Hello Prius Chat!! I just bought a 2012 Prius 4 with 92,000 miles last night. I love it so far! Is there any advice that you have for a first time Prius owner? I appreciate advice you guys have. Thanks In Advance
Welcome to Prius Chat . Looks like you bought it from te right place. Todd knows all there is to know. Anything you need, he can answer .
12 Volt battery - check now for reference, it will affect mpg Has the PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) - (aka Ventilation Valve Sub-Assembly) been changed Tire inflation (some say 42 front 40 rear or something along those lines - there are differing opinions) There are many apps out there to customize interior settings and a Prius-related app to check hybrid battery, get an OBDII that works with both. Like many things you could spend forever tinkering and customizing, as well as trying to hypermile - I would say just get a baseline for your Prius and go from there, so you can figure out what the change did (positive or negative). I've had a couple Priuses - reliable cars, come here to search for solutions, and enjoy the ride.
torque and elm are pretty good, but tech stream is the gold standard. generally speaking, 100,000 miles is the point where some have seen blown head gaskets. unfortunately we don't knoww why some and not others. and with a used car, you can't even bring maintenance and driving style into the discussion. the consensus here is better safe than sorry. there are lots of threads here with pics and write ups, as well as excellent @NutzAboutBolts youtube videos.
Welcome and congrats! I also think you bought from the best. Todd's a great guy. We've bought five from him so far and referred two others who bought. +1 on checking the EGR circuit at this mileage. Also +1 on the Torque Pro if you have an Android phone. I sure wish they'd port that to iOS. Techstream, again, is the very best. There are kits available on Amazon that are very reasonable. Search for Mini VCI. If Todd didn't already tell you, try to keep it parked in a garage or in the shade. The FL heat is hard on batteries. If you don't have shade, get a good fitting windshield screen and keep the cargo tonneau cover closed.
+2 on checking the EGR circuit I haven't used Torque Pro since I have an iphone. I wanted to use the Dr. Prius app to monitor the HV battery, so I went with Carista OBD dongle, but it was finicky. I just use a plug in scanner for everything else. I haven't gotten into Techstream, but from what I've read it's pretty awesome. If you have android, compare OBD for torque pro and OBD for Dr. Prius. Looks like the BAFX works with both apps and is pretty inexpensive.
I can't speak for what's wise, but I can speak for what I did after reading forums like this. 2-1/2 years ago, I bought a 2010 Prius with 94,000 miles. First things I did were to pre-emptively replace the 12V battery (their expected lifespan is about 7 years), the PCV valve and both sets of coolant (main and inverter), and adopt a 5,000 mile oil change schedule with full synthetic oil. Individual comments on each move: •The 12 volt battery doesn't power the starter motor as in most cars. Mostly it just powers the accessories. Still, if it dies it's a pain in the arse. You can get one online and install it yourself – YouTube instructions make it easy – or have Pep Boys do it for you at a very fair price. The one thing worth noting is that if you DIY, make sure you get a battery made specifically for a hybrid, not merely one that's the right size. The visible difference is that the correct batteries have an outlet for a hose to route gases out of the passenger compartment. Alhough that's not the only important difference, it's enough for you to tell whether it's a correct item. •Your car has TWO circulatory systems of coolant: the main one that all gas-engine cars have, and a separate one to cool only the inverter. If you don't have service records indicating they've been changed, be on the safe side and change both. •The PCV valve seems to be one possible and easy-to-prevent culprit in the excessive oil usage some of these cars develop as they age. It's cheap. Might as well get it changed. •Another culprit seems to be the 10,000 oil change interval and thin 0W-20 oil Toyota spec'd for these cars. I personally suspect they specified the water-thin oil to gain a gallon or two on their advertised EPA MPG claims for marketing purposes. Identical Priuses in other countries like hot Australia are factory-rated for synthetic oil as thick as 5W-30. I run the former in winter and the latter in summer. Whatever weight you run, I wouldn't go past 5k on the change interval (5k being Toyota's specified "severe service" interval anyway). That's my three cents. Whatever you do, you've already chosen one of the very most trouble-free used cars you can buy. Happy trails!
Just wondering where you got those tire inflation numbers - they seem a bit inflated (no pun intended). Most vehicles specify these values on a driver side door jamb sticker. The sticker on the Prius says 35F 33R. Just curious!
I go 44psi max side wall on all tires all year long, it balloons up to 51psi during the summer after driving. And you know who tells me "Sir, your tires are wearing evenly and will get the correct life out of the tires" all the Les Schwab tire changer dudes.
Tire inflation numbers from mpg trial and error. Many here at Priuschat will do the same. Personal preference; type of driving, the tires you have etc. Long and short: it's about mpg.
Make sure to have all the dust and dirt clogs cleaned out from your battery fan sooner rather than later. You don't want to be pennywise and dollar foolish.
This isn't just a Gen-3 Prius thing, you should do it whenever you get a vehicle that's new to you. But it's particularly prudent with a Gen-3 Prius: Check the oil at each fill-up or once a week for the first few thousand miles. Many Gen-3 burn significant oil, some burn none. But if yours is a burner, you don't want to find out by waiting for the oil light to come on. When the light comes on, you're already causing irreparable damage.
