First thing you should do is....

Take it for a drive!

Tom

 

+1 with Tom - Drive it in lots of conditions and situations! It's fun!

There's a great thread in the Care and Maintenace Forum about favored detailing products: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...ing/62907-my-favorite-detailing-products.html

:welcome:

 

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers" - Shakespeare, Henry VI

 

Check the tire pressures, most of us keep our tires at higher pressures than those suggested by Toyota.

Wax it and use some 303 Protectant (or similar product) on the plastic parts.

If you are going to use a clearshield/clear bra type protection film get it done right away, before you get any little chips.

If you haven't done so already, and you want to, have the reverse beep changed to one beep and/or the seatbelt beeper turned off. Get the dealer to do it right away or they will probably try to charge you for it. There is a long topic about sleazy dealers who want to charge for this pre-delivery service item.

Don't know about fabric protector, I never used it on my Gen2 and it survived just fine dog and all, seems easy to clean. My Gen3 has leather/vinyl and I haven't done anything with that yet except use it.

Most of all go drive your new car and enjoy it. :rockon:

 

Find a place where we all can purchase mud guards from.

Other than that, drive baby drive.

 

I'm in the "Drive It!" camp, though I know you were looking for some other advice.

My next suggestion also has been mentioned before: Set the air pressure in your tires to a level above the Toyota recommended pressures. You don't have to go very high to see improvement in MPGs, and you also should save wear and tear on your tires!

When you add air to the tires, make certain you then reset the TPMS. Follow the instructions in your manual -- remember to do both while you have "cold" tires.

 

How much higher do you recommend a priori?

 

Good question (thanks for pointing out the miss on my part!).

I have a Prius V with different tires, so my levels don't work on the OEM tires for the other models. However, my previous Prius (2007) had OEM tires with the same max sidewall pressure (cold) of 44psi.

I experimented with many pressure settings, and found that the 42/40 worked very well. Later, I upped the pressure to 44/42 (meaning 44 front and 42 back). I even went higher for some time, but decided against it and backed down to 44/42. Yes, I noticed an increase in MPGs going from 42/40 up to 44/42, and I didn't feel the ride was rougher.

I did find that the handling improved by moving the tire pressure up. I also felt that handling in snow and slush was improved with higher pressure.

My recommendation: I'd start at 42/40 (assuming the recommended difference for your model remains at 2psi) and then decrease the pressure it the ride seems to harsh for comfort. After that, adjust the pressure to the point where handling and comfort are a match for your MPG "happy point."

 

First thing I did was go to sams club and buy better all weather floormats.

 

Tlthompson, On the day I pick-up my Prius, I drove my car home, read the manuals, then I sat in the car, in the driveway, with the manuals trying our the settings and buttons to change function, turn on & off the climate controls, using the on-board phone functions, the steering wheel controls, and stepping through all the screen displays. My objective was to become familiar with the controls and functions so when I was on the road, I would be less of a hazard because I was too distracted trying to figure out which button to push at 45MPH or more. --TK

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that the engineers at Toyota are certainly smarter than me, and maybe even most of us here on PC. So I'm wondering why they don't recommend the higher tire pressures? Is there a safety concern? (I suspect this issue has been long debated, but it might be worth revisiting given that the OP is an admitted newbie.) Anybody got any Prius-Insight (pun intended)?

 

I think it's always been lower for better ride quality. This doesn't apply just to Toyota or this car, but all cars.

 

Since I have been driving (1970) I have had 10 new cars. After I read the owners manual, the first thing I do is to change a tire. It is important to know how to do this since you never know where you will be when you get a flat. I've had to change a flat once on RT.78 in NJ on the shoulder of the road at night in pitch black darkness. There was no cell phone signal to call for help.

 

Yes, this issue has been discussed over and over and over again -- just on PriusChat!

I am not going to debate the question of which of us could possibly be smarter than the Toyota engineers, but I'll submit I do not know a small fraction of what they do in terms of the workings of the Prius. What I DO know is that the lower pressure makes the tires softer and allows them to absorb a bit more of the rough road. I do not believe the tires are any safer at those lower pressures. Also, I DO know that higher tire pressures will significantly improve fuel economy and tire wear. I am also certain there is a diminishing return as the pressure increases, but I am not going to take my own tires above the max sidewall pressure. (Many others on PriusChat do so, but not one of them will recommend it publicly.)

For those looking for the emprical data, please run a search on this site (or on Google, generally).

 

Here is my opinion about the low recommended pressures:

We know increasing tire pressure contributes greatly to better fuel economy. Why don't the Toyota engineers care about fuel economy? They do to a very great extent, that's why we are using 0W20 oil and why we have plastic hub caps on alloy wheels for a very slightly better CD. But those engineers know that higher tire pressure won't help them with their EPA mileage estimates at all because the cars are tested on a dynamometer and the weight and CD are factored in, apparently the equation doesn't require an input for tire pressure.

So the recommended pressures are designed to give a soft ride so Aunt Ethyl's hemorrhoids won't be insulted. That may not be exactly right but I bet it is pretty close.

 

On the first tank:

• On the way home, ran "mph vs MPG" speed runs.
• Two days later, I ran "hill climb tests" to measure fuel consumption at different speeds.
• That day I also ran some low-speed, 19 and 25 mph, "mph vs MPG" tests.
• Over the next week, I put a spare gallon container in the back and ran it out of gas noting: (1) flash, and (2) what happens when it finally stops. (Please do not do this without reading the results!)

Over the next few tanks, I re-ran the hill climb tests and ran the tank dry two more times. (Again, do not do this without reading the results. It is not a recommended practice unless you are prepared to deal with the consequences.)

I continue to commute in my 2003 Prius and use the 2010 when I get home to 'run errands.' Compared to the 2003 Prius, the 2010 is super but as you can tell from my signature, the 2003 still has a lot of miles left in it and I want to get every one of them. <grins>

Bob Wilson

 

My first thoughts were to just concentrate on driving the car and developing better depth perception for parking. This is the 1st automatic I've had and I've been driving a lot of years. I'm still on my first tank of gas in the Prius_I have about 345 miles on the car as of today and have almost exclusively used 'POWER' mode so far_mostly highway miles_and up to 70 or so mph. I'm averaging over 47 mpg which astounds me. With a little more thoughtful driving I can only imagine how much better I'll do.

Accessory suggestions:

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-accessories-modifications/66244-console-pads.html

and ...perhaps a Rear Bumper Protector, Black. I just purchased one on e-Bay from ClearwaterToyotaParts.

I would also be interested in knowing what anyone is using for cleaning the interior; dash, console, etc. I haven't seen that listed as of yet.

Thanks for any info, too.

P.S. Congrats on your new Prius!

 

I am no expert when it comes to detailing products but I was introduced to a product by another PC member who is. He suggested 303 Aerospace Protectant for all the plastic stuff inside and outside. It protects the plastic from UV and it isn't as shiny or slick to the touch as a lot of other products.

Available at Ace Hardware and a lot of other stores, comes in a 16 oz spray bottle for about $17. You can also use it on leather, vinyl, tires, or most anything else you want to protect.