Buying Used Prius Agonizing over Details : }

Whew! We can resume breathing now!

Congratulations, and many trouble-free miles!

 

There are a couple of "noises" that you will hear after shutdown on the Gen Two (2004-2009) Prius.

Usually, you'll hear the coolant flow valve moved to allow hot coolant to flow into the thermal canister ( it is like an old school Thermos, keeps the heat inside for up to three days). It makes a distinctive whirl noise that stops after about five to ten seconds.

After that, you may hear some noises that sound like air escaping or at other times a whistle. I have been told that this is the sound of the capacitors "unloading" or dissipating their leftover charge. None of these noises bother me anymore. Occasionally, My wife will say your Prius is making some weird noises and my answer is "unless it's on fire, don't worry about it".

I would feel confident in saying, if your Prius had a recent oil change you could drive it anywhere in the continental United States. They just don't have problems. You will see, and if it does the dealer has a
handle on how to fix it already.

I'll get off my soapbox now. I hope to see more photos tomorrow. Crap, its after midnight, I'm setting the DVR and going to bed. I love seeing Amy Schumer on SNL, she's crazy and funny. She says it all. G'night everybody. JTM

 

Another sound you might hear sounds like a buzzing or clicking coming from under the hood. You may hear it after shut down. This sound is normal, so don't lose any sleep over it. Also you might hear a sound when you first open the door before you get in. Usually this sound is the brake pressure accumulator pump (I may be using the wrong term or name). It usually is not very loud, but can be heard even if you are half deaf like I am. You may also hear the same sound from time to time when you use the brakes.

The Prius does make some funny sounds at times, but once you get used to them they won't bother you any more.

I am glad to see you got the one you did. Am curious as to what the final OTD price was. And I do think you made a good choice when you consider everything that you went through and looked at.

I will second the comment on checking the air pressure in the spare. It should have 60 lbs. of air in it. You will have to turn it over to check the pressure which will involve removing the jack to access the spare. All of that is in the back end under neath the big black box which lifts out.

Read the owner's manual, all 3xx pages or so. It will give you a good understanding of what things are and what to expect.

Best of luck to you again. Enjoy your new to you Prius!

 

MPG will vary depending on how long the car has been on. In the first five minutes of driving, the ICE is running a lot just to warm itself up (not contributing to good MPGs at that time). Usually the MPGs in the first five minutes of driving from a cold start are 25-35mpg. After the ICE has warmed up, if I cruise at 65mph, I get between 45-50 in both my Prii.

 

Depends on what display. They might be different in gen2, but when I first drove out my gen3 it was reading 23 mpg for the trip. We hit a gas station on the way home maybe 40 miles later or so and it had gotten up into the high 30s but whatever they had been doing at the dealer (probably idling for hours) really hurt the MPG for that tank. I honestly wouldn't worry about MPG until you have had your own tank from start to finish.

 

Can't help with the state taxes as we don't have any of those down here.

Any noise immediately before start up or after shut down is most likely normal as long as it happens for a few seconds. I would be concerned about a noise lasting a minute or longer. It is like a new or unfamiliar house. The first few nights you hear the traffic, the creaks, the furnace but after a few days, nothing.

The car is beautiful. Looks like it rolled out of the factory yesterday. I'd like to see a closeup of the fog lights. From a distance they look fine.

Johnnyb588 is correct about the fuel economy and with the bladder in the tank you are going to see some wild swings tank to tank. Don't get too euphoric on the highs or bummed on the lows as they will average out. Although it might be a pain, fill up now & start keeping track of your own tanks.

My worst tank was 39.6mpg and the best was 77.5mpg. Cross country I would get low 50s. If you do a lot of short hopping getting and holding 50mpg is going to be tough.

Once you get settled down we'll take you to the next level.

 

Daisy,

The MPG you reported is a little low IMO. Check the air pressure in the tires. If they are at the placard setting on the door, that will explain part of it. Driving habits and use of climate control also contribute to MPG variation.

