I'm expecting my 2009 gen 3 to dock in mombasa port from japan. Have seen like only 5 of the kind in kenya. What am I expecting interms of driving experience? I'm used to toyota fielders over the Last 4yrs Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
no idea what a fielder is, but you can expect a smooth, quiet, peppy driving experience with the 2009, excellent fuel economy and ultra low emissions, and plenty of utility. all the best!
I'm picturing a "fielder" as some sort of off-road, four-wheel-drive, high-clearance vehicle. Or am I totally off-base? Yeah, my one concern would be to stay preferably on paved roads, or at least well graded. Prius ground clearance is not that much. Also check cabin and engine filters frequently at first, assuming dusty environment.
Thanks Leisk. Most roads around me are not paved meaning lots of dust too Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Prius is famous for excellent fuel economy and reliability. But it has very low ground clearance and it is not a fast vehicle. There is an engine air filter under the hood which you should clean regularly if you're in a dusty environment. There is also a paper "cabin air filter" which cleans dust from air blown into cabin by the heater and air conditioner. You can also clean this filter, but it must be replaced in the same direction which it was removed. That is to say: It fits and works in both directions. But if you remove it and put it back, if the airflow direction has changed, then you'll blow dust all over your car's interior. There is an arrow on the filter so pay attention to its direction before you remove the filter. You can purchase these air filters and also the engine oil filters in bulk so that you have them in hand. The engine oil should be synthetic, if you can find it. Beyond that, I know the 2010+ model years (Gen III) better than the models before 2010 (Gen II). You should determine if your car is a Gen II or III.
Thanks Rebound. That's great information. It's a gen 3. Synthetic oil is available in kenya. What I'm not sure are the filters Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
If you google "Toyota TechInfo" you can find link to the site where Owner's Manuals, and Warranty and Maintenance Guide are available (in pdf format) for download. Here's direct link to the North American site: https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/appmanager/t3/ti?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=ti_home_page&contextType=external&username=string&password=sercure_string&challenge_url=https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/login/techinfo&request_id=-253768312539221652&authn_try_count=0&locale=en_US&resource_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechinfo.toyota.com%2F Click on the tab "Manuals" to get started. I would suggest, if your car is indeed 3rd gen, to set year to 2010, which started production about 1/2 way through 2009. Third gen would have gloss black spoiler at the rear, looks like this:
Confirm (if possible) that your car has gloss black rear spoiler, that will be third gen, and if so I can download and post a link for you. If it's in fact a body colored rear spoiler, that would be second gen, and again, I could download and link.
I usually get over 50 MPG on most trips and my wife insists my driving habits are not the best for a hybrid. My son is on his second Prius (2005 & then 2015 Prius V). so I had some very limited experience before I bought mine.
Congrats and welcome to PriusChat! Feel free to pop over to the US Toyota site to grab an English owner's manual. Keep in mind that in the US, the 3rd Generation is from 2010-2015. Here's a direct link. 2010 Toyota Prius Owners Manual and Warranty - Toyota Owners Obviously equipment will vary from the Japanese model but at least it's not in Japanese (unless you can read Japanese?). There's also maintenance information towards the engine (type of oil, filter, coolant etc). If it's dusty, you may want to change your engine air filter, oil filter (and cabin air filter) more regularly. Also, the oil used in Kenya may be a different specification since you probably don't experience the wide range of temperature that a vehicle in the U.S. (or Japan) may see. In terms of driving experience? Well it has an electronic CVT (really it's a planetary gear set that mimics a cone & belt CVT so for simplicity, Toyota marketing just calls it an eCVT). This means the engine speed will have little relation to your actual road speed. It will vary as needed to provide power that you requested via the accelerator. You cannot overrev the engine like a regular automatic or manual transmission as it's electronically controlled so don't worry about that. Under normal braking, the brakes may feel a bit weird as it is regenerating electricity via the electric motor. Only near the end of your stop (~11km/h or less), will the brake pads come on, so your brake pads will last longer. Of course, if you brake harder, then the car will use a combination of regen and brake pads to slow you down. If your Japanese-spec car has the solar roof option, note that the car will run the fan while the car is parked if you enable the "Solar Panel Ventilation System". Again, if the car is parked in a dusty place, then the dust will be sucked in by the fan while the car is parked (whatever isn't stopped by the cabin air filter) so be aware of that. Also, the vent for the hybrid battery is located in the rear seat, right side of the car. (near your elbow if you were seated in that seat). Don't block that vent. Also, there is NO filter for that vent so keep that in mind if you tend to drive with the windows down. If it gets clogged, then your battery performance could suffer because it's not being cooled sufficiently. The spare tyre is located in the boot but you have to remove the false floor then remove the large underfloor bin to access the tyre and tools. The 12V lead-acid car battery is located in the boot as well. It's on the right side, under a small floor panel.
