# 05 Prius hesitates before accelerating

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/05-prius-hesitates-before-accelerating/49508>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** prius, toyota\
**Created:** [May 28, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/05-prius-hesitates-before-accelerating/49508 "2010-05-28T16:54:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![LouisH](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/louish/32/1850_2.png) [@LouisH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/LouisH)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/05-prius-hesitates-before-accelerating/49508/1 "2010-05-28T16:54:05Z")

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My 05 Prius annoys the piss out of me in stop-and-go driving. When I accelerate from a stop sign, there’s a hesitation- maybe a second- between when I hit the pedal and when the car starts moving. Is this normal?  
  
  
  
 My other vehicle is a gas-hog 78 Chevy C10 hot rod. That things goes like hell when I hit the gas, which makes the prius hard to adjust to.

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**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/05-prius-hesitates-before-accelerating/49508/2 "2010-05-28T17:03:50Z")

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How’s your mpgs? Sounds like something in the electrical battery/motor side (but that’s a pure guess). You might post this over at priuschat, lots of Prius owners there.

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**Author:** ![LouisH](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/louish/32/1850_2.png) [@LouisH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/LouisH)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/05-prius-hesitates-before-accelerating/49508/3 "2010-05-28T17:12:14Z")

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We’re getting ~50 mpg on snow tires.

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**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/05-prius-hesitates-before-accelerating/49508/4 "2010-05-28T18:06:23Z")

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Sounds like the mpgs haven’t changed, that’s good. Have you had it scanned at an auto parts store? They’ll do it for free.

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**Author:** ![Whitey](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/whitey/32/24680_2.png) [@Whitey](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Whitey)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/05-prius-hesitates-before-accelerating/49508/5 "2010-05-28T18:27:41Z")

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Could this hesitation be caused by the engine shutting off when you stop? The engine automatically restarts when you press the accelerator, which could explain the delay.

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**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/05-prius-hesitates-before-accelerating/49508/6 "2010-05-28T21:24:04Z")

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Is this a recent problem, or has it alwasy done this?