Only drive on highly maintained roads

[venterm]

I am a new Prius owner and was horrified to read in the manual (big red sticker) that the Prius should only be driven on highly maintained roads ....... what is the definition of highly maintained?

[marjam]

I think that it means that the Prius is not an off-road vehicle. No car likes to drive on roads full of pot holes and major irregularities as it effects the tires, suspension, etc. The car also has a low ground clearance so driving on unpaved back rods can be tricky.

I do not consider any of the roads in the Washington area to be "highly maintained" but the Prius is fine doing what you ask any other "regular" car to do!

[john1701a]

I've driven my Prius on minimum maintanence roads for the sake of getting to remote locations for photos. And just like any other vehicle intended for pavement, those rough & unpredictable dirt roads are a bad idea. I don't suggest it. That's what a truck is for.

[Rangerdavid]

I defninately take that to mean its not an "off road" vehicle. Up here in the mountains, if its not a primary or secondary road, its probably not even paved. Seriously, the street we live on is a "state maintained road" and its not paved. But the Pruis does fine on a gravel or dirt road. I dont take it four wheeling or anything like that, and I definately avoid the roads that have "ruts" due to the ground clearance. This winter, I probably won't even drive it in the snow, since my other vehicle is a four wheel drive.

So highly maintained is definately a relative term. In Japan or Washington D.C. it may be the four or six lane roads with smooth asphalt. Here, its paved, or any road with a new coat of gravel on it!! Just goes to show what an amazingly flexible car this is!

By the way, congratulations on you new Prius!!! I hope you enjoy it, and can get information from this site as we all have, to assist you in gaining the full benefit and pleasure from your new vehicle. (also click the link in John's signature above to go to his site and check that out for more valuable Pruis info)

[etyler88]

This is why you should not read the manual. It is just a car, don't fuss: gas it, oil it and drive.

[Tempus]

Being from West Virginia, I recognize that there is a wide variation on people's definition of a 'maintained' road, and the varying degrees thereof.

There are county roads there paved with "Crush and Run" (Unsorted raw crushed limestone gravel which included big chunks and rock dust which tends to bind it all together).

They are 'maintained' by the county. They even get plowed occasionally in winter.

But, they rapidly develop both ruts and 'harmonic washboarding'.

Once every couple of years the county will run a grader down them followed by a steam roller, but if you catch them a year after their touch-up, you'd be hard pressed to get any normal sedan down them without 'high centering', much less a Prius.

Bottom line:

Recognize that the car is low to the ground and drive accordingly.

Recognize that the car is not AWD and will not get you out of mud or sand and drive accordingly.

Common Sense is your friend. Worrying too much about the definition of 'highly maintained' is an exercise for lawyers

[richard schumacher]

Gravel bad. The air conditioner condensor (heat exchanger to outside air) is relatively exposed behind the lower grille, and can be punctured by road debris. On gravel, go slow and stay well behind other traffic.

[daniel]

While I'd prefer driving only on well-maintained paved roads, what are you supposed to do when you're on a road trip and half-way along a 4-hour drive back towards home, they've torn up the road and it's all big rock banging against the bottom of the car? Turn around and try getting home in a week, in the hopes they've maybe finished repairing the road??? (This happened to me when returning from Canada in June. On the U.S. side of the border they had torn up the only road leading south from the border station. They had torn up the whole road and covered it with large rock --not gravel!-- and there was no way around it. A travel trailer towed by a pickup got stuck just ahead of me and had to be towed out by the heavy road-building equipment.)

I saw a thing on TV while at a hotel (I have no TV at home) in which these loonies tried to destroy an old Toyota. They crashed it, burned it, let the ocean tide come up over it, but they could not render it inoperable. -- I'd rather drive on good roads, but I'm not going to worry too much about my Prius.

[Charles Suitt]

<_< QUOTE: "This is why you should not read the manual." --*SIGH* Shows the unfortunate attitude of some folks - or perhaps they never learned to read.

... and depend on the good PriusChat folks who will answer your questions which are clearly answered in the Owner's Manual. There is a wealth of helpful information in the manual. RTFM.

[richard schumacher]

Well, ya gotta do what ya gotta do. If the rocks are big enough they won't pass through the grille, unless they're moving really fast :_>