It's Been a Long Time/ What I've Learned

Greetings, I don't think I've been here for 3 or so years. I have a 2011 Prius and hung with you guys in the beginning to learn. I just passed 40,000 new tires (lost wife and curb) but they were about due, well, come the Spring.

So what do I have to offer, what have I learned. Well it did take awhile to really break in, probably did not start hitting that 50 mpg (without trying) until 20,000 after that it was a regular thing. Mind you I got less on those 2,000 mile highway drives where I tended to run more around 76 mph but I can't complain about 44-46 mpg at "normal" speed, hell in Texas if you are not running 80 you are not even close. We drove to South Padre Island at least 3 times. Now I run with a "real" monitor, plugs into the diagnostics port, a Scan Gauge. You can turn off the damn back-up beep with it. I turned off all the dash/trash after a couple years, the Scan Gauge is much nicer and a prefer a little less going on light wise on the dash. Mpg's for every trip, mpg's (actual) all the time, engine temp, RPM and other choices, I like it a lot.

Biggest lesson, beware Dealer Sales Associates. Go to Edmunds Car Review, they have a great section called "Confessions"! Confessions of a Car Salesman, Confessions of a Sales Associate and so on. Now, I always had a good relationship with my car dealer, fancy place, a little Cafe with free food and drinks (coffee, soda, grilled cheese) WiFi and I just never had a problem. Did what needed to be done, got me in on short notice, nothing unusual and I went every 5,000 miles. Then I come in for my 40,000 mile service. I'm no mechanic so I always just went with the program. Suddenly, I'm told the 40,000 mile is a BIG one, engine flush, special cleaner for fuel injectors, special alignment and so on. I didn't know, I said go ahead, so some $700 later I'm wondering Wth. It was all BS none of that stuff was required, I started looking things up and I was just plain "Sold" stuff for a profit, seems service techs work on sales commissions and I was chumped. I complained all the way up the chain by the time I got to the National Headquarters they were nice but said "what do you want us to do"? (which sounded a lot like "who cares") I told them don't let your Dealers rip-off someone who might want to buy a car from you again. Two hours later I get an email from the Dealer's Service Manager. He does admit almost none of the work was required but it was all for my good and highly recommended, I don't know by who. It went back and forth a bit and in the end he asked me how much of a discount I felt was fair. I still felt cheated but those "extras" didn't hurt (I change oil every 5,000) so a cooling system flush couldn't hurt, I said give me $200 back which they did. He told me they wanted to keep a good customer like me, well time will tell I'm still a little pissed.

Last week I needed the tires (whole wife thing) so I'm searching the net, very few places have the few tires that are recommended for the Prius. Again, Wth you can't pull up to a stop light and not see two or three other Prius's so whats the deal? Called Costco, turns out they have the exact Bridgestone recommended. Get there an hour later, "oh we don't carry that one"? I don't have time for them to order I'm there now and they have another model that "just as good" Ecopia EP422+ Grand Touring A/S (on sale too) which is good because it cost more but it's $70 off for a set. Okay, do it..........

Week one 36 mpg, again Wth. I note, tire pressure at 35/33 ? I look at the door for what Toyota says 35/33 again Wth I have always run 42/40 I thought that's was right, I thought Toyota recommended it, nope. Read up (you guys) and run the pressure up to 46/44 back to 50 mpg and these have better tread, (70,000 mile) and are suppose to be better in snow and rain. So even if I only get 50,000 or 60,000 it's still more than the stock tires.

So there are a few more details to the last 4 or 5 years but this is enough for now. Still like the Prius, a great running car that holds a lot of stuff and is comfortable. No, it's not like my old BMW 2002 or even my Honda Civic as far as hot handling, then again I ride a Ducati. I am bit shy of the Dealer and learned to be a more "informed" consumer. I can not understand why I can't say tires for a Prius and get the right ones without people acting like I'm driving a Citroen, the Prius is NOT like a rare car. So how are you guys doing over here at the Chat? Maybe I should hang out more .........

 

Well, I know that oil change at 5,000 miles is much more than required. It gives me a warm fuzzy feel, not a big expense and I was raised to believe oil is the "life-blood" of an engine, so yes you are right but I change all my oil at half the dealer recommendation. I don't do that on anything else, clean oil, clean filter to me equals a clean engine and I usually keep a car 10+ years and in 30+ years have never had a major engine failure.

Now I know also I can go online, my point really is there are more than a few of these cars out there. When I was a kid my father drove a Peugeot (403 as I recall) sure we had to wait for parts, there we probably less than 500 in Missouri. However, if I want tires for one of the most popular cars on the road, it seems that it should be easy. One should not have to be a gear-head, this is a soccer mom car too. Many, if not most Prius owners are just plain old drivers, it's a car, it gets good mileage, it's dependable. I don't try to squeeze every mile I can out of a gallon of gas. I expect "excellent" mileage that's why I bought it.

 

I think I made that point, I did go to Costco;

Called Costco, turns out they have the exact Bridgestone recommended. Get there an hour later, "oh we don't carry that one"? I don't have time for them to order I'm there now and they have another model that "just as good" Ecopia EP422+ Grand Touring A/S (on sale too) which is good because it cost more but it's $70 off for a set. Okay, do it..........

