Hi,
We bought our Prius new in Aug 05. It's been fine. 38 - 64 mpg depending on terrain and speed. Great car. We love it.
Before we bought it I monitored this newsgroup and read several postings about sudden death of the engine. Owners reported that without warning the engine would quit and refuse to be restarted. Some contributors wrote of a procedure involving the prolonged pressing of the Power button. I failed to keep copies of those postings.
Alas, tonight I backed the Prius out of the garage, turned it off while I closed the garage door, and attempted to restart it. Nothing. Right now it sits in our driveway (thank goodness!) with only the green Park jewel and the red engine alert illuminated. I had to lock the doors with the key.
It could be the auxiliary battery. Two days ago I left the driver's reading lamp on overnight. Nevertheless it started right up yesterday and let me run several local errands.Perhaps they were not enough to recharge the 12v battery?
Should I risk trying to recgarge the 12v battery through the specified terminal in the engine compartment's fusebox?
In Sept we had the 10,000-mile scheduled service and the steering-recall work done. I doubt that either is related to this new problem.
I will welcome insight before I call the dealer tomorrow.
(This note's UK email address notwithstandng, I'm stateside as I write this.)