I am new to this site and just ordered 2006 Prius for January delivery. My question for owners/drivers of Prius is this: What is the ONE most important thing you would tell the prospective owner of a new Prius? Thanks!!
YMMV: your mileage may vary. it takes some time to get used to the car. but i bet you will really enjoy it right from day one welcome to the site, congrats on taking the 'plunge' and let us know when your new toy comes in!
galaxee is right on there! Welcome!! You didn't state your location - but if it's in a northern clime, the next thing I would add is the amber snowflake "warning light" is just showing the outdoor temperature - no need to panic!
Be patient, don't sweat the gas mileage until you hit 10k miles or so. I just had a 55.5mpg November. My first November (2 years ago) with the car I got 43.2mpg! The car takes a while to break in, the tires take a while to break in, and most importantly it takes a while for you, the driver, to truely 'feel' how to best/most efficiently drive the car.
In the beginning just drive it. After a week or two it is time to grow. Again I want Efusco to recreate his Stages of Prius Driving Mastery and pin it! Start off with the energy monitor and get familiar with the system and get feed back on your driving and how the car reacts. Check oil levels and consider increasing tire pressure. After that move to the consumption screen and refine your driving technique. When you meet the wall and are not improving it is time to go back to the energy monitor and embrace pulse and glide, dead banding. Beyond that there is the CAN View, Block Heater, Radiator screen and who knows what else.
Oh, and for goodness sake...no one here's going to check, you could have been at least EightInchPrius!!
WELCOME! Just keep coming back to this site. There is a world of information available from current owners who are more than willing to share. I lurked around Prius sites for nearly a year before getting my Prius and knew more about the car than the salesperson. Please do edit your profile to add your location, it can make a difference in the answers you get primarily because of temperature .
Read the manual....more than once. If you get Nav read the nav manual a lot, IN the car. Then do searches here for your nav questions. Some, myself included find it poorly written. There is a Lexus nav tutorial site to get you started, same screen, different button layout. You will need broadband. Halfway down the page. http://www.lexus.com/models/es/interior.html#dvd And if you REALLY have too much time on your hands, this will keep you busy! http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/prius-linkfarm.html As you can see by the previous comments you came to the right place. You're going to love the car. I'm on my second prius.
You will definately want to remove the aweful "reverse beep"- Boy that sure is annoying!! And yes- DON'T expect the stated 70 mpg!! I am lucky to get 50. Other than that- have fun exploring the Prius, it is amazing all the neat little things it has! My dealer knew NOTHING about the Prius- sad because it has been around for so long now- and sad for me because it was all a strange blurr to me... but I survived, and so will you- ENJOY
The day before you take delivery, ask the dealer, when they prep it, to inflate your tires to 40 lb. front/38 lb. rear. When you take delivery, check to see that they did it. Trust me. B) If you want to know why in the meantime---ask.
Rent a Prius for a day before you buy one. Some dealers have a daily rental for around $40. Comfort is an issue for some. My previous car was an Audi A6, which is very comfortable, roomy, and has 12-way power seats including lumbar back/forth and up/down. Also, the steering wheel tilts and telescopes. Prius has a four-way manual seat (back/forth, recline up/down). There is no lumbar adjustment. The steering wheel only has a small tilt adjustment. Before the Audi, I had an Acura Integra. The seat was four-way manual like Prius, but the lumbar and lateral support were better than the Prius's. Prius has a lot of great attributes that make the comfort shortcomings acceptable to me. Your mileage may vary.
