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New 2013 Owner in Chicago

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by phillyb hates me!, Jan 2, 2024.

  1. phillyb hates me!

    phillyb hates me! New Member

    Joined:
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    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Took delivery of a 2013 Prius Four with 132k on the clock last week. I've been reading a ton and have learned a bunch of things already, starting to answer some of my questions (what are some common mods? will lowering the car drop my MPG? how can i increase MPG? why don't I get good mileage putzing around town during my 1-2 mile drives?). This place comes up as the first hit for all of those queries in google, so I decided to make an account.

    I found a YT video to help me "fix" my loose rear view mirror. I wouldn't mind eventually doing some interior upgrades to make it feel a bit more comfortable, but I'm super pleased with the car, overall.

    Haven't really taken many pics of it and it's just a stock Prius, but obligatory n00b-thread-pic

    [​IMG]

    Went to a friend's house for NYE the other night and got almost 50mpg.

    [​IMG]
     
    #1 phillyb hates me!, Jan 2, 2024
    bisco likes this.
  2. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

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    Congrats and welcome! That looks to be in such good condition!

    Check your tire pressures (esp. at this time of year). As air temperatures lower, your tire pressure will lower too (rough rule of thumb is a change of 1 PSI for every change of 9°F).

    Short trips will hurt mpg. That's why your 1-2 mile trips have terrible mpg but your trip to your friend's house that is at least 15 minutes will get better mpg. An engine block heater (EBH) can help with cold weather starts and help reduce the mpg hit. Tire choices will also affect mpg. A grippier tyre will increase handling but reduce mpg. A low rolling resistance tyre will increase mpg (and tyre life) but at the expense of handling.
     
    #2 Tideland Prius, Jan 3, 2024
    phillyb hates me! likes this.
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    Welcome!
    Consider an egr cleaning
     
    #3 bisco, Jan 3, 2024
    phillyb hates me!, Tideland Prius and Mendel Leisk like this.
  4. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    If interested in mpg, especially in colder weather, pay closer attention to the engines warm-up cycle. It may be well know and if it is that is why it's not talked about much any longer. The warm-up cycle is when Prii get the worst mpg. And anything you can do to increase mpg while the engine is warming up ( in any temp ) will help get better mpg results.

    And if you have a way to monitor engine coolant temps, you'll be able to figure out what speed is the best for your car to finish the warm-up cycle with the best mpg results.

    welcome to priuschat :barefoot:
     
    #4 vvillovv, Jan 3, 2024
    phillyb hates me! and Tideland Prius like this.
  5. phillyb hates me!

    phillyb hates me! New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Thanks for the welcome everyone.

    I keep going between, "did I get a good deal?" and "yeah, this thing is pretty clean for what it is."
    Tires def look a bit low, but I'll grab my gauge and check against whatever the tires say, thanks. And thanks for the tire info.

    Watched a video on that as well, thanks.

    How does one monitor engine coolant? Are these some aftermarket OBDii realtime readers? Can it be displayed on the HU/NAV screen? Thanks for the welcome!
     
    #5 phillyb hates me!, Jan 3, 2024
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  6. phillyb hates me!

    phillyb hates me! New Member

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    I think I should also note that I got the car primarily because my drive from home to school is about 8.5 miles one way; I didn't get it for driving to and fro the post office a mile away, so I'm not too concerned with cold-ICE-MPG, per se.

    Something I really want to familiarize myself with are my Carplay options. I want to maintain steering wheel controls, maintain backup camera, I want to maintain all of the OEM stats available to me through the head unit, but I want my phone's maps. I'll read and read and read on that.
     
    #6 phillyb hates me!, Jan 4, 2024
  7. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    Car Play was introduced to Prius around 2021 - or was that first one android auto? It didn't work all that well initially from what I've read here at priuschat, and car play came out with Gen 5 and both android auto can car play are getting decent reviews from owners.

    And the three big apps that run off of an odb11 bluetooth (wifi) adapter are, DrPrius, Hybrid Assistant and Car Scanner. Each different app has it strong and weak points. Car Scanner shows engine coolant temps and about 100 other sensors in the Prius Prime. Hybrid Assistant is an all around great app too. DrPrius was built for tracking the hybrid traction pack health, and also includes reading and clearing many of the Prius fault codes. The web pages for each of the apps shows which OBD11 adapters work best with the app, bujt keep in mind if you go that route that all three recommendation pages are a few years old and there are newer and better adapters available, and prices range from the panlong to the ODBLink MX+
    Torque is another app that even has a forum where a lot of members share custom sensor codes to program into the app, if you need to see a specific sensor.
    Hope that description wasn't too boring, since you're not that worried about mpg or cold weather issues. ;)

    In each Prius Gen forum 1 2 3 and 4 in sub forums, Prius Audio, Electronics and Infotainment , there are owner posts about adding both Android Auto and Car Play head units in place of the OEM units, which is how owners typically added those features.
     
    #7 vvillovv, Jan 4, 2024
    Last edited: Jan 4, 2024
  8. Doug McC

    Doug McC Senior Member

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    Check out the Car Care Nut on YouTube and see if you’re close enough to him.
     
    #8 Doug McC, Jan 6, 2024
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    For EGR see first two links in my signature; on a phone turn to landscape to see signature.

    With 132k, it’s time!
     
    #9 Mendel Leisk, Jan 6, 2024
  10. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    I just noticed this carplay thread today
    Carlinkit 3.0 Mini CarPlay Wireless Adapter | PriusChat
     
    #10 vvillovv, Jan 8, 2024
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