introduction to Prius Chat

Hi. I am new to joining this forum though I have been reading several threads since acquiring a 2005 Prius two months ago from my mom. The car had only 43000 miles on it when I started driving it. (She upgraded to a 2008 Prius w/leather and navigation.)

I have already put new Costco tires on and increased the tire pressure to 42psi front and 40psi back. I also purchased the stabilizer upgrade which has made the ride stiffer but better on the turns which is great because I drive a lot for work in the hills. I also helped change the transmission fluid and will soon be changing the oil as i want to take good care of this car and do what i can myself.

That said, i made the mistake yesterday of gong thru an automated car wash in Ready mode in Neutral. I depleted the Nimh battery so much that there was a loud continuous beep, the triangle with the center ! light was on and the display went to 'warning' and showed a red battery icon. I now know what to do after reading several of the threads listed here. Thank you. I just would like to know i didn't harm the Nimh battery too badly? It drove fine after and recharged to 7 bars green. I have not seen this car get fully charged to 8 bars green but i am under the impression that is normal. Please correct me if I'm wrong?

My other questions are:

How can i track my own gas mileage? I just filled up and hit the reset button on the energy/consumption display screen. But i'm confused as to how many miles it tracks before resetting. I believe it's resetting before i have to fill up again so do i just add the two readings and divide by 11.9 (as in gallons per tank)?

And then where is the best place to get a hitch and bike rack? I did some reading here. Aside from carrying my bike, i'd also like to protect the back bumper from dings and scrapes as here in the city, bumper bumping is commonplace.

And that's it for now, though its a lot i know. I guess i had more to say than i realized. Thanks for all the useful information.

Best,
Amanda