Advice I gave my son when I gave him my Gen II at college graduation

I thought it would be interesting to get reactions on Prius Chat to this. Maybe what I've written will be valuable to others. At a minimum I hope it will be entertaining to see what a helicopter parent says to his child about car maintenance. For a bit of background, my son just graduated from college and needed a car to commute. He hadn't driven very much in the four years that he was at college so you'll see some pretty basic advice and I tried to make it relevant for a 21 year old. As you'll see, not all the advice is Prius related. Thanks, Wolf

Driving in snow - drive slowly but keep car moving when on a hill
Drive slowly but keep car moving when on a hill. Inevitably when the first snow of the season hits I drive too fast and slide right through the first stop sign I see. Maybe you’ll learn from my experience.

Shovel and windshield scraper
There is a hidden storage area under the back hatch. To access it, move the carpet and you will find two knobs and a piece of nylon that you can put your finger through near the back of the car. When you pull on the piece of nylon

Windshield washer fluid
You can check it by opening the hood and looking at the tank of blue water on your left. Purchase the fluid at Target.

Cabin air filter
Check the filter every month for a few months to see if there are mouse droppings. If so, put 5 or so drops of Peppermint oil on the filter. Replace the filter when it looks dirty. Replacement filters are under the back storage area

What to do if triangle appears on dash
This is extremely rare, but it has happened to me once. If a red triangle appears on the dash, read the owner’s manual. It’s possible that you’ll have to have the car towed. Our insurance company, has a towing service. There is a special number to call for this service. I think it is on the insurance card.

How to call tow truck
See insurance card

Insurance card & registration
In an envelope in glove compartment. You should know where these are so find the envelope and look inside and look over both the insurance card and registration to make sure you have ones that are current (not expired)

Owners manual
In the glove compartment. You should know where this is because you will need to reference it if you have a flat tire or if you have questions about how certain things work.

Tire pressure
A light on the dash comes on when the pressure in one of the tires is low. The correct pressure to inflate a tire to is posted on the frame of the driver's door.

How to put car in neutral - needed for automatic car wash
Let me know if you have questions on how to put the car in neutral. I practice this before I go to a car wash so I don’t have trouble when I’m in the line

Oil level
The oil will be drained and refilled every 5,000 when you bring the car to the Toyota dealer for service

Service records
The service records are in a plastic case in the hidden storage area. When you have the car serviced, please add the receipt to this folder. Cars with complete service records are sought after.

Setting up Bluetooth
Reasonably intuitive to set up.

Using smart key
Turn it off when not using the car for a week or more. To turn it off you press a button that is below the steering wheel. I’m sure there’s a YouTube video that will show you where it is.

Engine air filter
At some point I’ll show you how to change the engine air filter. In the meantime we’ll get it done when you get the car serviced.

Puddle under the car

Sometimes you'll notice a small puddle under your car. 99.9% of the time it isn't a cause for concern. It is the condensation from the car air conditioner and is normal.

The only time to be concerned is if:
a. you see green or orange fluid which is from the car's radiator. The leaking fluid is a sign you have a problem and generally you shouldn't drive the vehicle although in cold weather you can usually drive for a short time without causing an issue. The radiator is an essential component of the car engine cooling system. The engine gets very hot and the radiator tempers the heat. Call a tow truck

b. you see brown fluid - this is oil. you can tell it's oil by putting your finger on it and rubbing your fingers together. The oil feels, well, like oil as opposed to water. It is a lubricant. You only need to stop driving the car if there is a large puddle under the car and, in those cases a warning light will come on on the dash letting you know the oil level is low. If it is low you can put oil in very easily. you can buy oil at Walmart and Target and most grocery stores.

it is very unlikely you'll encounter either of this issues. I just thought I'd bring it up because occasionally people think they are being helpful by saying - you left a puddle in the parking spot you just exited. They are almost always just seeing the water from the air conditioner.

If there's a problem with the car while you're driving
. If you ever do have to pull over on the highway because a big red triangle light has come on on the dash or the car isn't running properly, always pull over to the right and pull over as far as you can. Your safety is more important than the car, so if you need to, go completely off the road. It might damage a tire or even both passenger side tires, but your safety is more important than $200 or $300 to replace tires, which is pretty much the worst case scenario. It's even safer to get out of the car, walk in front of the car and sit on the guardrail. That way the car is protecting you from someone rear ending you. It doesn't happen a lot, but in the world of texting and driving, it's not unheard of that someone rear ends a car parked on the side of the highway. Obviously you can and should use your own judgment when it comes to all this.

Here's how I ended the letter: Do you feel better reading all this? Maybe, maybe not, but I got these thoughts off my chest and that's good enough for me.

 

To The Electric Me, thanks for your post. Maybe it's just me or maybe it's the Gen II, but I find I need to rest my arm on my leg to stabilize it enough to make the slight movement from Drive into Neutral as opposed to Park. My wife had exactly the reaction you did when she brought her Prius v to the car wash. You're right. I probably should have included some instructions.

 

To Patrick Wong, great addendums. Thanks. My only concern with the oil level addendum is that I wrote this for a 21 year old who isn't a car guy. He might be turned off with this level of information. You and I wouldn't be, but I wanted to keep it simple for him. All the best, Wolf

 

Thanks Priusyipee. I appreciate all your comments. Great points. My son lives 1,200 miles away. When I visit it looks like I have a few more things to review with him.