The tires turned out to be good and a good deal all things considered. However, when I went to "look up" Prius tires on the net it was a bit more confusing and difficult than I thought it should be. Then again, I'm not too bright. I'm happy with the tire, once I upped the pressure from what "Toyota" recommends to seemingly what Prius owners run (way is that?)

Toyota (on my door) says something like 34/32 psi, which is exactly what Costco put in, I was getting 36 mpg? I added about 10 pounds more, well actually 46/44 and suddenly I'm back to 51 mpg's which is good, very good as far as I'm concerned.

 

Well the logic for a 2 pound extra pressure in the front is because they support more weight, the engine and all. Perhaps because I read it here I just added more pressure to the tires. I thought that's just the way they were supposed to be. I ran them at 42/40 and after about 20,000 miles (long time) I started getting 50 mpg's easy.. I was surprised that Toyota recommends a lower pressure, there is no way they are getting 48 mpg's at 33/31 from what I see.

First I went up to 42/40 honest the tires still felt mushy and I was getting about 44 mpg's. The I went up to the current 48/46 seems like they feel fine, don't really notice any noise and I'm at a solid 50 mpg's without much effort. on my part.

I really like my Scan Gauge, I run it for 4 things, there are many options actual fuel consumption as per mpg's from when you turn the car on, resting when the car goes off. I use another slot for average mpg's for that trip, that is only between on and off. I then have engine temp and RPM. Again it does more, like I said plugs into your cars diognostic plug, you can do different things, like turning off the damn back up beep. I keep nine mounted on the steering colum. The dash trash IMO is too much light for night time highway and my GPS gives me the "real" MPH as almost all cares give you 2 mph grace.

I wa strongly thinking of getting the last of the 2015 as it was a very good deal and I like the back-up camera, however, after all the work I was conned into I'll keep this one, it's be pretty trouble free to boot.

The gas gauge is not (on mine) even close. When I get that "Flashing" you need gas warning and I fill it up it's never more than 8 or nine gallons and the tank is like 12. However, I could be wrong, I did hear the fuel pump is in the gas tank so not running till empty is a help and if you are on a lonely stretch of highway when you are says empty you probably have a 150 miles worth of gas left. Pun intended, your milage may very. My major upgrades have been real fog/driving lights god for light rain visability and lighting things up close to the car, handy in fog. My San Gauge and a small sub-woofer that fits under the passenger seat. Really help the music system for not much money.. Oh yes Weather Tech floor mats, keeps the rug and the mats clean and dry.

Except foe that one bad experience with being over sold unneeded service, seemingly the Service Department treated my fair, I was never before given such a list and like many Prius owners, we are just regular car drivers, looking for a dependable, versitle car and the Prius is one of them. Most of us are not gear-heads. Yes the first few years I taped up the front to bring the engine to "heat" and save a few extra miles in the cold, I just found i's not worth it for me.

I don't drive to squeeze every mile I could, I drive what I feel is comfortable and I'm usually ahead of traffic. Other than tires and the standard oil it has been running just fine. My wife has a Miata, she often takes the much more practeicle Prius. We also have to move around sme very aged relatives from time to time and again, the Prius works well.

Some folks around here are a bit snippy and:"too" anal when it comes to their beloved Prius, it's a car. No there are no hatch back release and you kind of have to slam it shut. I'll hang for awhile, just wanted to p date ou all on my last five years and I have enjoyed the car, another 10 years seems very possible.

Glad someone liked what I had to say, these have been some of my experiences, I'm not a tree hugger but don't want or need a big old Texas truck, 95% I'm alone. I will have to look into setting up this tire pressure sensor to more suit my inflation standards. God luck, keep that shiny side up and you should be okay.

 

I was always told it because the front is heavier, engine and all. As far as the gas gauge, it's not even close on my car. When the little empty light starts flashing a fill-up is less than 9 gallons, I think the tank is like 12+ so seems one has plenty to spare. On the other hand, if I'm not wrong, I think the fuel pump is actually in the tank, so the gas keeps it cool and lubed. It's my understanding it's better to run with more rather than less gas. Unless I'm really going places, I fill it at about an indicated quarter of a tank, at today's prices that's like $10 or less. I did feel more smug when gas was $4 but paying $10 beats that smugness by a mile, well more than a few.

As far as tire pressure, the 42/40 seems to be standard and I ran that for 5 years. After reading other's comments and it did seem like this new set felt a bit mushy I went up to 48/46 psi seems comfortable, good handling and not noisy. My stock tires had a short life rated at about 40,000 and that is what I got. These new ones are rated at 70,000 so even if I get 60,000 it's still not a bad deal.

Ended up getting them a Costco ( free rotations every 6,000 miles) the Bridgestone have at $70 off for a set of 4, cost was just over $400 out the door.

 

Two points, one an inside rear hatch release would be a very GOOD idea. It's not a big deal, it's handy and seemingly most cars have one.

Second point, bwilson, sorry I don't have that much time nor do I care to calculate my gas. In the city, no big deal, when it gets to where it says "fill me" I know it's only 8 gallons or so. I fill it in a day or two knowing I really have another 100+ miles easy. Same on road trips. I start to "think" about a fill up at about 400 to 500 miles, depends on price, food and my bladder ........... Point really is that Toyota "could" have a more accurate fuel gauge and Toyota could put in a rear hatch release, again not a deal breaker either way but IMO both would be nice.