I'm finally part of the Prius family

i barely get 50 in winter after 6 years of driving pri. crank up your tire pressure to side wall max or close. keep the same front rear ratio. don't use the heat at all, dress warmly! definately get snows next year. search the threads for mileage help. :welcome: and, all the best!

 

Congrats and welcome.

I encourage you to read the maintenance section for our generation Prius. As I have just started to do so.

If you have service records for your Prius, hopefully you'll see a transmission oil change. If YES, you'll probably avoid my fate. If no service records available, assume poor maintenance, despite what they tell you and change the transmission fluid ASAP. Hopefully you'll avoid my predicatment of a transmission that has likely gone bad, pending a second diagnosis. (post: Its the tranny part 2: $4211)

Enjoy your Prius.

 

I bought my 08 Prius late Sept 2010. I'm still learning new things. I also haven't used all the devices. For example the connector inside the center console. Is that used to hook up a lap top?

As far as the mileage goes. Winter has dropped my mileage some. But, I figure every car mileage drops so I'm still ahead of the game. It's 11 degrees as I type this with 2 feet snow cover.

I've noticed running the heater does lower mileage. I've also noticed tire pressure is very important. When I checked my tires I had like 28 psi so I pumped them up to like 43. Now I'm thinking I over inflated so today I'm actually heading to the dealership for an oil change and I'll have them check my tires pressure.

I'm averaging around 40 mpg. I drive it easy and slow. In September I was getting 50-55 mpg.

I think the max is around 55 mpg - 60 mpg during the warmer weather seasons.

But, I'm so glad I bought this car. I've always wanted one but the cost, and the new technology had me wait a few years.

 

Welcome to the PC and to the 04 club. We love our car.

 

A 3 mile round trip to school is just not a great candidate for vastly improved MPG, the ICE will be running way too much. Couldn't you take the scenic route (grin) ?

 

As you say you have the base model, your car should not have foglights and your headlights have halogen bulbs. Check the owner's manual for the bulb number, then go to your discount auto parts store and buy a replacement. Probably cost $20 or so.

If your car has foglights, then your headlights are HID which will be more costly.

 

04 with 99,000 miles? keep your credit card at the ready!

 

i'm sure you'll be fine. but you have to realize, at 100K, little things are gonna happen. as for letting your car sit for a few days, if the battery is good, it will be fine. and you'll know if the battery is good when you go to start it. snow won't have any effect.

 

It will be fine except if the 12V battery is marginal and decides to die on you due to the cold weather and lack of use. I suggest that you park the car in such a way so that you can access the hatch area (for purposes of replacing the 12V battery) if need be. If that is not possible, the main relay/fuse box next to the inverter has a dedicated positive jumpstart terminal that you can use when jumpstarting the car.

You may want to find the battery in the right rear hatch area, and see if it has a Toyota Motor Sales USA label on the top. If yes, then you may want to remove the center battery bracket so that you can see the date code on the battery. If it is older than 4 years then you may want to replace it soon as a preventive measure, rather than wait for a failure.

If the battery does not have a TMS USA label then it probably is aftermarket. Again, find the date code and if the battery is 4+ years old then you may want to consider replacing it.

If your tires have < 6/32" tread then I recommend you buy new tires now, rather than drive with marginal tires in the snow. Prius does not have wonderful snow traction even with new tires, let alone if the tires are worn.

If you don't have service records for the car then you should assume that little maintenance was done by the prior owner, if you are lucky then engine oil and oil filter changes were done on schedule. I recommend that you look at the 90K and 100K mile service schedules, and plan to perform all of those activities. In addition, replace the transaxle fluid. Good luck.

 

Nice price! I just bought an '04 for much more than that. Watch this video if you want to feel better about Prius reliability: CTV British Columbia - Hybrids prove very reliable - CTV News