My new Prius scares the crap out of me

Welcome!

I've read lots of the manual and technical documents and they are all crystal clear to me for the GenII (2004-2009) and GenIII (2010-2015). The words chosen are purposeful and clear with no ambiguity. But no it does not read as a blog post or something, it is a heavy technical manual. Perhaps you have an example of this "Japlish"...

That has never been the case. If you have an 8 cylinder diesel truck and you try and jump it with a Yugo, it is very possible that it won't work and you'll burn out the alternator on the small car.

On almost any modern car, when you jumpstart you open up the possibility to a can of worms. It is not Prius specific, and it is not an immediately worse thing, but it is still a bad idea. if you have sparking when you connect the cables those sparks are a huge amount of energy going through your car's ECUs. Each ECU is a few hundred to thousands of dollars. And you have tons of them. Just like any other modern car. All it takes is one bad capacitor and the whole ECU needs to be replaced. If you are looking up how to jump start in a manual, don't be jump starting.

You don't need to see a mechanic or anything. If you had fried something you would immediately know it. Similarly, if you had reversed the polarity on the jump start, you would have immediately known it.

I say it is thorough. As I said, the manual is clear and unambiguous but it does take time to spell things out.

Or those that can read. Or those that just figure it out.

I don't know what your problem is with figuring it out. The Prius is an extremely intuitive car. I didn't read the manual before I started using the car. I read the manual as an exercise later. I rent lots of vehicles and the Prius behaves like every other Toyota out there. In every rental I get (usually one a week) I pair my phone via bluetooth before I drive out of the Gold lot. Usually takes a minute or two. Never once have I broken out the user manual.

Considering you are driving the car, it is obviously not that hard to operate as you claim. Push the button to turn it on, and press the go pedal. Off it goes! I don't know what you mean about "underpowered cars" and "sub-optimum brakes" in relation to the Prius. No it is not a sports car, but it is fast enough and has enough power to be a "left lane driver". As far as the brakes, you will be hard pressed to find better performing brakes that aren't on a $100K sport car (carbon-ceramic).

If you want to know everything about your new car, then yes it is going to take a long time and there is lots to know. Most of what is in the manual is completely useless if you have two brain cells to rub together. How to operate power windows? Who doesn't know how to make the windows go up and down?!?!?! The interesting stuff isn't in there. Like the CAN bus arbitration, or the mapping between the go-pedal and the CAN values that comes out of it. Or the battery voltage differential per module that causes faults and how the BMS system in general works. Heck, how the hybrid synergy drive works with its planetary gear set, no transmission...

It is up to you how much you want to know, but all the info is there.

 

congrats and welcome. it's just a car, drive and enjoy!

p.s. you didn't do any damage jump starting your partners bar.

p.p.s. i read half the manual on a r/t flight to cali, and never picked it up again, unless looking for something specific like programming door locks or resetting the maintenance needed message.
is this your first foreign car? mine have all been in gibberish for the last 40 years.

do not use a car wash.

 

This car forced you to read the manual eh? Yeah it can be a little strange as the operation are not always what it seems to what you have been accustomed to previously. But its either you learn or go blindly your own way - You choose. I would agree that the manual is very well written and in some ways overly complex on some subjects. The deal with that is to not have any other interpretation other than what is written. That is written so that you cannot have as much as it can any ambiguity in the statements. But now that your here you can ask in your own stylish way what all this means so people here will try to help you. If this is really too much - sell the car.

 

If you can't find ambiguous or poorly written "Japlish" phrases in the owner's manual, you didn't look very hard. I've seen worse, though.

 

No. If there was damage, your Prius would not start or charge.

Reverse polarity is the worst battery charging event, ($4000) it can happen if you are the chargee or the charger. There is a 100 amp fuse you can blow if your chargee pulls a lot of juice. My guess is that the Fit still had some charge, just not enough to start on it's own.

There used to be a simplified User guide by John1701a, but the site seems to be down now. If you want a quick list of things not to do:

Do not work on the brakes without Techstream software.
Do not spin the tires.
Do not run out of gas.
Do not jump start other cars.
Always use electricity in Ready.
It does not charge in N, so avoid N

 

Going on a trip one morning, a couple of drunk kids asked me for a jumpstart at a gas station. They thought I was lying to them when I said I couldn't do it.

