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New Prius owner, 2005 Salsa, a few ?'s

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by austinography, Jul 15, 2014.

  1. austinography

    austinography New Member

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    2005 Prius
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    V
    I am the proud owner of a new-to-me 2005 Toyota Prius with package #6 (I think....still sorting out the packages). I bought it for $9250 and it has 70,500 miles on it, so I think I did pretty well.

    I have been reading all the stickies and newb threads and have begun to read through my manual. There is certainly no lack of information available, and I appreciate that. I have been trying to follow all the suggestions for driving to improve gas mileage, but so far I can barely muster 40mpg on my daily commute which is about 50/50 highway/city.

    Is there any known issues with the bluetooth in the 2005 working with modern smartphones? My moto X connects and works fine right after connecting, but the next day, it will not send the phone audio to the car. Comes up that BT connection was successful, but the phone audio does not transmit. I can get it working again by deleting the phone on the Prius and re-adding it, but then it will go out again the next day. Anyone else had this issue?

    Also, my front bumper is coping loose in a couple spots on the right side just in front of the wheel. I can pop it back in with my and, but it won't stay after the car has been on the road. Is it possible I am missing a clip there? Would that be easier to get to from the inside?

    If anyone can provide any insight on these minor issues, I'd appreciate it. And I already appreciate there being such a great community of Prius owners here that have already organized such a wealth of information.

    Thanks!

    Ryan
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome and congrats! on the mpg issue, there are so many possibilities. it might simply be how and where you drive. it could be as simple as a 12 volt battery, or as complicated as a failing hybrid battery. the best thing to do is fill out the 'why am i not getting better mpg's' sticky form by cwerdna. that will help us assess your situation. all the best!
     
  3. austinography

    austinography New Member

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    V
    Thanks, there is definitely some good information there. I'm not too worried about it right now. I've only been driving it a few days now and I'm sure once I get more used to driving the car and the weather get's a little cooler, it will improve.

    I guess my biggest concerns right now are the BT and updating the navigation. As well as cleaning out the hybrid battery fan, b/c I believe the previous owner transported pets in the vehicle.

    So, I found this on ebay, but with the rumors of the DVD nav update costing hundreds, is this really too good to be true? 2004 2005 2006 2007 Toyota Lexus 2014 DVD Navigation Map Update Gen 4 13 1 U28 | eBay
     
  4. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    Looks legit to me. I got mine off Ebay.
     
  5. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    The nav dvd may be worth it. How many changes were made to the streets where you drive?

    The tires & low tire pressure also affect fuel economy. If the tires aren't low rolling resistance & they are soft that could be 5-7mpg.
     
  6. austinography

    austinography New Member

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    The portion of the interstate I take and the road to my daughter's daycare do not exist on the current maps, so most of my commute looks like I am driving around in white space. I think it'd be worth the $30 for sure if that is a legit copy.

    I am definitely going to check the tire pressure tomorrow. Looks like I am out of luck on the BT issue. Some phones just don't seem to play nicely with the Prius...shame.
     
  7. austinography

    austinography New Member

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    Bumping my own thread to add some info on how I resolved BT issues, in case it could help anyone else.

    I changed a number of things and did not do them one at a time, so I apologize, but I cannot say for sure which one or combination of these things is the actual fix to the issue I was having of the BT connection succeeding, but the audio not being transmitted to the Prius.

    First, I unpaired from the phone and deleted the phone record on the Prius. I then changed the BT name on the Prius form HANDS FREE to BLUETOOTH HANDS FREE (probably inconsequential). I also changed the device name on my phone from the random model # to just "motox" (also probably inconsequential). I then changed the passcode on the Prius from it's default of 1212 to 0000, which I find to be more common for BT devices. At this point, I also upgraded my Nav DVD from Gen 4 4.1 to Gen 4 13.1. I also downloaded and installed an app from the playstore called Bluetooth Auto Connect, which is supposed to hold the BT connection better.

    As I said, idk which of these is actually the fix, but I think it at least gives you some options to try if you are also experiencing this issue with your older Gen II and newer Android phone.
     
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  8. austinography

    austinography New Member

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    Idk, if it's best to keep bumping my own thread, or to start another. If this is wrong, let me know.

    Anyway, I finally got around to putting in my VIN on the Toyota website to see the service records and it looks like a lot was done between 57K and 67K miles. I bought the car at 70K miles and so far so good, but I wondered if one of you expert's might be able to take a look at my records and let me know if it seems odd to you. Can I just post my VIN here?

    Thanks,

    Ryan
     
  9. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    you already bought the car, what's there to look up? You can't return it.

    From this point forward, if the car doesn't give you any problems, then great. Just do the maintenance on schedule.
     
  10. AllenZ

    AllenZ Active Member

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    You are pretty handy, looks like. I'm sure you'll be fine learning quickly and keep your new car at optimal state.
    Low mpg could be the weak 12V battery, if you sense the engine running none stop.
     
  11. Data Daedalus

    Data Daedalus Senior Member

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    Congratulations on your new package 6 Salsa Prius II. I have one that colour too in the UK.

    Make sure the tyres are pumped properly. Also check what tyres are fitted and how much tread they have left. If they're not LRR Tyres, that'll explain your present MPG dilemma. When last was the car serviced? Is the engine filter filthy?

    Lastly, and I mean this as a partial joke, you don't drive a Prius. You fly it. What I mean, weird British humour aside, is that owning and driving a Prius is a whole different experience from driving a normal car. Most of the habits acquired driving "normal" (so called - I'd say they're archaic) cars go out the window.

    The Prius is as sophisticated as a cross between an aircraft and space shuttle mixed with automotive genes.
    It's an aerodynamic road going platform powered by the Hybrid Synergy Drive, that you need to learn to take advantage of ;).

    Savings are not made by driving slowly. Rather, read up / Google "Pulse and Glide" techniques - they really do work! Take this from a 13 month owner of a Prius T Spirit who had no idea how to do this.
    *Regenerative breaking is your friend - use it to recharge your battery; you can then use that energy to crawl in go stop traffic jams.
    *Get up to speed quickly, then feather that "fly by wire" throttle pedal - and watch your MPG rise. Don't waste fuel "racing" other cars (I'm not saying you do). *Keep your speed constant on a long road and you'll see your MPG rise significantly.
    *Use the Cruise Control when on mostly flat terrain, set it to between 55 to 65mph max and reap the gains.
    *Take advantage of downward inclines when at or under 40mph and there's no one behind you seething - feather the throttle appropriately - into a glide and float along using NO fuel or battery power for a long while. Practise makes perfect.
    *Also consider going down similar more shallow inclines at up to a constant 50mph or whereabouts, while feathering that throttle so that the ICE is running, but giving you 99mpg while simultaneously recharging the HV. You'd be surprised how that keeps your MPG high.
    *Like a Space Shuttle pilot re-entering the atmosphere, take advantage of the momentum you build coming down a hill you've just climbed. You can travel quite a distance at 99mpg on momentum.
    *Plan ahead driving in the streets. Begin your braking sequence earlier than usual (Some ICE drivers love racing from traffic lights to traffic lights, braking at the last second - what a waste of fuel...!!!). No point revving ahead when you're stopping in about 200 yards or something. Almost everyone does that here.

    There's too much to tell, keep an eye on the threads, you'll soon get the catch of this - but adopt the attitude of an airline pilot behind the wheel of a Prius, and you'll quickly reap the dividends. Hope that helps :D



    iPad ? HD
     
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