I've had the car for a couple of weeks now and lurked here picking up hints and resources. Some great information here. I got rid of my Gas Guzzler 2010 C63 AMG the same day I got the Prius. The new to me Prius is a 2010 Package III with 111,400 miles on it. It's been a California desert car (Hemet) and I'm the second owner. The history seems pretty good on the Toyota site and it has a clean carfax. Seems to have had it's first oil changes at Toyota and evidence of subsequent changes at a nondealer oil change place after that (valvoline window sticker). Toyota had also replaced a few headlight bulbs and a malfunctioning nav unit. Through some vendors mentioned in the forum I ordered a new under engine cover and intermediate piece to bumper cover, the proper coolant, engine and transaxle oil, spark plugs, filters, spare oil canister, an air lift tool and went to work: Changed the transaxle oil. Used a gear oil hand pump to fill it. Changed the ICE coolant. Filled using the AirLift tool. Changed the inverter coolant. Filled using the AirLift tool. Changed the oil earlier than indicated on the window sticker to get on a 10k schedule. Took oil sample to send to BlackStone Labs. Took a good chunk of the car apart and changed spark plugs. Condition looked good. Removed plastic covers from rims. (Still have no idea why Toyota puts these on top of aluminum rims.) Put on TRD center caps. Tires to 40PSI. Reset all trip and consumption records. Used Pela extractor to pull all fluid from brake reservoir then replenished. (Since bleeding is an involved and more than likely a dealer only exercise I went with replacing as much as was accessible without introducing air to the system.) My thinking is that since brake fluid is hydroscopic, a bulk of new 'dry' fluid will pull any moisture it can from the remaining fluid it comes into contact with. Things I had done with outside help: Tinted all the windows with ceramic based tint (much better heat rejection) Near limo tint on rear and back windows, lighter on front windows and a clear ceramic on the entire windshield. Dealer programmed a second fob for me, and turned off the multiple backup beep. Things pending for their arrival: Replacing the under cover and intermediate piece. Putting on a gearshift mounted phone holder. Tires are worn 3mm front 2mm rear so Michelin Energy Saver A/S are pending. Great info to be had here, thanks for all the resources!
congrats on your new prius and welcome to the forum! Sounds like you have done all you needed to do (and more)!
Yep, trying to start with as clean a slate as possible for a clean slate. Everything seems to be in good shape, and the Oil analysis will be telling.
Do the horn upgrade, link is in my signature below. Not my thread, but IMO, the single best upgrade to do ASAP. SCH-I535
Yep, in my lurking, I saw your mod posts. I'm thinking about it for round two. Probably do HID's and some HID foglights. LED interior lights and front turn signals too maybe.
Please, don't put HIDs in the reflector based foglights. The glare from the foglights with standard halogen bulbs are bad already. HIDs will be much more of a nuisance to other motorists. SCH-I535
Will probably go LED in the foglight housings. That way I can run them as DRL's. Lower amp draw and heat buildup.
Been there, done that. Results are less than satisfactory, especially for DRLs. LEDs simply aren't bright enough for use as DRLs, especially when used in bright, full sun. At least what you can buy as replacement bulbs in H11 size. I suggest you modify some 35w H8 halogen bulbs to fit your H11 foglights. Less current draw, less heat. Plenty bright enough for daytime visibility. The only reason I'm not still using my foglights with H8 halogen bulbs as DRLs is I found the very low foglight position on the Prius as less than ideal for DRL visibility. I went with low power highbeam DRLs instead. Highbeams are mounted higher up, highbeam reflectors are designed with wider reflectors and lenses, so wider angle of visibility. Edit: Here's a pic of how to modify H8 Bulbs to fit H11 mounting socket. SCH-I535
Even something like this? Super Bright LED Fog Light Bulbs such as 9005 9006 H3 H11 880, etc Wondering how bright they are in real world conditions.
Those might be bright enough, but they are expensive. Also, I'm sceptical about the design being able to dissipate enough heat away from the LEDs. Especially since you are planning on using them in the small enclosure of a foglight housing as opposed to a headlight projector. And you're going to use them during the day when ambient temperature is higher. Heat isn't good for LEDs, that's why commercial LED lighting has large, heavy heatsinks to dissipate the heat the LEDs generate. I'm thinking those LEDs will last no where near the life they claim. SCH-I535
If you're willing to spend that much for those LEDs, I'd recommend these instead: Amazon.com: Philips 12820WLEDX1 DayLight 4 High Powered Luxeon LED Daytime Running Light: Automotive SCH-I535
Welcome to PC! Talk about doing a 180 on car choice! I wonder if you take the record here on PC for swapping out of the highest MSRP car into a Prius?
