DH bought a used Prius from a private party. I haven't even driven it yet. I found the ten things all newbies should know, read them and printed them out for DH. Although I know my way around the Subaru Outback forum I am not sure how this one works, so sorry if this is not the place to introduce myself. The car is a 2011 Prius III and it cost $22,000. That does not include sales tax, registration, or transfer fee of lifetime warranty. The ink is barely dry on the checks and the title is in the mail. I look forward to learning what we can about the car so we can maximize our enjoyment and protect our investment.
Welcome to PriusChat! The good news is that you "Just drive it", there is nothing you HAVE to know. Here is a short user gide with hints for a new owner. John's Stuff - Toyota Prius User-Guide I hope you enjoy your Prius as much as I enjoy mine!
Ok, don't you think it's been enough time already and I should get a turn to drive it? DH really loves this car.
I finally got to drive it! DH let me take it to the DMV to get it registered and the title transferred. It looks nice inside and out. The seat is comfortable and the AC is great. The stereo rocks. It isn't the best handling car and the ride is stiff. Is it my imagination or do people like to pull out in front of you when you are in a Prius? This seems to be the perfect car for DH and I think I'll get used to it the more I drive it. The confused girl at the DMV told me it had to have a smog test. Good thing we are AAA members, because their DMV service person knew better and I didn't have to wait over an hour to talk to a human.
Welcome to Prius koolaid drinkers !! You will LOVE getting 50mpg. Yes - lots of threads about folks pulling out in front of you. It may just be the impression/feel though - kind of like dropping your jelly toast and thinking it always falls face down. .
I drove it Friday night and got in a road rage incident. I wasn't driving fast enough for a redneck in a large pickup in a very red county. This morning DH hit a pedestrian that didn't hear him coming. Starting to not like this car.
The guy was on a bike so I guess I shouldn't have described him as a pedestrian. DH tracked him down to see if he was ok. He said he was fine and really didn't want to give his name or call the police so we think he was holding either drugs or stolen property or a gun and maybe on parole. The damage to his bike and the car is minor. Very lucky on all accounts.
I want to hear more about these "train horns". I do not like the road-runner 'beep beep' of Toyotas!! Dianer, I'm sorry to read of your pedestrian incident, that must be a little devastating to say the least. Also, people in general drive like a*sholes pretty much everywhere, it's probably not just because you're in a Prius. Although....as I contemplate actually being a Prius owner, this makes me wonder about the lack of acceleration.
It's not a Z-28 but I think acceleration is acceptable when necessary. You need to push the pedal down with authority and you'll find that keeping up with or at least keeping out of the way of your followers isn't really an issue. Common sense goes a long way in avoiding confrontations but there's always that nitwit that seems to bring out the best in all of us
There's a voice in my head telling me that I'm getting older and it's natural to slow down. NOOOOOO!!!! I'm not a crazy driver by any means, but I like knowing that if I need power to get out of the way of that semi that apparently doesn't see me, it's there!! So do you floor it? Most freeway on-ramps are plenty long for picking up speed unless you're behind a 'pokey little puppy' (name of child's book). It would be the uphill ramps (very few in Florida ) that I'm wondering about. The dealership we were at today said we could do a '24 hour' test drive. We might just take them up on that offer!
You might try driving in the power mode until you are really familiar with the car, the throttle mapping will be more like a Subaru (We have both). In that mode you'll have enough "power" to stay our of most rednecks way, but some will hate you for driving a Prius anyway.
FIAMM 72112 Freeway Blaster Horn : Amazon.com : Automotive The Prius has a 10 Amp horn fuse, you should be able to replace your stock horn, or ideally, add this in addition to your stock horn.
Since he struck the bicycle while starting from a stop as the light turned green, the slow acceleration of the car as well as his driving habit, was probably a good thing in this instance. We have a lot of road rage here bordering on the insane. Saturday night a pickup followed a woman home not far from here, tore up her lawn and left before the sheriff got there. I think it's meth. It seems to make the driver forget where they were in such a hurry to get to, and focus on the bumper in front of them obsessively. I like the horn idea, but I think I'll put it on our Corolla first, just to see if I like it. ( I am working on a 96 Corolla that will become my daughter's first car).
