Seriously.
It all started when I came out one morning to find that my tire was flat. I dutifully put on the golf-cart-sized replacement, reminding myself that we should probably change a flat every five years or so to stay in practice.
I got in and pulled away . . . and my electronic dashboard was blank.
Out. Kaput. Nothing showing. The car was running, but there was no dashboard.
The middle-console screen, which shows an inexplicable combination of your current mpg and "the flow" of electricity in your system (probably fake) continued to work, but the main dashboard, with all the important information, was out. There was no way to tell my speed, how much gas was left or any of the other space-ace information that Toyota includes.
What the heck? The car is only 13 years old! This shouldn't be happening!
I told myself it might fix itself and began driving. I had to get that flat fixed.
I navigated my way to the tire store as if I had plutonium on board – in the slow lane, constantly seeking openings to park in if the car died (although as a Prius, it would be hard to tell. It's pretty silent).
I gunned through intersections (don't stop now!), pulled into the tire store and turned off the car.
Or tried to turn off the car.
It wouldn't stop.
It stayed on, evidenced by the middle-console screen staying aglow.
I inserted my key fob for the first time ever and pushed the button to stop the car. It still didn't stop. The buttons didn't work, now the key fob was stuck and I knew that dealers charge a lot to fix electronic problems.
"I'm sorry, Brad," I thought I heard my car say. "I can't let you do this. You can't turn me off. This is the deal we made when you decided to buy a 'smart' car. You're not very smart. Now I control you."
Or maybe I just imagined that. Regardless, I searched on Google for "Prius won't turn off" and found the non-intuitive series of button pushes to turn off the car . . . but no assurance that it would turn on again.
Panicking, I backed out of the parking lot and headed to the Toyota dealership, two blocks away. This was a catastrophe!
I pulled in and hit the combination of buttons. The car stopped!
A woman from the service department approached and asked why I was there. I pushed the start button . . . and the car turned on. The dashboard turned on. It was working again!
It was a miracle!
I embarrassingly asked her how to remove the key fob and she told me to push in, then pull out. It worked (another miracle!). I told her never mind, backed out and drove to the tire store.
The dashboard continued to work. Days later, it still does.
Was it a fluke? Did the dashboard death have to do with the flat tire? Did I touch a random button and cause it?
Here's all I know: It works. Hopefully for good.
I now know the sequence of buttons to hit to turn off your Prius when the car is stuck on. And I have a sneaking suspicion that my flat tired caused my dashboard to go dark.
Although maybe that proves that what the car "told" me was right: I'm not smart.
Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@hotmail.com.
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