Newbies - Let's See Some Pics!

Congratulations!
Looks good.

 

Just bought a 09 base prius with 136.8k miles, was a 5 hour round trip to get it for 7500. Gonna be my mechanic learning car, I wanna do as much preventative maintenance as possible my self, wife's uncle is a mechanic instructor at the vocational school so I've got help if I get in over my head. He's got some dings but overall I'm very pleased. Wanting to upgrade stereo and suspension ASAP, curious if I can put in a touring steering wheel or grab the right side control off eBay and swap on my steering wheel. Also gonna swap hid for led asap. Any ideas to make better or preventative maintenance priorities would be greatly appreciated!

 

you got pics?

 

I haven't made enough post to be granted image perms I believe. Looking at upgrading seat to leather and getting a navigation system in it, gonna upgrade with scrap yard parts and basically make it a touring.

 

Hi there I am new here from Moreno Valley
Mine is 07 Prius Gen 2

 

Hello! Long time reader, but newly joined from Arizona. We have a 2007 Prius. No picture right now, but it's a standard issue silver prius.

 

Here's my 2015 Prius One..

 

Welcome to PriusChat - prepare to be amazed and astounded at what you will learn here about your Prius, and just how willing and helpful people are in helping you discover all you need to know about your Prius!

 

Just bought an 08 Tuesday with a bad Main hybrid battery. $4750 all in. Drove it home over 120 miles and still got 45mpg. Pulled out the battery yesterday in an hour. Back story: we bought an 07 brand new and had it 11.5 years, 130k. Totaled in 2018. Brought all our kids home from the hospital in it. Now my son’s 15 and this 08 will be “his” first car… Super clean, 168k, cat shield. Every option except leather.

 

Hi everyone im new here!!! This is my new toy/project. 2012 prius iii

Actual Upgrades:
35% windows tint all around
LED all around in and out
Front lip

Future Upgrades:
Rear lip and sideskirts
Android Radio
Speakers and subwoofer
17 wheels
Rear quarter panel repair
Black roof paint/wrap

 

My baby:
2014 v Two Base, $4,000
Former NYC Taxi
Daily driver
~249k miles
Head redone @ ~245k ($3,000)

 

To all:

While I'm more of an "Advanced Beginner" to the Prius than a pure newbie (having had my car for just over 7 months now), I am definitely new to this forum, so hi there!
More importantly, I'm a novice car owner and a relatively new driver, this being my first vehicle . . . at age 47. (I am a disabled adult: long story.) I'm learning a lot about maintenance, driving, and other car care* as I go, and I've decided to find a community that actually knows what it's talking about, in order to learn and make adjustments more efficiently.

So, in keeping with the thread, here are some picks of what I've named "Franklin": my 2013 Prius Two, which had about 103k miles on it at purchase (but great mechanical reviews from AutoCheck, etc.). I gave him his name because, with his light-green paint job and grey interior, he looks like a big mint . . .





Anyway, I left out a picture of ME with the vehicle, for safety's sake. I'll have a maintenance question or two for the forum soon, especially with 5k miles since I bought it, and thus my first inspection coming soon.

* Specifically, since the purchase I've learned how to have the windshield replaced for a major crack, and fix a small one by myself. I've learned how to replace window wiper blades, how to check my wiper fluid, how to mount a bicycle rack, and how to refill my tires.

 

"Bicycle rack???" My bicycles ride INSIDE (wheels off, back seats down, 1 bike behind the driver, 1 bike behind the passenger) What about the Mother-in-Law? I hear you ask… …well, that's when the roof-rack goes on, and she rides on the roof! (…don't worry, she often has her daughter for company!)

 

You’re quite right that I said, “bicycle rack”: I was a cyclist long before I was a Prius driver.
Meanwhile, the last time I tried to load my 38-pound, basket-mounted steel bike inside of a sedan style car, I not only had to secure it with about 20 yards of rope, but I wound up screwing up the front wheel. So yes, I’ve purchased a strap-on rack until I can get Franklin mounted with a tow hitch and a Kuat rack. I’m not apologizing.

 

That looks very neat!

 

Hello Prius Chat,
I've admired the Prius for a long time but never got one. I just bought this 2009 w/125k off of Craigslist for $4500. It had been well maintained but got buried in a snowbank, and got scratched up by shovels and a snowblower. I enjoy driving it every day and looking forward making a few trips to the country before winter. I'll be seeing you on PriusChat.

 

Hi Everyone,

Here’s my ‘22 Prime XLE. Please let me know your thoughts or suggestions.

 

Tint those windows

 

Not a Prius newbie, but new to the forum. Thanks for the add! Finally signed up, felt compelled to respond to writeup that fixed my plugin outlet, saved me $180!

My Prius Journey:
I avoided Prius' like the plague (as most people do) Death before Prius! But all the while that 50mpg was awfully appealing, especially as gas prices kept rising. A customer of mine had a 2013 Plug-In, one day I caved and inquired about how he liked it. He loved it, amazing mpg and Toyota reliability; put in gas, change the oil and drive, simple as that. It turns out I called at the right time, his happened to be for sale; he had bought a Prius Prime several months earlier. So I bit the bullet and bought it from him Halloween 2019 with 122k miles. I succumbed to the Prius... what were people going to think?

After a short time and rising gas prices, I didn't care! This car felt like a video game, squeezing out every MPG possible. These little cars are truly amazing, I fully converted. Just as he said; charge, gas, oil, drive. So easy. It's taken my girlfriend a bit longer to warm up, I think her ego was more devastated than mine, but she nicknamed her "Princess" because I baby the car and it sounds like Prius. Now people go "you drive a Prius?" and my typical response is "Hell yeah, you should too!"

Within the first month, I tinted the windows 18% (as to hide my identity lol) and added low-profile window visors. I drove this way for 2 years, but my mod bug got the best of me. I got bored of looking like everyone else Prius, so I went to the interwebs and saw all these really sick looking slammed Prius' from Japan! I wanted to bag my Plug-in soooo bad.

December 2021, I lowered "Princess" on Godspeed Coilovers, Versus18x8 Wheels +35mm, 225/40R18 tires, 10mm wheel spacers up front and 15mm out back. All-in baby!!! I loved the way it looked and handled, drove the canyons WAAAAY too fast. But she didn't like driveways, speed bumps, parking blocks, etc. and definitely couldn't let anyone else drive her and tear up the underside. MPG took a huge hit though!! Went from a smug 54 mpg average to 35mpg instantly, defeated the whole purpose of owning a Prius!!



I ended up ditching the (very heavy) wheels 5 months later and rode low on stockers for several more months, back to 52 mpg, eventually painting those gloss black. Still looked really good lowered on wheel spaced stockers though. However, eventually got tired of the coilovers after almost a year; low rider angles through drive ways, speed bumps, scrapping the CatShield, etc., having to pay attention to EVERY object on the road. I went back to stock suspension and immediately appreciated the factory ride and more ride height. That didn't last long...

Seeing as I can't leave anything alone, back to mod obsessions. Years ago I stumbled across Prius Offroad and thought they looked really cool. Little had I known the community had grown and even 4th gens were getting involved like Dazer!! So I did a complete 180! I hit up Eric at Prius Offroad for a lift kit and 2" trailer hitch two weeks ago. After I installed the lift, I really needed to fill the wheel gap and added 215/70R15 Yokohama Geolanders. MPG took a slight hit, but still close to 45. How can you beat that!! The increased ground clearance and ease of getting in and out the car is phenomenal. The lift kit alone as worth it, but the tires just set it off.



And that's where we end for now.

 

I see you've been to the Pit... Nice change up .