NHTSA Complaint #10135347 — 2005 TOYOTA PRIUS

POSSIBLY RELEVANT TO CURRENT PRIUS SOFTWARE RELIABILITY INVESTIGATION NUMBER : PE05029 I SPOKE TO GILLES LABELLE OF WESTBORO TOYOTA IN WESTBOROUGH MASSACHUSETTS REGARDING THE TOYOTA PRIUS (THIS WAS A PRE-SALES CONVERSATION; I DO NOT AT PRESENT OWN A PRIUS THOUGH UNTIL THIS CONVERSATION I WAS VERY CLOSE BUYING ONE; NOW I FIND MYSELF TAKING A STEP BACK TO ENSURE I'VE DONE MY OWN DUE DILIGENCE). HE MENTIONED THE USE OF A RESET SEQUENCE TO "REBOOT" THE CAR IN THE EVENT OF PROBLEMS AS A WAY TO AVOID THE NEED TO HAVE THE CAR SERVICED; I ASKED HIM HOW OFTEN HE HAD TO REBOOT HIS OWN PRIUS; HE DIDN'T ANSWER DIRECTLY BUT INSTEAD SAID THAT HE HAD HELPED ABOUT 100 CUSTOMERS THROUGH THE REBOOT PROCESS. I AM A OPERATING SYSTEMS SOFTWARE ENGINEER BY PROFESSION AND WAS ALARMED AT THIS "JUST HIT RESET" ATTITUDE TOWARDS SYSTEMS FAILURES; IDEALLY CRASHES IN THE FIELD SHOULD BE RARE ENOUGH THAT EACH ONE CAN BE ROOT-CAUSED, RATHER THAN SHRUGGED OFF. *JB