Hello All: Finally able to log-in after several attempts as my first attempt to creat an account did not go thru during the server transition last week. I am a proud new owner of a Gen II, 2006 Prius. Eversince the switch I've been kicking myself for not doing it sooner. So far my avg mpg has been hovering btwn 48.9 to 50.3 based on last 3 tanks. My road of discovery has been an interesting one, as I have been a truck user for the most of my adult life. However, I was suddenly transferred from IE to Torrance after over 10 yrs on my job & consequently MPG becomes a major concern. Luckly a co-worker's husband is a certfied Toyota technician who just happened to spot a trade-in at his work, soon after my transfer. Needless to say, I jumped on the opportunity. I was very fortunate, the vehicle has been dealer serviced w/ all records & all TSB, SSC etc are all done. Best of all, previous owner just performed a 60k svc & bought a new set of tires few weeks prior to trading it in but an unexpected "check engine" light scared him enough to ditch the car for a Gen III. That check engine light turned out to be a faulty catalytic converter which was covered under the hybrid component's 8 yrs/140k warranty. As a result, I got a very fair deal on a Prius that doesn't need any additional work, which is a major plus when one buys a used car. I am very impressed with the depth of knowledge & amount of technical information available here. Thus far I've learned to track my 12v battery voltage & learned how to change transaxle fluid, inverter coolant etc. I look forward to keep on learning from you all. Best regards, Hybridkarpower
I hope your Prius treats you as well as mine treats me. We here at PriusChat will be hard pressed to treat you as well as the car does.
Yes, and I just found out that GenII are quieter than Gen III Prius. According to my Toyota Tech, there is actually a sound amplier speaker built into the front end of Gen III Prius. Supposedly Toyota got into some sort of legal issue in the past from Gen II being "too quiet " for pedestrians, consequently they intentionally made the car a little louder so it could be heard from certain distance away.
It's a noisemaker that sounds sort of futuristic, sci-fi-ish, flying-saucerish. Just something so that pedestrians can hear it. I've had both Gen II and Gen III. Do be careful in parking lots and such. It is really very quiet and people don't always hear it coming. Watch out for people yakking on cell phones, etc., that might not know you're there. Enjoy your new (to you) Prius!
I had already learned a new meaning for the word "silentpropulsion", sometimes I get behind bicyclists & noticed that they'll move to the side for everyone else but not for me. To make matter worse it's so aerodynamically efficicent to a point that wind noise from a Prius is practically inaudible if you are on a bicycle.
FYI, it isn't just Toyota, but simply any Electric vehicle was susceptible to the issue. I used to work at UCSB, and they have electric cart vehicles. It was mentioned to me that the pain in driving one of them on campus is the fact that students don't hear it, so you have to be double careful driving them for that reason.
Now if they can come out with a Prius noisemaker that sounds just like the whirring-purring sound of the cars at the movie Transformers, that would be awesome!!
I am brand new here. I bought a 2004 Prius 2 months ago. I love it, so far! It actually has 275,000 miles on it. I know - almost everyone said I was crazy to even think of buying a car with that high of mileage, but it was totally gone over, , cute, runs well, gets me 42 - 47 mpg and I paid 7,ooo bucks, which was all I wanted. I have totally blinged it up and "made it mine". My kids were kind of embarrassed, like "OMG - Mom is pimping her ride!" I think it's adorable, and my husband will be less tempted to steal it with Hawaiian flowers and such. I'll post pics as soon as I figure out how to do that if anyone is interested. I have learned so much useful info just from reading a few posts on this sight!
Tell the kids Mom is thinking about "lowering" the Prius & add an Escalade grill to it. That'll be some serious pimping