Newbie here, to the site and to the world of the Prius. I've been looking at getting a Prius for a while now and when I found a 2012 with good mileage on it, a sunroof AND the beautiful pearly blue color that had recently been discounted, I started surfing this site for tips and recommendations for Gen 3's. Well 2 days ago I bit the bullet, and got it! I'm 22, and this is my first "big girl" car so I'm not too informed on cars in general, and I'm just dipping my toes into the Prius life. What do you love most about your Prius? What do you dislike? What should I expect and look out for? I'm just hoping for an open discussion about anything and everything Prius related that you'd want to tell a Newbie Especially how to get the most out of my Prius and proper maintenance. Thanks ahead of time, I'm so excited to be a Prius owner!
Congrats! I've only had my 2013 Prius for about a month now and I love it! I love how it drives, I love how quiet it can be, I love how much space I have in a "small car." It gets great gas mileage, making up for a small portion of the car payment that I committed to. It is so easy to get into and out of with the keyless entry that it can be a plus and a minus (it is easy to forget to lock the car but I never have to fumble with keys to get in or to go.) The only negatives that I have noted so far are mostly personal; I am worried about my car getting damaged because it is one of the newest cars I've ever had and it is the best car I've ever bought. I am sure that people who have had a Prius for longer than I have will have more to add but I just wanted to welcome you!
Enjoy your new car. To do that, drive it conservatively and do the recommended maintenance per the owner's manual. If you didn't get a manual, go to a dealer and order one. If you got it from a dealer, insist that they supply one. Don't worry; be happy.
congrats and welcome! i love everything about my 2012. 50,000 miles, and runs like a clock. smooth, quiet, roomy, easy to maneuver. great mpg's, and the best thing is when the engine shuts off when you come to a stop. so quiet! all the best!
Welcome. Congrats on a wise purchase. Mostly, I'd say just enjoy it. Peruse the manual for the things you're curious about. Also check out the Gen 3 forums here. There is a ton of info. What I like most is laughing when gas prices spike (see Fuelly numbers in my signature), rock solid reliability, and lots of storage.
Congrats and welcome to PriusChat! The best advice any one of us can give you is "just drive it!". Just drive it like you normally would first and once you get comfortable with the car, then start fine-tuning your habits to take advantage of the hybrid system (with techniques like Pulse & Glide). Likes: Spacious interior for its size Easy to park (it's shorter than a Corolla of the same era) Lots of storage space (double glovebox, decent sized centre console box, front tray, rear underfloor cargo bin and rear side underfloor cargo bins) Flexible arrangement (near fold-flat split folding seats and good height for carrying mountain bikes, skis/snowboards or dogs) Fuel efficiency and ultra low emissions Smooth ride Quiet in EV mode Technology (I have the solar roof, radar cruise, intelligent parking assist) Luxury touches such as fabric-covered A & B pillars (models with leather or SofTex), one-touch up/down power windows, soft-touch steering wheel audio & climate control buttons, soft-closing rear windows (variable-speed power windows). Shifter is easy to reach Up-to-date navigation/head unit (In 2010, it was the first model to use the Gen 6 head unit. Note that 2012-2015 models had different head units than the 2010-2011) Pretty decent sound quality from the JBL audio from the front seats Love the solar roof - not having to get into a hot car in the summer is a luxury Dislikes: Lots of hard plastics (even though it's imprinted with a leaf vein design) Noisy on the highway Door armrest is too low (except for driver where you can sorta manage by adjusting the seat height) Front passenger seat is mounted too high (6' have trouble sitting there) Not a fan of the removable cupholder (they fixed that for 2012 but then it resulted in a smaller console box) "Meh" sound quality from the JBL audio from the rear seats (it's obvious they only focused on the front seat experience)
and welcome to the nicest car forum known to mankind. Most on here will say you made a great choice and I'd certainly agree. Assuming you've driven cars before, may I suggest that you simply just drive it the way you would other cars. Over time you'll find out what style of driving suits you and your Prius best for efficiency and convenience. Here's a link to the forums specifically for your Gen 3 Prius. Gen 3 (2010-2015) Toyota Prius Forums | PriusChat
Hi! What should you know? Here's one: In any Prius, after sitting out in rain or damp weather, the brakes will sound bad next time you drive and may feel grabby. It's just surface rust built up on the rotors. Just make a couple normal stops while shifted into Neutral. That forces the car to use the friction brakes hard enough to rub the rust off. That's all it takes and you'll find the brakes are smooth and quiet again. Without shifting into Neutral, the car makes such light use of the brakes that they'll stay noisy and you might think something is wrong with them. (Sometimes people who don't know this about a Prius will spend hundreds of dollars on brake jobs and do it again after the next damp weather, and some dealers will take the money instead of explaining what to do.) While on the subject of brakes, some nice day, go find a stretch of road with some bumps or roughness, and travel it while braking moderately, to learn how the car feels in that situation, so it won't take you by surprise some other time. Under moderate braking, the car is mostly slowing electrically (which uses the front wheels only), and if it detects any roughness suggesting that antilock/four-wheel braking would be better, it will switch, but there's a split second when it backs off on the two-wheel braking and the friction brakes haven't fully taken over yet, that some people feel as a disconcerting lurch forward (really just a moment of less slowing). Best to just go learn how it feels before you need to. -Chap
Wow! This really is a forum full of nice people (well so far ) Thank you all for your suggestions and feed back! I feel like I'll be on here much much more when I really get to know my Prius well
That happened to me today! A little unnerving!! It had rained, the roads were a bit slick, I was ciming down an incline, red light at the bottom. I put on the brakes, and they started to work, and there was a moment of them not working as well. I was sliding for a moment and didn't like it ! I figured it was my crummy 2013-OEM's on the front starting to need ABS, but i thought maybe I wasn't pressing hard enough to get that. So, I pushed harder, to make sure the ABS was really engaging. I think braking improved. Poor braking, but I did come to a stop. . I'm ready to get some Defenders or similar to put I the front.
Here is a manual: https://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/om-s/OM47704U/pdf/OM47704U.pdf I find the possible customizations interesting. (starting on page 590) On my Prius, I have Reverse only Beep once, rather than repeatedly I have the Headlights set to turn off when I open the Driver's door (if you park far from your house, you might want 90 seconds of headlights) I have the doors set so one push of the fob unlocks them all, and touching the drivers handle unlocks them all. If your neighborhood is dodgy, you may want to make it harder for others to enter the car with you. You may also want to set auto relock to a shorter period of time. Read all your choices and decide what you want the car to do. Then next time you need dealer service, include the list with other services you specity. The dealer should do them for free, but try to get them all done at once so they don't keep having to set up their computer. Options with O in columns 1 and 2 may be changed by owners, the dealer can do them all. I hope this makes the car feel more like yours.