 

You'll be fine...However, I have one of these battery backup jump starters in each one of my cars: Amazon.com: Zeusray 8000mah Multi function Portable power bank, USB 5V/2A for Cell phone & digital device , 12V 300A jump starter for Automobile: Cell Phones & Accessories
They work great, I have actually used them to jump start cars and it is amazing how easily and quickly they work. Plus, they can also charge your cellphone in an emergency and have a flashlight built in. There are many available on Amazon (probably some cheaper ones than this one too). But this one includes a nice sturdy case that keeps it and the cables all together. The battery lasts at least 6 months without needing to be recharged (without use) and I think it claims that it can go 12 months (but I usually top it off after 6).

Are you really not supposed to use a car wash?

 

I use a car wash all the time. my car sits in Park while the machine goes back and forth. The ones not to use try to drag your car through the wash.

 

The main reasons it's bad to jump another car are (1) that the Prius has a very small 12v battery and doesn't have enough power to jump most cars without straining the Prius electric system too much - the Honda Fit also probably has a small battery so it still worked and (2) if you get the polarity wrong (connect positive to negative or vice versa) you may do serious damage to the inverter, which transforms DC current from the high voltage battery to AC current for the electric motors. This is thousands of dollars worth of damage.

I would recommend a portable jump pack like others have said. This can help you if you need a jump or someone else as well without risking damage to the Prius.

The manual can be intimidating, but spending time here will be helpful. As you said, if driving the Prius was really complicated/dangerous it would not be as popular as it is. It even says in the manual when in doubt, just drive it you as would a normal car. We like to talk about hypermiling, regen braking instead of friction, EV glides, PWR/ECO modes, etc but the reality is the car will do just fine if you drive it like any other car with a smart key system and push button start. They made it drive like a normal car on purpose, so there wouldn't be a learning curve if you're just trying to get from point A to B without squeezing every last bit of MPG out of it. Just drive it and enjoy!

 

I would first watch all the " 2010 Prius How To" Prius How-To: Energy Monitor | 2010 Prius | Toyota

If you need a jump: How to jump start your Prius by Larry Miller Toyota of Peoria

Prius MAX MPG Secrets

Toyota Prius Max MPG Tips

PowerAll PBJS12000R Rosso Red/Black Portable Power Bank and Car Jump Starter

 

This type of 'accident' can be greatly reduced -- though not eliminated -- by changing the offending lamp from its original incandescent type to an LED type that draws 80% to 90% less current. The sharply reduced current draw allows far more time to discover and remedy the error before the battery goes dead. This should allow healthy batteries to easily go all night without being drained or damaged.

Unidirectional lamps with brightness similar to the original, will save the most current. Extra bright models, and omni-directional light patterns that needlessly cast a lot of light into useless directions inside the light fixture housing, often save much less.

 

I just like to look at the pictures.

 

Welcome to prius ownership.
Lots of folks here will be glad to help.
Just read a bit on the forums or post your own question if needed.

I know there are some Chicago area owners that meet to talk about hybrid stuff if you'd like to meet other owners in person.

We have a club up here that meets every other month. ( been doing that for going on 12 years!)
There some helpful guides written by owners as well.

But barring all that, if you have some questions, feel free to give me a call any time and I'll help point you in the right direction.

Or if you are ever in Madison let's get together.

 

Just another tip: "B" on the shifter is rarely warranted. I wouldn't use it as a braking substitute around town, for short hills or to slow. Just use your brakes: they'll be mostly using the regenerative function of the electric motors. The only time "B" is needed is on extremely long downhills, where there's a danger of charging the battery to the point they'll no longer charge, and the full responsibility for braking is put back on the friction brakes, and there's still lots of downhill to come.

 

If you use cruise control, the car will charge the battery to maintain speed. When battery gets fully charged, it automatically switches to engine braking.

 

it's not for everyone i suppose. keep trying, hopefully you will get used to it. but it does sound like you're a little hyper sensitive.

 

I agree with the issue over the verbosity of the Prius manuals (yes PLURAL of "manual"). I found it easier to fiddle with the car first and figure it out on my own and then read them. If I read them first, it would have been more confusing.

 

Correct, you only need B when you know at the top that you will exceed the battery capacity and want cool brakes all the way to the bottom. If you have over a 1000 foot (300m) continuous drop that is a good time for B. In the US, the Rockies, Sierra, Cascades, Smokies can all have such down hills. I would guess the Appalachians do as well but I am not familiar with them.