Need to know for new Prius Owners?

Hi Buckie,
I'm new here too. I just traded a silverado 2500 crew cab diesel PU for my pkg 2 touring prius. Lots yet to learn.

 

Welcome to PriusChat.

To answer your question as to whether I would do it again, the April Consumers Report probably says it all with the highest owners satisfaction of 92% who answered "definitely yes". If they had asked me, I would be one of the 92%. When it comes time to replace my '94 Camry, it will be with a new Prius, probably the next generation Prius unless a totally new all electric comes out by then that would give me 80 - 100 miles at highway speeds at a reasonable cost.

To me my biggest surprise was not the car itself but how it completely changed me and my driving habits from a aggressive lead footed driver who would try to get from here to there in the least amount of time to one that relaxes behind the wheel and cover that same distance with the most mpg.

 

If you haven't taken delivery yet, it is not too late to negotiated a tire upgrade with the dealer. This may be less important with the Touring model, but the Goodyear Integrity Tires on the base model are just plain inadequate.

There is a upgraded brace to add to the rear chassis called BT Tech Stiffening brace that does wonders for the car's handling. If you ever get the sense the car is wandering or getting blown around too much in the wind, be sure to have the wheel alignment checked, and consider getting the BT Tech Brace.

 

ok, so this is your first prius, and my first post.
here's what i think you should know.
1. keep your tires inflated. i keep them at about 40lbs+.
2. at night, glare from your dash hits your wind shield at eye level and on coming traffic is blinded by your low beams.
3. don't over indulge your climate controls because it kills mpg
4. the more the engine warms up, the better the mpg
5. smart key rocks (but finicky from one car to the next)
6. heavy gas and break kills mpg.
7. cold weather kills mpg.
8. plan on trading in when the next gen prius arrives becaue you'll be hooked
9. btw, when i say "kills mpg" i mean 40 mpg instead of a possible 50mpg, so you'll still be in good shape.
10. oh, and be careful in poor weather b/c tires suck and the limited slip is too sensitve so it kills power to the tires with even the slightest slippage (if you get stuck in the snow, you're screwed).
11. important!-- don't even come close to overfilling tank or the car WILL hurl gas all over your favorite outfit!
but still, car is great so enjoy!

 

If I'm not mistaken the xm radio is an option so that it can be installed afterwards. You should still be able to get that ordered and the dealer install it so you get all the built in controls. Hell not 100% sure but you might even be able to do it yourself...

 

Never a second of buyers remorse. The dealer loaned me one for a day and after that I knew that I just had to have one. Got one less than two weeks later. That was over a year ago and I still get a thrill every time I am behind the wheel.

 

Welcome! I agree that every household needs a truck -- it just happens that my truck was a Ford Ranger and now it is a Honda Odyssey minivan. I was very disappointed to turn in my truck for a minivan but was totally surprised when the Odysey could fit full-sized sheets of plywood better than my Ranger. Who would have thunk it? The Odyssey also tows a trailer like a champ and handles like an Accord. I only miss my Ford Ranger when I need to haul sod or cement. Now I am looking for a hybrid minivan.

Don't let the dealer sell you any extras that aren't highly recommended by the people on this site or by PC folks from your area. Most of the dealers do not seem to be making the profit they used to on Prii and they sometimes try to make it up with unneeded and costly options. My dealer HIGHLY recommended undercoating and LoJAC. The undercoating was for the loud road noise that isn't there and the LoJAC was for a vehicle that is near the bottom of the list of cars that get stolen.:thumb:

 

I traded in my Dodge Ram 1500 crew cab. It was very tough to give up driving a truck. I had driven a truck for the past 15 years. However, when I figured out that my friends used my truck for truck purposes more than I did, it was an easy decision. Add the fuel mileage and it was a no brainer.

I have had my '08 for almost three months. Here are the items that I would add to the above lists:

1. The seat, make sure you are comfortable in the driver seat. I really think Toyota missed the boat on the seats. I have modified my seat, but the lack of setting it further back can bother me.

2. Be prepared to find your driving habits change significantly. Especially since you drove a truck.

3. Read, and re-read the manual along with this site. I am still learning things about the Prius.

4. The nav system is not the most intelligent navigation system I have seen, but it is adequate.

As others have mentioned I would not go back on my decision.

