What every newb should know

Thank you very much for posting this info. I'd seen the warnings in the manual, but as a prius newbie it never hurts to have it reiterated.

Thanks!

 

Back to the use of "B"....Driving fro/to Las Vegas/California on I15 ...Several mountain passes with long grades..is this the time to use "B" ,,,coming into the San Bernardino area??

 

B-mode should be used when the HV battery can no longer take additional charge (8 green bars on the display) and you need to brake for a long downhill run where you may overheat the friction brakes if you use them continuously to slow your descent. Even in mountain areas, it is not necessary to use B-mode very often, IMO.

 

Thanks for the info. Will watch the bars. I am hoping "speed control" will also help instead of B.
I have had my 2009 #2 for 2 weeks now, mostly city driving, some short distance freeway and am shocked at 49.2 mpg average. I wish I would have come to this site earlier because my first fill up was interesting.....pump shut off at 6 gallons, yet one pip remained, though I should go closer to 9 based on non hybrid expectations...so I did, drip by drip!.. Nevermore after hearing that I have a bladder and not a tank!!. Can't say enough about this chat space and the experience out there. Thanks for everyone's postings!!

 

I have a 2005 prius with 70,000 miles on it. I bought it for more than one reason - one of the main reasons was range (so far I have driven 575 on one tank- I could have gone farther). I am not sure why people have run out of fuel but I have consistantly found that with moderate driving I get 53-55mpg all the time. I live in northern calif. and the weather varies from about 30 degrees to about 110. I always fill my tank 1 to 2 gallons after it clicks off. After the last bar on the tank starts to flash you will get an add fuel warning message on the display. I have found that I can drive about another 100 miles and then you will get another warning light that will say add fuel soon. I do not know if these warning lights are included in the models that have the gps or not (I have a package 6 that does include the gps) . I have done this for 3 1/2 years with no problem.

 

It is steeper going to state line from SB

 

Question: In early 2003 I bought a 2001 Prius "new" from the dealer who originally took delivery of the vehicle from the factory. It had been used by the dealer as a demo vehicle and had about 13,000 miles when I took possession, but had never been titled other than the dealer until me. So, does the warranty period (3/36000, 8/100,000 etc.) start from the date the dealer received it, or the date which I bought it? It's had just about everything hybrid replaced under warranty so far (generator, battery (both), computer (at least twice), etc. etc.) and is getting of age (years-wise although it only has about 54000 miles on it, it is frequently exposed to 120 degree high temps here in the SW - I've hit multi-day turtle mode 3 times) so this could make a difference of whether I keep it another year or trade it in now.

 

Not a 100% sure but I'd say that the 36K is fixed to what is on the odo regardless how much was on it when you bought it but the time clock would tick from date of title transfer, in my opinion

 

well I'm new to the forum, but we bought my Prius new in July 07.
I've read through this thread to see if someone mentioned my question, but didn't see it so here goes:
First I read the manual like I was in graduate school, so feel pretty well versed. Even so, good tips here.
I get about 50 mpg even using A/C in summer. Get even better mileage on the hiway up to 65-70 mph. Loose 5% mpg with winter blend in OR (added ethanol), but I don't mind.
As a police officer, years ago, I learned to ignore the brake to control the car rather gently using the accelerator unless really needing to stop the car. suits the Prius perfectly. jack rabbit starts and hard braking have never been my style....I'm a glider by nature.
Now for the questions: my sales person said to deactivate the smart key (button under the dash) if the car was going to be inactive for a while. Is this true? Due to snow, I've been at home for a week. (ice and a steep hill too)
And finally.......speaking of snow.........best all weather tire for the Prius?
the stock tires aren't even that good in rain!
thanks for all the info:cheer2:

 

Fully,

Welcome to PriusChat,

If you have a good strong 12V battery, the little one under the flooring In
the back, leaving the car undriven for a week shouldn't be a problem. But
two weeks might. Also, In very cold weather, the battery might have
some reduced capacity. (12V battery life expectancy is ~4 yrs.)

The "killer" when the car is just sitting is some low level electrical demand.
So, it couldn't hurt to turn off SKS. Just to be sure the 12V can boot the
CPUs -- that's all it really needs to do, needs more than 10.5V -- it
wouldn't hurt to put the car in "ready" for 1/2 an hour or so, so it can be
fully charged from the HV battery via the DC to DC inverter.

The ICE will probably kick on, no problem, leave the garage door open.

I'll leave the tire questions forsomeone with bitter, er, better experience.

 

I love this site!:cheer2:
I've had my 2009 Prius since November, and been able to find answers to all my questions thus far here. Found out how to turn off the backup and seatbelt beepers, and how to fix my iphone/bluetooth problem. Have plans to take on some modifications as time permits.

Thank you all!

 

Veruca,

Welcome to PriusChat.

It seems like you alredy got the message; learn to use the search function,
you'll get smarter by the minute... and be a better Prianista as well!
(I made that up.)

By all means, check out the Mods forum, some cool stuff there.
Mods = time +$$$. How much is up to you.
Its your car, your life. You only go around once.

 

Don't get too close to the curb while parking especially where the edge of the road is uneven. The bumper is very low and could scrape on the curb. A lesson learnt the hard way just 3 days after I got my prius.

 

I left my SKS system (on a new 09 Prius) on while I left town for the holidays for about 2.5 weeks. I remembered halfway through that I should have turned off the SKS. Indeed, after 2.5 weeks, the doors didn't open when I touched the handle. Turns out, the vehicle automatically disabled the SKS after two weeks without use -- a quick push on the manual "open" button, and everything worked again.

I love how smart this car is.

 

Hi there. I got my 08 Prius Aug. 15th. My gas mileage, like everybody else's has dropped. This 08 is about 5mpg's worse than the 05 that I traded in. Yesterday the temperature was in the 50s, I was parked with the battery level green just long enough to unload groceries. My engine cut on twice while I was doing this. No wonder my mileage is low. Is this normal? I never noticed the 05 doing this.

 

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TNX for sharing. Good to know. Do you mean by "open" button, the one just under the handle? I always use it to "close". Never could know it also means open. I did have trouble with "handle touch" entry once and was stymied. I pulled out the actual key and it did work. I hope if you push the "close" button to open that you have to have your keyless on you too. I have to quickly leave the area around the handle when I use the "close" button. I also listen for the "click" when I push the "close/open" button. Good to know that the SKS system is such a good guard.

 

Precisely what I meant, sorry for not being clearer. It's the unlock button on the fob, not the one on the door handle (which only locks, doesn't unlock).

 

Oh yes, I remember. My 2005 Prius, a six months after delivery. The blinking pip came on and I said to my wife, "don't worry, we can make it to Woodbury, (Mn)." Not so fast, we ran out of gas and barely made it to Woodbury and a gas station. It was struggling to get there (all on battery). Be forewarned what these posts have said: Never let the pip go to one. This has worked for me. And btw, DO NOT top off when you fill up. Put the pump on slow, and remove when it shuts off. "nuff said.