is there any kind of AC preventive maintaince?

If the gas pressure goes a little low, the compressor will attempt to make up for it by running harder. Eventually it is running its little heart out trying to keep up.

This leads to premature failure in the compressor, and that's expensive.

If you have the refrigerant gas and a couple of cheap seals replaced, that resets the clock.

The trick is that the car needs a very precise amount of refrigerant. It is impossible to hit this target with a store-bought "top-up" can. The only way to get the kind of precision you want is to empty out (recycle) the existing refrigerant, pull a vacuum on the system, and then introduce the new refrigerant while counting it off of a scale. Pro AC shops do this all day every day, it's no big deal to them.

When you book the service make sure you tell them it's a Prius- they'll need a few different tools, but in socal every shop has them.

In a more humid climate it is also good to put some attention on the evaporator system, but out west this is rarely a concern beyond verifying that the condensate drain hose is unobstructed and loading a clean cabin air filter.

A reflective sunshade used every single time you park makes a big difference. Yes they're a pain to fold, but you're burning gas to cool the car, and every bit counts.

 

Somethings the owner can do, to prevent mould build-up in the system:

1. Use AC only when really warranted, say longer drives on oppressively hot/humid days. Other times just roll the windows down.

2. Disable AC but leave the fan going, about a mile from your destination, give the humidity built up in the system time to evaporate off.

 

I couldn't be more pleased with the one I found. It's silvery fabric, shaped by a loop of spring wire in a hem around the edge.

To put it away, you grab two opposite edges with your hands and twist, and it folds itself into quarters. Like magic.

The one for a Prius-sized windshield is actually two of those, but you just slide 'em together and do the same twist, and boom, folded.

 

@ChapmanF

I'm a fan of the springy-silver generic two-panel type myself, I find that to be a lot easier to deploy & stow. Also when I stuff the stowed shades between the seat and the console, nothing else can fall down in there.

When we outfitted the Prius my wife beat me to the punch on this one and bought the style that is some sort of 1/4" thick sandwich flexy mylar-faced stuff with a remarkably precise footprint, even accounting for the TSS safety pod on the glass. Nice fabric hemmed edge. But it must be rolled up left-to-right for storage, not always easy to do while getting in/out.

Between the fit and the material... something about it works better, the Prius stays cooler than the other car.

 

Keep the condenser and the radiator clean, Vacuum all the debris from the windshield cowl regularly. Make sure the evaporator drain is free and not clogged. Make sure the cabin air filter is serviced regularly. Regularly turn on and cycle the air conditioner; even in the winter.

I would not add refrigerant, unless you have the scales and a clean set of hybrid segregated clean gauges and a vacuum pump to completely evacuate the system an recharge with the exact factory supplied amount of refrigerant.

 

Don’t smoke. That’s really bad for both car and home ac,

Use Koolit from Amazon it comes with the rubber hose to attach to the evap coil under the dash. Youshoot the cans foamy cleaner upthe hose it comes back out as liquid, keeps the evap and it’s hose clean. Car smells nice.

makesure the condenser in front of the rad is clean and fins not bent. They sell a metal comb to fix that on Amazon.

Most important is don’t cook the shit out of the interior all day, it’s really hard on the ac and really really hard on the hybrid battery. Ever left a thermometer onthe dash of the car?

Buy a Weathertech insulated custom fit shade for the windshield. Make a custom fitting shade for the rear window. It will extend the battery life,

Your car interior will be nice and cool when u get in it and the ac will not struggle to cool you off.

 

No, thirds. Quarters (or halves or any other even number of loops) won't work. The same principle applies to folding a bicycle tire. There's probably a mathematical proof out there somewhere.

Otherwise, I agree. I have a "silvery" pair, and a plain cloth pair, which are probably less effective, but easier to stow.