After one week, I had a chance to check the tire pressures on the new 2012 GenIII Prius. The door jam label recommends the tires kept at 35psi Ft, 33 psi Rr as well as what the salesman told me here in phoenix told me. Yet the pressures I measured was @29.5 - 30psi for all four tires. This Toyota dealership should be insuring the the proper pressures from the factory. Even if there is an error from the factory to a heated weather state, both the Ft and Rr pressures were the same values. I went ahead on inflated the ft to 40psi and Rr to 38psi based on recommendations from this board in regards to getting higher mileage.
That got me wondering what my dealer had in my tires. I just picked mine up this week. Just checked and the dealer has mine set to 40/38.
FWIW, on my 02 Maxima, I discovered that my car had its tires at far above the placard pressures (which were 35 psi, IIRC). Cold pressures were well above 40 psi. I'm guessing that perhaps the tires were overinflated by Nissan or at the dealer where the car came from (was a dealer trade) to prevent flat spots.
The Prius is not imported from Canada & I seriously doubt anyone is going to do a dealer trade to bring one over the border as there are too many differences. Just because Toyota pays to prep the car do you really expect all those things checked off on the checklist were really checked? If tp is important then check it on the lot before signing for the car. I'm sure the Sales Dept. can get someone to put as much or as little air in the tires as you want. TP is important to me but I knew it was going to be low so I just filled up at home. Mention it on the Customer Satisfaction Survey.
Dealer gets blamed for tire pressure a little low? New tires air pressure move around alot. Better get used to it. On the crappy Gen II Integrites you could lose 5 lbs overnight. The standard tires that come on new cars suck.
That's nothing, when I bought my Gen III the drivers seat was in the wrong position and the mirrors weren't adjusted they way I wanted them. Tire pressure wasn't quite right either, but no one in their right mind wouldn't check that as soon as they brought a new car home.
Maybe. Or maybe they just didn't reduce the factory pressure, intentionally set high to prevent flat spots during the car's Pacific Cruise. My first Prius arrived with mixed 39/40, and numerous other buyers at that time reported similar figures. The dealer is supposed to reduce it to the door placard level during PDI, but some don't.
If they set the tire pressure in the morning at 60F then two weeks later the car is sold to you but now the temperature has dropped to 40F in the morning who is to blame? The 2psi loss is not the dealer's fault. Tire pressure fluctuates quite a bit throughout the day and it would be hard for the dealer to predict weather such that you have the prefect tire pressure. Tire Tech Information - Air Pressure, Temperature Fluctuations
Sorry to hijack your thread but I have a quick question.... I had my prius for around 1 year and 9 months now.... The car has over 46K mile on the stock Yokohoma Avid 195/65-15. I recently drove from NJ to ND and upon reaching here, checked my pressure for the first time... all the 4 tires have pressure around 28.5PSI. what is the ideal one? i see that manufacturer recommends 35Ft, 33Rr but this wonderful Forum members recommend 40Ft, 38Rr PSI. My Yokohoma Avid says maximum PSI is 40.. what would you recommend?
40 f 38 r is a good place to start. Depends on how rough a ride you can tolerate. If 40 doesn't bother you pump it up more.
Thanks for the reply.... I am about to go with 38 and 36 and if that is fine, i would pump up to 40 and 38
Three good reasons to do that. 1. If he likes 40/38 there will be no need to do further evaluation. 2. Tires slowly lose air so he will get to try 38/36 with no additional effort if he is patient 3. The weather is getting cooler, so 38/36 will arrive even sooner. If I expect the weather to be getting cooler or staying the same, I usually inflate my tires 2 psi above my ideal pressure so I don't have to muck with them again as soon. If the weather is going to be getting warmer, I inflate them to my ideal pressure and hope the temperature increase compensates for leakage. ~1 psi per 10 deg F
