I recommend joining the Toyotas Owner site. You register your Prius, then you can see the service history, get service deals, and you can download any owners manual ever created by Toyota for your vehicle: Toyota Owners Official Web Site: Service Coupons, Owner's Manuals, Service Scheduling And More As far as the noise goes when you slow down to a stop, YUP, definitely normal. Its the electric motors becoming generators and making that "whrring whining" electric noise. Of course, my 2012 has the outside pedestrian alert speaker in the grille that sounds like a spaceship any time Im driving in EV mode under 15mph. The first time I heard it, I was like...wth?!? lol. Also, reference this thread for grille blocking, which you should also be doing. It will help keep the Prius from fighting to stay warm all of the time by running the engine, and thus lowering your winter mpg's. All the cool kids do it too 2010 Prius Grill Blocking strategy | PriusChat
Click on to Toyota Owners.Com and register. You may be able to get an owner's manual there or an online manual. You will also be able to access maintenance records for your car plus other information. Good website.
Amathelia: Another welcome from someone who also has a 2010 Prius AND lives in snow country. Maybe just to mention it since you are probably NOT used to the "complicated" dash that the Prius has - be cautious about getting distracted with all the "stuff" that is there to look at. It can tend to be overwhelming - please concentrate on just driving to start with. As you get used to the vehicle, you'll know what items are important and which are not. I agree on the shorter warm-up. 2-3 minutes is good for the ICE and car - beyond that is not necessary. As you begin to drive after that 2-3 minutes, everything warms up pretty quickly. You now have a well made, economical vehicle - enjoy it.
Thanks everyone!!! I put the Toyota App on my phone and have access to all the manuals which I've started to look over. I ran into another couple of questions. I was in heavy traffic last night. Stop go stop go for a good 16 miles. Speed never went above 6. The engine kept kicking on. Is that normal? I thought it would just stay in battery? Was I doing something wrong? I barely, if at all, touched the gas it was more of a roll after lifting my foot off the brake. The next question is the battery. I haven't seen it on the display fully charged. It's always missing at least one bar. Also while in traffic yesterday that went down pretty quick. Once I drove past the accident and traffic was moving again the battery was down to two lines. By the time I got home I looked at it and it was back up to 1 line missing. If that sounds normal what happens when I get in more traffic and the battery goes to nothing? Thank you all so much for all the insight!! After a day and a half my biggest regret is not just buying the new one lol. My husband was correct this is the car for us! I am really looking forward to getting some miles out of this one then investing in another!!! I've already influenced others to get one. My coworker got in the driver's seat yesterday and couldn't believe the room in it. He's going with his girlfriend this weekend to have her look at one (they were looking at Nissan).
You will rarely see the battery fully charged. Perhaps if you go down a very long hill. If you have the heat on the car will run the engine to keep the coolant temperature up. It will run it less when the ECO button is pushed. It may be interesting for you to read up on how the car works or you can just drive it. There is a wealth of knowledge on this site. Your car sounds like it is operating normally. If you are enjoying it now wait and see how you like the efficiency when the weather warms back up.
The computer will never let the battery be fully charged since it has to let room for the regenerative braking system to charge the battery as well. It will keep the battery charged between 30 and 90 percent. This happens automatically. That is one reason the Nickel Hydride battery lasts so long (never fully charged and never fully discharged). I have a 2014 Prius 3 and love it. Also like the Weather Tech tan mats I just installed. Oh...when the new 2016's hit....your model will still be a good trade-in. Have a good one....
By driving your 2010 for a while and waiting for the 2016 to come out is a smart move. The 2016 will be the next "generation" for the Prius and will have the latest hybrid hardware which should offer better mileage. Plus they are supposed to be redesigning and updating the interior and exterior, so hopefully they will be offering a better car.
I am the original owner of my 2010 Prius. So far, the only maintenance I have needed to perform has been the 6-Month oil changes, tire rotations and just a couple of months ago, I had to replace the original tires (at 39,000 miles). Absolutely ZERO problems on this car. Truly amazing!! Everything you are seeing on your Prius is normal. Enjoy...don't worry. Oh, by the way, our home is at 5000 feet in the Sierra's and my average gas mileage if 48 mpg. Sam in Reno, NV
I am in Minneapolis. The weather has been brutally cold. Not much snow. The Prius has been a real champ once again. Starts without any hesitation. Heats up very quickly as well.
The battery will not go to nothing and it will not "run down". I was concerned about the same thing when I bought a new 2011 Prius. The computer will take care of that.
