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New to the Prius family

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Ruisustyle, Aug 22, 2016.

  1. Ruisustyle

    Ruisustyle Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2016
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    Location:
    Four Oaks, NC
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Hi all,

    I'm new to the Prius family. Actually i'm new to cars in general I purchased my first car on 8/12 two days before my birthday on the 14th (05 Prius with 136k on it).
    Anyways since I'm new to everything in general I was hoping you guys would take me under your wing and guide me on the big things I should know regarding the Prius and maybe even cars in general. I appreciate any help that I might get and hope to learn lots from everyone here.
     
    #1 Ruisustyle, Aug 22, 2016
  2. johnjohnchu

    johnjohnchu Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 12, 2008
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    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Check engine oil on the regular basis, especially for 10+ year old Prius.
     
    #2 johnjohnchu, Aug 22, 2016
  3. 'LectroFuel

    'LectroFuel Senior Member

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    Location:
    San Juan Capistrano, CA
    Vehicle:
    2018 Tesla Model 3
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    Check your engine more often than a regular basis. Like once every 1-2 weeks. My 05 is an extreme oil burner. Also, the hybrid battery might be really weak, giving you bad MPG (mine gets about 38). The A/C uses the hybrid battery like crazy and really dents your MPG. Lastly, the brakes on a Prius last a LONG time. Mine are on the first set and my car has 242k miles.
     
    #3 'LectroFuel, Aug 23, 2016
    prius_power likes this.
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
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    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
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    Plug-in Base
    congrats and welcome! you ask questions, we make up answers. if we don't know, we won't admit it. all the best!(y)
     
    #4 bisco, Aug 23, 2016
  5. prius_power

    prius_power Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2016
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    Location:
    Ohio
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    What LectroFuel said. I have an 08, and it doesn't burn oil, but I've read of plenty of others whose do. I would also recommend taking the car for an inspection if you haven't after about 2K miles. I bought mine and it was leaking engine coolant, so I had the coolant pump replaced. May sound like a lot, but it's really not different than any car of it's age. Treat it well and it will treat you well.
     
    #5 prius_power, Aug 23, 2016
  6. Kevin_Denver

    Kevin_Denver Active Member

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2016
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    Location:
    Denver, CO
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Welcome to PC!

    Hmm, what advice to give..........

    1. If anything goes wrong with the car, have the codes read first thing (or do it yourself with a code reader - A mini VCI cable for your laptop costs $20 and is worth its weight in gold for diagnosing problems)
    2. If you get weird failures/codes or poor gas mileage, one of the first things to check is your 12V battery
    3. Learn the different warm up stages of the Prius. This will help explain a lot of its behavior and help you understand what's normal versus not normal
    4. Think about changing your transaxle fluid - it's not a scheduled maintenance item, but should really be done about every 60k based on oil analysis. Important for taking the Prius to very high mileage (200k+ miles)
     
    #6 Kevin_Denver, Aug 23, 2016
  7. Ruisustyle

    Ruisustyle Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2016
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    Location:
    Four Oaks, NC
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Thank you all for all the great info. I'll be taking my Prius to get its oil changed by Monday and I might as well get it inspected while I'm at it.

    Unfortunately it seems that the little guy is already acting up. My odometer randomly decides not to work when I start the car and I need to unplug the 12v to fix this issue. I hope it isn't something terrible or unfixable.

    I'll also be looking into getting one of those code readers. If anyone has anymore advice please feel free to comment and expand my knowledge of cars. I appreciate it.
     
    #7 Ruisustyle, Aug 25, 2016
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