE RPM is raised to increase A/C capability.

 

In my opinion, there should be some kind of warning label, etc. near this vent. A normal person would not think there is any problem with stacking some clothes, etc. in front of this vent and blocking it. One would know about the potential for thousands of dollars in damage only if you carefully read every page of the owners manual.

Also, some of the Lexus models have the vents down by the floor where it is even easier to accidentally block off the airflow.

 

That's what killed Tom Mix!

 

Yeash. The last thing I want in my car is another ugly warning label, especially one that's located on the back shelf, and will probably melt in a year and look horrible because it's directly under the rear window.

People who spend the money to purchase such a sophisticated vehicle should indeed read the owners manual in the first few days of ownership.

 

Yep, reading the manual is a good thing

 

Amazing what you can learn on forums and WIKI....

To be waxed by an aluminum suitcase in an accident.... That's strange!! While driving your Cord automobile no less.

 

It seems to me that speed and loss of control had a play in Mix's demise also. Been years since we drove that backroad between Tucson and Phoenix.

 

Many nights I drive the last 1.6 miles in the ev mode to our house. It's on a paved country road with usually no traffic. The other night when we pulled under the car port, I pressed the pwr-off button. I could hear a slight small fan noise from the rear window. That's the first time I have ever heard the traction battery fan run. It was humid and could be the batteries got a little warm after the 1.6 miles in ev.