Just bought a sky blue 2006 pkg 2!

Hi everybody! I'm a new Prius owner and already a big fan of your community.

I was in an accident in my 2004 Vibe that I loved dearly. She was SO reliable, roomy enough for me (6 foot 3), AND economical (manual trans--I got 34 mpg routinely, and got almost 39 once). That is a hard package to find for a tall guy. After looking high and low for another Vibe with a stick shift and not finding many, I decided to start from scratch in my online search and just find the most reliable cars with the best gas milage.

I test drove a Prius (not The One) and then a 2009 Vibe. After taking the Vibe for a spin, it was familiar and fun. They are zippy little cars with the stick; it had more power than my 2004 but the overall experience didn't compare with the roomy and 21st century Prius. Getting 50mpg on the freeway was easy. The CVT is interesting and fun too. It's brand new to me; I'm a die-hard stick shift guy. Driving home after those 2 test drives I knew I was destined to be a Prius owner. So I did some research and a LOT of searching around Michigan. After speaking to sellers talk my ear off about their Prii, I was certain I was on the right track, and one way or another a Prius would be my next car.

Last Saturday, I found a 2006 with 89,000 miles and it's the nicest car I've ever owned..! It's a little older than I originally wanted, but the price was right. The car was purchased new by a retired GM engineer who just bought his third Prius and stated it was the best car ever built. After meeting the previous owner in person and taking his car for a spin I pulled the trigger. It's well cared-for with regular oil changes at the dealer, and garaged it's whole life, tho there is some rust around the rear suspension, but overall she is beautiful.

Upon closer inspection of the dealer service records, I noticed the previous owner had an issue with the cruise light flashing and intermittently not working. The dealer diagnosed it as a faulty ECU at 30k miles. Nope, the problem came back and was traced to a faulty brake light switch. I'm guessing the parking brake?

The owner declined the gas pedal fix for the "surging" issue, and did have the hybrid water pump replaced at 75k miles. The cabin air filter was replaced at 70k, and engine air filter was "R&R'd" at 55k miles.

Everything works properly now--as you would expect, being owned by an automotive engineer. The credentials in the guy's office were as impressive as what he said about the Prius. GM, some association of engineers, Habitat for Humanity, etc, etc.. even a hole-in-one. A very nice old man

I got 48mpg on the highway home, much of that in cruise, but I also experimented a bit with drafting other cars and trucks. Pretty amazing watching the milage on the computer tick around 70 to the gallon while you're going 70+ mph. (Eyes on the road!) Amazingly, I seemed to get the best milage at a safe following distance. If I got too close to the truck in front of me and the computer ticked back downward toward 45 and 50.

Today I did the 12V battery check (with the hidden buttons, not the headlights) and got 13.9V.

I also saw around the forum somewhere to change the transaxle fluid. I don't see that anywhere in the maintenance records or handbook. Should I do that soon? The car feels like it shifts just fine but the CVT is new to me.

Thanks for listening, can't wait to explore the car and these forums more!