 

We traded in our paid off 2003 VW Eurovan for a 2008 Touring Pkg 3 just the other day. Getting rid of our van was hard - it was a great van and served us without a days hassle - but its value was such that the time had come to trade it in. It only averaged 14 - 17 MPG as a lot of our driving is local.

We left the Toyota dealer lot with our new Prius and a 7 yr/75,000 mile warranty and 4 years of covered regular service for less than $5,000 out of pocket total costs and that was including taxes and plates, etc.

Not bad at all and I would do it again in a minute.

 

I don't know the answers to a lot of your questions since I am a new owner myself, but I can tell you that out here in Montana I felt like we got a good deal. We bought ours for about 1,000 below sticker, and got tire warranty ( a MUST on our roads in the country!) and GAP insurance figured in.

 

I am a techie and have plenty of gadgets. However I have not tried to run the laptop thru a converter in the Prius yet. I had this in my truck, but haven't done my summer road trips yet. Sorry no answer to that one. One thing to remember is that the Prius by default does not have a continuous power on plug so my gadgets only charge when driving. Others have made modifications to get a "hot" plug at all times. I may try this in the summer.

As for the extras you mentioned. I was able to get the dealer to throw in a Sirius radio, mats and bumper cover. Give it a try, I whined about my trade in and since they wouldn't budge too much they agreed to the extras as I read them off the Toyota site. To me the satellite radio is a must for those long drives, and the mats are of top quality.

I have the leather seats and they seem fine to me.

I did pay sticker but worked on my trade in and the extras above, so I don't know if it was a great deal. I do know that shopping around to other dealers gave me a better a price but lower trade in or no extras so in the end it evened out.

Hope that helps and soon you will realize how aggressive trucks can drive. That hemi gave me a lot of power quickly but about 12 MPG.

Let me know how it goes and good luck.

 

Another ex-truckie here too....I just got an '08 Prius after driving an F150 for 15 years. I am still a little nervous about giving up the versatility of the truck but after driving 270 miles on 6.5 gallons of gas I'm a little less worried about it. I have not had to change my driving habits too much but my truck was a V6 so not too powerful anyway. I am finding that I need a little extra support under my legs on the seat (I am 5'7") but otherwise the seat and car are very comfortable. I have a package 2 so no nav....I have heard that an aftermarket nav system may be better than the one that comes with the car.

 

My first post...
I have an 07 Touring, Pkg #2, as I didn't want all the nav/XM radio stuff, as I figured I could add those later on.

What I DID want tho, was leather and heated seats. My dealer added those on for an extra $1100, which still came out 50% better than a Pkg #6 would have been. The leather is excellent grade-and the heated seats are wonderful.

I got the mats and cargo netting thrown in too.

 

I had a Subaru Outback - no truck, but lots of space. Thought I would miss the space but I haven't (just the high clearance and AWD on occasion). When going to pick up large items we use my Prius instead of my wife's Accord - the Accord is longer & bigger trunk, but not a hatchback and narrower fold-down window from the trunk area to seating area. With the Prius I've put in several 100" (8'4") 2x10s or a 4'x3' piece of plywood and still closed the hatch. If folding the front seats down for a long item, take off the headrest to get it all the way down.

About every 16 months something comes up where I need to rent a truck from Home Depot ($20 for 75 minutes I think). Makes a whole lot more sense for me to do that than to drive a truck every day.

This is just as safe or safer than a truck. Less prone to roll-overs. Did you see the pictures a couple weeks ago of a truck/Prius collision, head-on at highway speeds? Both drivers were severely injured, but the truck had more deformation to the passenger compartment (a layman's analysis).

Actually they can charge it. The aux battery doesn't store a lot of cranking amps, but the main (traction) battery has a dc-dc converter to keep the 12-volt aux battery charged. I'm not sure that a power outlet (cigarette lighter) can handle that wattage for your inverter, but you sure could wire it up directly to the aux battery in the back (if the inverter is fused properly). The Prius engine will kick in as needed to keep the 12-volt level if you have the power on. There are more threads on this, search for Prius as a Power supply.

 

Well, we've now had our 2008 Prius, Pkg. 6 for a week and it is just awesome. Great handling, mileage is a given, very comfortable and just a fun car. The questions I have are:
Can anyone recommend a bike rack that doesn't use a hitch?
Is there any accessory that is a must to have?
Thanks a lot.