How do you shutdown?

Both methods works, assuming that you remember to come to a complete stop prior to executing either of them.

In practice, I never push park first. I'm lazy and there's no advantage. In fact, I've probably used the Park button only a dozen or so times in the 18 months I've owned my Prius.

I always set the parking brake - habit formed from living in a hilly city. Regardless of terrain, setting it is good practice.

 

I'm a creature of habit. I always press Park first, just like I would in a regular vehicle, and then power down. Usually when I pull in to the garage in the evening I set my radio station to what I like to listen to in the morning. I've usually listened to news or CDs on the way home, but want it on my morning station when I pull out in the morning. So, by placing the vehicle in park before powering down I don't have to hold my foot on the brake while adjusting the radio.

Anyway, keeping that routine going is good habit considering that I drive conventional autos often.

 

I power mine off first and then shift to park. Mine is an '02 and sometimes when I put it in park it insists on starting the ICE to do some housekeeping. By shutting it down first you force it to do this when you start the car the next time, which it does anyway so I feel this procedure saves a little bit of gas.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(leeskarha\";p=\"108826)</div>

Actually both are the same. If you watch the shift display when you power off you will see it shift into park and then turn off.

The about the only time I manually use park is at the drive-up ATM machine. That way I don't have to worry as much about holding the brake down while fumblind with ATM card, buttons, money, and receipt.

 

I was always taught to turn off the air conditioner before turning off my car, so that when the car was restarted it wouldn't "jolt" the A/C system. If you press Power without turning off the A/C, does the Prius turn off the A/C and turn it back on when you restart, or does it leave the A/C on (but with no power) and "jolt" it when you restart?

Or does it really matter?

 

MY AC likes to be jolted. :lol:

I'm not sure why anyone would say that. What's different between starting the AC using the battery initially, or 30 seconds later? I don't see any jolt difference, whatever that is.

And if you never use the AC, maybe it will never get jolted. OR, it might even be better to never start the car at all....

(sorry, I'm just teasing a bit - that struck me as funny) :wink:

Regards,
Kevin in Oh-hi-o <><<
http://KevinArnold.US/

 

i wonder if that applies to prius AC cause ours are all electric instead of belt-driven

 

It is good practice to at least shut AC ventilation down before shutting the car off. When using the power button, the car will automatically shift back to the park position. If not parked on a steep grade or driveway, you do not need to use the parking brake, but you can if you want to.

I was always told it was harmfull to the AC to leaving on when shutting down and starting back up. In this car the AC is all electric, so this is different, but like anything else, I like to gradually add "load" to an electrical system, and not just jolt everything off and then back up when starting the car.

 

I was taught the same thing, but not to protect the A/C. The logic was that leaving the compressor engaged would put an increased load on the engine immediately at startup. Since we all know startup is one of the worst times for an engine, giving it a lighter load was thought to be best.

This applies to "standard" configurations where the A/C compressor is belt-driven off the engine. The 2004+ Prius A/C has its own electric motor and is isolated from the mechanics of the hybrid drive. Having it on immediately might be an increase in power draw from the HV system, but that should be compensated easily by a high SOC or the starting of the ICE to recharge.

In the 2004+ Prius, I wouldn't worry about it. As with any good control system, there's probably a sufficient automatic delay between HV engage and actual use of the A/C compressor.

 

1. I do not press Park before pressing Power- in this car there's no need to do so.
2. I use the emergency brake only when the car is on a medium to steep incline.
3. I don't worry about the air conditioner; there's a delay built in. Also, there's no jolt, ever.

 

I agree with wrprice. Its load on startup and wouldn't be an issue with the Prius. Frankly, I'm not sure its an issue anymore with cars that have climate control. The ones I've had don't kick in until after the car is started.

And, I press park.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius\";p=\"109305)</div>

This would only be effective at drying the evaporator coils before shutting down if the fan was run long enough to actually dry out the evaporator coils, which means you turn off the A/C but leave the vent fan running until it is blowing uncooled outside air. Keep in mind that until the coils are dried, you'll be blowing uncooled, further humidified outside air...

I like to turn off the A/C compressor a few minutes before shutdown, but for different reasons (I'm not one for discomfort, and when the humidity is high enough, it could take hours to dry off the accumulated moisture). The first is to save gas (suck out the last of the coolness in the evaporator rather than let it sit in the car and rot). The second (and more useful one) is to give the A/C time to drain the accumulated moisture from the trip so I don't have a puddle of water creating a mildew/mold/moisture problem in my garage. As always, YMMV.

Vince

 

I hit power and the emergency brake--sometimes at the same time. The only time I hit park is if I am waiting in the car with the power on--then I also hit the emergency brake. I notice that whenever I pick the car up at the dealer's after service they have the emergency brake on. Of course, I am usually waiting for the car so when they bring it to me it is on but in park.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius\";p=\"109305)</div>

The use of Park and switching from A/C to just vent/fan is my practice. I usually do the A/C switch (Fan on HIGH, A/C OFF, Recirc OFF) as I'm driving into my housing complex. This allows the fan to push a fair amount of air through the pipes/filter before I Power Off.

BTW, most of the time I also depend on Park to stabilize the car. I only use the Parking Brake when the incline is more than a small amount.

 

I set the parking brake and hit the Park button before powering off. I do this because I usually do one or more of the following between the time I stop and shut the engine off:

a) At the end of most longer trips, I reset the 'B' odometer to 0.
B) I may change the radio to a prefered station for the time when I anticipate starting the car.
c) I may preset my next destination on the Nav system
d) In many parking lots, I check my relationship to the separation lines. To do this, I must lower the window, so I need to shut it before leaving.
e) If it is the end of the day, I preset the climate system for morning coditions which may be 20 or 30 degrees cooler than the stopping conditions.

I hardly ever need to do all of these, but, with regard to the powering down procedure, it is easier to follow one course habitually, even if all the steps are not strictly necessary.

 

Thanks for the tip! As a new Prius owner, didn't realize I could just shut down. Now, I probably use the power button if I'm ready to get out right when I park, use Park if I need to collect a few things before shutting down. Need to have that A/C running - it's hot here 8)

Cheers,
Jeff

 

Jeff, make sure that all of the dash lights are out after pushing the power button. I have found that if the speedometer has not reached zero (even though the car is stopped) you will not power off on the first push of the button. Sometimes it takes a second push.