My 2006 prius when first started after sitting a while, when manually shifted into Reverse the car will shift into drive instead and vise versa. The mechanics say its impossible BUT IT"S HAPPENING! It has already cost me over a thousand dollars in damages, it may some day be a critical safty issue—ANY answers out there
I’d take it to a dealer immediately. Have you asked this on Priuschat?
What mechanics have you seen so far? How often does this happen? Can you be more specific about the damages?
To me, this sounds like a critical safety issue right now, not some day.
I don t know how a prius’ linkage is set up or if it even has mechanical linkage, but I have had a vehicle that the linkage would slip and when I put it in drive it would occasionally shift only as far as reverse, then if I shifted all the way to drive 1 , then shifted back to reverse it would end up in drive instead.
if your prius is shifted electrically, there may be a short circuit somehow causing the problem.
if its happening, see another mechanic who will take you seriously.
even if your description is slightly inaccurate, something is wrong and should be investigated
What gear is indicated on the dash? The car is all eletronic. Has it been in a crash or anything spilled into the shifter area. I have worked for Toyota since the Prius has came out and have never heard of this happening.