What every newb should know

[Tardis Wannabe]

Ok, I'll bite. Should you only have a Prius towed on a flatbed? Sorry I am just learning in preparation for Prius ownership.

[dogfriend]

Originally Posted by Tardis Wannabe

Ok, I'll bite. Should you only have a Prius towed on a flatbed? Sorry I am just learning in preparation for Prius ownership.

Yes. Because the drivetrain is always mechanically engaged, you should not tow the Prius very far on all 4 wheels. The owners manual recommends lifting the front wheels or flatbed towing.

[hiremichaelreid]

Originally Posted by Tardis Wannabe

Ok, I'll bite. Should you only have a Prius towed on a flatbed? Sorry I am just learning in preparation for Prius ownership.

Every newb owner should read their owners manual, IMO. ( I'm only halfway through mine at 11 days.)

Since you don't have an owners manual (or Prius) yet:

No flatbed is not necessary. There's one type of towtruck that should not be used, but I don't recall what it is right now...

[dogfriend]

Originally Posted by hiremichaelreid

There's one type of towtruck that should not be used, but I don't recall what it is right now...

They don't want you to use a sling type because it is likely to cause body damage.

[morpheusx]

make sure to share this information with spouse or others who routinely drive your car. I went ahead and told my wife the other day after reading the inverter story. If the Prius for whatever reason will not start, and you suspect it is the battery under no circumstances do you let anyone try to help you jump it besides me. Then also made sure to let her know the consequences, if they don't know what they are doing they could cause about $5000 damage to the inverter.

[theoriginalwheelstv]

Originally Posted by freshmtt

This is great advice.. I have never driven my Prius when it got below 3 pips, after reading all the horror stories about running out of gas. And now that the price of gas is just getting crazy, I decided to just fill up when it reaches a half tank, about 5 pips, no matter what. With a car such as this, that is NOT like the normal car, I will never ever test it with the gas gauge. There is just no sense in doing this. Thus I will never really be able to give figures or facts about the real MPG for a full tank of gas because I will never let my tank get down to empty ever...

When you fill up with gas set the trip odometer to zero. The the next time you fill up you will know just how far you got with how much gas.

[Tomes]

Originally Posted by theoriginalwheelstv

When you fill up with gas set the trip odometer to zero. The the next time you fill up you will know just how far you got with how much gas.

The trouble with this is that the gas tank is not necessarily the same size as it was when you filled it up the last time. It contains a bladder that can change size. the more tankfuls you average your MPG over, the more accurate you will get.

Me - I have given up on figuring that way and just use the display. If you do not use the reset button you get the calculated MPG over as many tankfuls as you can not use that button for, even though it does reset the miles driven number once you start moving along again.

Perhaps it is not perfectly accurate, but it is all I have, really, due to the bladder thing.

[Prius77094]

The nice thing about filling up to a full tank of gas and then refilling at half a tank is, you don't get the price shock like every other guy at the gas station gets. My friend said he had to fill up his medium sized pick-up truck yesterday and it cost him $90.00!!!!
That is why I bought the Prius.

[richard schumacher]

When you fill up with gas set the trip odometer to zero. The the next time you fill up you will know just how far you got with how much gas.

That will tell you how far you *went*, but that *does not indicate* how far you can go the next time you fill up, even if you buy the same amount of fuel. That is the crucial point. Throw away your expectations and instead watch the fuel gauge.

[Putt]

I have had my 2008 Silver Pine package 6 for 4 weeks and have filled it up twice, each time I let it get down to 1 pip, It took 9.4 gals. each time. We love this car. Has any one purchased the Heatshield sun shade? Would love to hear some comments.