Disable the annoying backup beep on your third generation Prius

I recently upgraded from a second to a third generation Prius. As soon as I shifted into reverse I heard the annoying “Beep beep beep.” I was able to disable this useless and annoying function on my second generation Prius by pressing various buttons in a specific sequence. Unfortunately Toyota removed this feature for the third generation Prius. Most websites tell you to take your Prius to the dealership because a special tool is required. My local dealership quoted me $50 for the job, so I figured I could get myself a special tool for cheaper and do it myself.

$11.61 for a Wifi ELM327 OBD2/OBDII interface tool compatible with iPhone/iOS
$10 for 1 week of the Carista app (unfortunately they no longer offer $20 for unlimited use; it’s either $10/week or $40/year – ouch!)
About 10 minutes

As you can see it was far cheaper and faster than the $50 the dealer quoted me. I found instructions to do it for even cheaper with the $6 Engine Link app, but the Carista app worked just fine with my wifi ELM327 reader and didn’t require downloading a file off the internet and loading it onto my iPhone. Carista has instructions on their website, and initially I was unsure if they would work via wifi because they only say that they work with a bluetooth ELM327. But my wifi ELM327 worked just fine (bluetooth code readers are typically not compatible with iPhones, hence the wifi one). Now when I shift into reverse, it beeps just once and is silent. Ahhhhh, much better.

There are lots of other settings you can change on your Prius while you are at it. The “Customize” option on the Carista app leads to three categories with the following choices (I’m posting them here so you can see all the other cool things you can do with the app before you decide to buy it):

1) Doors / Windows / Remote

Blink turn signals when locking/unlocking with remote
Beep when locking/unlocking with remote
Volume of beep when locking/unlocking with remote
Warn (beep) when door can’t be locked because it’s still open
Panic function on remote
Re-lock doors automatically if you unlock, but don’t open a door
Re-lock doors automatically if you unlock, but don’t open a door within… (you can choose between several time intervals)
Unlock doors via remote – Driver’s door on 1st press, all on 2nd…
Unlock doors via physical key – Driver’s door on 1st press, all on 2nd…
Unlock doors via smart key (door handle button) – I changed this one to “All doors on 1st press”
Auto-lock doors when moving
Lock doors when shifting into gear
Unlock doors when shifting into park (P)
Unlock all doors when driver’s door is opened
After locking with smart key, don’t allow re-opening within… (you can choose between intervals of around 1 second +/-)
Smart key location in the car – front seats or anywhere in car
Open trunk via smart access button

2) Instruments / Display / Dings

Reverse-gear beep
Key-in-ignition ding sound
Seat belt warning ding (driver)
Seat belt warning ding (front passenger)
Remote low battery warning

3) Lights

Daytime running lights
Coming-home lights duration
Dim interior lights after… (time intervals)
Turn on interior lights when you shut off engine
Turn on interior lights when you unlock doors
Turn on interior lights when smart key in range
Interior footlight (bright when doors open, dim when driving)
Turn on interior door-handle & center console lights dimly (flood lights) when ignition is on and shifter is in park (P)
Interior light control

Heater & A/C