Hi all, new Prius v owner

Hi all,

My long search for a Prius to add to the family vehicle stable has ended.

I ended up with a used $8500 2012 Prius v (wagon). Has 128K miles. It is in *really* nice shape. Really like the white color...apparently it was a 'premium' color option. I feel like I got a decent deal.

A couple things I noticed though...it shimmies somewhat above 70-75MPH. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that when I test drove it because I never got above 60MPH. Assuming/hoping it is a wheel balance thing and will get it checked ASAP. Also, the hatch struts are pretty weak...have to replace those.

Anything else I should do right away? I'll have to wait till spring to do the major stuff like transmission fluid change, etc...

P.S. - Excuse the somewhat duplicate post as I also have a similar one on the GEN2 forums. I originally wanted a GEN2 but wanted to close that thread out and move here.

 

BTW - I looked at the tires and they are Pirelli Cinturato P7. I am aware that there are multiple versions of these tires. None of them look very good in the MPG-boosting (LRR) department. I was able to get about 41MPG (non-calculated) on the drive back from the dealer though.

 

Another problem found. Looks like I have the dreaded "hard to fill gas tank" problem. The gas pump turns off multiple times when I tried to fill the tank.

I poked around in the service records and I actually found mention of it:

"~|~CUSTOMER STATES GAS WONT GO IN TANK CHECK AND ADVISE ~|~ ~|~90052 I FOUND THE VENT FOR THE CANISTER PLUGGED WITH GRAVEL ROAD DUST. I CLEANED THE VENT AND TUBE OUT, I CHECKED FOR CODES AND FOUND EVAP HISTORY CODES. I CLEARED THE CODES AND RAN THE SELF EVAP TEST AND THEY DID NOT RETURN. I TRIED TESTING TO SEE IF THE,DIAGNOSED AND CLEANED THE VENT CANISTER.OUR GAS PUMP WAS NOT WORKING SO WE COULD NOT SELF TEST"​

This led me to search on "evap canister". Sure enough, looks like an issue that has been reported here quite a bit. Seems like a check of this 'evap canister vent' is on order. Anyone have access to diagrams?

 

Yep, I know that the bladder only exists on the Gen2's. I also know about the pump trick....I'll have to try it. There are quite a few posts about problematic/failing evap canisters on bladderless Prius...and some there also have used the pump trick. I'd rather attempt to get to the bottom of what is wrong though.

 

Well I replaced the hatch struts, put in some husky floor liners, and ran my ozone generator in the car to get rid of lingering odors. I think the previous owner may have been a smoker. BTW..ozone 'shock treatments' work great to remove smoke odors. It worked better than expected. Also, I dare say I like the husky liners better than Weathertech because they have 'spikes' on the bottom that aid in keeping them in place on the passengers side.

It was just too damned cold out to do the engine oil and transaxle fluid change ( yes..I'm a wimp ). I want to do it as soon as possible though once it 'warms up' to 40F or so!


I found a few additional things that probably need to be taken care of this spring :

• Underbody splash guard is in rough shape. Ordered a replacement. I also did this when we got our 2010 a few years ago. Also looks like the Prius v doesn't have 'full body' splash guards like the liftback does. That is disappointing.

• Rear brakes. The rear rotor hubs are very rusty ( especially on the rear drivers side ). Very strange...I've never seen rotor hubs this rusty before. It doesn't appear to be affecting braking performance though. At any rate, I will probably replace with some 'premium' rotors that have 'rust proofed' hubs. Any recommendations?

• Rear suspension parts look somewhat rusty too..but not terrible (yet). Seems like I should spray some sort of protectant on there at some point when it warms up. I've heard good things about FluidFilm ( Amazon link : http://a.co/06X8L7S )...any other suggestions?

• Probably will go for some PVC Clazzio seat covers. I did this with our 2010 with great results...the PVC still looks like new and has been through very cold and very hot conditions. Has anyone done a two-tone Clazzio PVC color scheme? This vehicle has this interior : http://st.motortrend.com/uploads/sites/5/2013/02/2012-Toyota-Prius-V-cockpit.jpg.

I can't wait for spring so I can get going on this stuff without freezing by butt off!

 

So...no recommendations of brake rotors ( second bullet in list in post #9 above )? Just buy the cheapest ones?

 

OK...since it actually 'warmed up' to 30 degrees or so..I decided to replace the 12V battery. That was easy. However, what turned into an adventure was that I noticed tons of grit and dirt in the battery compartment. The previous owner must have operated this vehicle in an extremely dirty environment.

While replacing the battery I also peeked into the area near the hybrid battery fan. Unfortunately, that whole area was also very dirty. I proceeded to disassemble the vehicle enough to get at the fan. Yeah..it was dirty all right with a sort of fine dust that almost reminded me of drywall dust. Not good in my book. I removed the fan and disassembled it to clean it well. Looks good now! However, I'm a bit worried about how much crud might be in the Hybrid battery compartment. Should I be concerned?

Here are some photos if anyone is interested :

Hybrid Battery exposed with fan removed..and cleaned up :


Battery compartment dirt/grit :


Hybrid Battery fan pre-cleaning :


Hybrid Battery fan post-cleaning :


Reinstalled :



Next project is to run BG EPR engine treatment, change oil, change transmission fluid, and replace under cover ( it is broken ).

 

Got the under cover off, did the BG EPR treatment, and got the oil changed. Will leave the under cover off until I can prepare the new one and still need to do the transmission fluid change ( I got too cold ). I was rather surprised...the oil didn't didn't come out nearly as black as the 2010 when I first ran BG EPR through it. I guess that is probably a good thing!

By the way...I poked around a bit and noticed that some of the 'modders' have used R1 concepts brake parts. Apparently they have a 'premium' zinc coating on them to deter rust :

R1 Concepts Performance Brake Parts – Brake Rotors, Brake kits, Brake Pads, Brake Accessories, Rotor Disc

Seems like a decent way to go for 'premium' rotors. You can even get three different colors of coatings ( silver/black/gold )...lol. Overkill I know...but the black might look neat. Assuming the black coating wears away where the pads hit..but the rest of the rotor would be protected.

This was an interesting read...apparently completely rust-free rotors do exist..but are expensive.

How to Find Brake Rotors That Don't Rust | eBay

 

Update : Changed transaxle fluid, interveter coolant, and engine coolant last weekend.

Pretty uneventful except the old transaxle fluid looked horrible! I will try to pour some of the used crud into a clear vessel and post some pics soon. I'm really glad I changed it. No way in hell Toyota should be telling people that the fluid is 'lifetime'....or they should come clean on what their definition of 'lifetime' is! ( I know...I'm preaching to the choir ).

Next up are spark plugs, EGR cooler, etc... Anything else? Anyone have a good list of all the stuff that is good to do with the wipers/cowling off?

BTW I received my R1 Concepts brakes and will also post pics of them soon. They look nice! I'm going to put off the brakes until I take care of all the engine related stuff.