Looking at buying my first Prius. New to the hybrid system but I've been a auto mechanic for the past 9 years. Anyways found 2010 Prius with 71K. Going to test drive it tomorrow. Any quick ways to check the HV battery and hybrid system is working correctly while on the test drive?
welcome! the only thing you can do is reset the trip meter, go for a good long trip under various conditions (20+) miles, and see how the mpg's look. if you had the time, you could take it to a dealer for a battery health test, but it's like going to the doctor. today, you're as healthy as a horse, tomorrow, who knows? all the best!
Too bad you weren't a bit closer I could meet you in person. Feel free to call me and we can talk through some ideas. Kind of depends what kind of diagnostic equipment you already have.
I will take it for a drive and see how she performs. If all goes well I will be a Prius owner! EricBecky - I noticed you rebuild the batteries. What's the usually cost for this? Feel free to PM me.
Using your equipment if you are able to see Delta SOC as well as graph/record vblock voltages that'd help you a bit. Also check with Toyota to confirm what sort of issues may have been recently reported.
Drive normally until it the engine is warm. It is warm when you brake to a stop and the engine shuts down. Put the vehicle in EV mode and drive at less than say 20 mph. At some time near 1/2 mile travelled the gas engine should start. You have depleted the HV battery. Put the vehicle in Econ mode . The HV battery should be recharging now when you start driving. Select the display to show HV battery charge level and watch to see if it fills up to just below the top. This should indicate the HV battery is functioning and charging normally. If there are no warning lights indicating in the display it can be assumed, I think, that the HV battery is o.k. To explain how to check the hybrid system is beyond my communication ability. Perhaps someone else may want to take a crack at that. Good luck with the test.
All of the above tips are really the best way. See how far you can go on a full battery in electric mode only. If I accelerate very slowly on flat terrain I can make it 2 miles before my ICE kicks in and the battery level is down to 2 bars. My ICE will usually kick in after it has been at 2 bars of battery for 0.1-0.3 miles. I have a 2010 with 235k miles. All original hybrid system, engine, transmission
Thanks for the tips everyone. Went to look at the Prius yesterday and noticed it had some front end and side damage that was repaired. I didn't even bother to drive it, just left and went home. Back to the drawing board. It's rather difficult to find a Prius with leather and Navigation with lower miles on it. This one did pop up on my search, minus navigation. Thoughts on if this is a decent deal.... 2011, 60K miles, leather. clean carfax but has 2 open recalls which makes me wonder. $10,900 plus tax, title.
rdsnake, Be a little careful of low mileage Prii as well as high mileage. If a low mileage Prius spent lots of time sitting unsed for months at a time, that is hard on an aging battery pack. If you buy one you may want to have a Battery Health Check and plan on rebalancing it at some point.
my 2012 has 49,000 miles, but every situation is different. if you are used to phone nav or garmin and etc., i would just stay with that. toyota nav cannot compete. yes, it's nice to have it on the dash, but a nicely mounted garmin isn't too unsightly. the 2011 looks like a nice car. can you get accident and maintenance reports?
I would rather have lower mileage and take the chance with a battery problem then normal/higher miles. That's just me tho. Carfax came back clean but that doesn't say much unless I take it a look at it. I haven't asked for the maintenance reports, but it does show a open recall from 2014.
I just wanted to point out to folks that lower miles does not automatically protect you from a failing hybrid battery.
The nice thing about owning a ScanGauge, you can program it to monitor you traction battery voltage. Mine, depending on the state of charge (SOC) will vary from approximately 215-235 volts. One way you can dedermine if your battery is failing, is when the voltage won't maintain a reading above the lower limit. That's when you ICE starts working overtime and affects you mileage. I've owned my car since new 2012 and the battery has not wavered one bit.
Another thing, though crude and not the best way, Really romp on it and see how fast the battery drains. I can go full throttle in my girlfriends 2010 Prius for quite a while before the battery drains..... but honestly, it uses more ICE at WOT than the electric... so it really isn't accurate.