Not sure what type of tires are on it, but the Prius seems to benefit from LRR type tires.

The best I ever got out of our Gen II was 56.3 as per the MFD. Remember that YMMV.



Google "Pulse & Glide" in a Prius for more information on how to obtain numbers like you see above. I will say this, the Gen II that these results came from had Mobil 1 oil in it (5W 30) and Michelin Energy Saver A/S Tires on it that were inflated to 42 F 40 R. You can also note by the temperature displayed above that it was in the heat of the summer when I got those kind of numbers.

Remember YMMV

According to the sticker you posted, the car came equipped with 15" tires. IIRC, the Gen II "touring" models came with 16" tires.

Here is a link to a site that discusses the various packages for the 2009. Click on the plus signs to expand each item. I think you will find that you have a "package 6". Either way you got pretty much top of the line in my book. You did well! FYI, as you go from base to package #6 items are added with each package. A package 6 will have everything listed in 6 and the packages below it (2, 3, 4 etc.)

Used 2009 Toyota Prius 4Dr Hatchback Package Options & Optional Equipment - IntelliChoice.com

Here is another link that I think you will be interested in.


2009 Toyota Prius Specifications, Pricing, Photos - Motor Trend

 

I will add, too, what Ron said. And all of us agree that your Mileage May Vary.

My addition is the fuel you use can cause a BIG difference in fuel mileage. I always use Top Tier fuel in my Prius and my other vehicles also. You paid lots of money for your Prius, don't skim on fuel.

Its easy to find Top Tier, use the Gas Buddy app. I can see a two to five mpg difference. Use good fuel and you will get good results. Plus it will help keep those injectors clean.

Another app I use is Fuelly.com. You will be able to see what other Prii like your are getting for mileage. It also makes it easy to track your mileage over time. Plus, it will graph your mileage, average your mileage over your cars lifetime, and I like this the best, fuel cost per mile. No calculator or calculations needed.

Tire pressure is important. But on mine, I find that proper inflation is better than overimflation. A car that rides like a Radio Flyer red wagon is no fun to ride or drive. I increased my pressure by 1 psi to cover any gauge variations. It rides great. I tried the 40 psi front and 38 psi rear and it didn't do much for mine. I even went to 44 psi front and 42 psi back. Not much difference at all.

Be sure to use your cruise control whenever possible. If you flat mat the pedal all the time, your mileage will be flat also.

I don't use B position unless I'm going down hill or I need extra braking to slow that car down.

It looks very nice, Daisy. That leather looks great. No wonder you like that car, it looks as though its never been used..

 

I would reserve B mode for ski hills and the like. Around town, a short downhill: you are better off using the brake, it'll generate more electricity for the hybrid battery too. The only time you need to use B mode is extremely long downgrades, where there's a possibility of the hybrid battery charging to the point it'll refuse to charge further, and the car will switch over to friction brakes only. Continued sustained use of the friction brakes will eventually overheat them, may damage. But again, this is only on crazy long down grades, the kind where they tell trucks to pull over and check brakes.

 

Looks pretty good, I'd say. Gravel roads, stones, even ice and hard pack snow could have done it. If the lights still work, I'd leave it alone until the lens or light bulb broke or burned out.

Mine has multiple scars on the hood from all the crap I've had to drive through. Good thing is the hoods made of aluminium. No rust ever, and Ford brags about their F-150. Yeah it all aluminium, but Prius had that years ago.

 

Thanks for the photo. Now I understand why you missed the damaged fog lights on the first pass. I would not replace them.

In the US side signal lights are still missing. The DIY crowd removed the emblems on the front fenders, used those holes and wired up a pair. It seemed every other country got the lights and Toyota saved a buck or two because they aren't required here.

You can check the voltage of the 12v battery through the MFD. A quick search should find the instructions. That is an easy DIY job when it is time to replace.

It's been two months--seems like forever. Not the longest or hardest quest for a Prius. Time to party.

 

The Prius has an aluminum hood & hatch. The Insight was all aluminum.

 

Otis Day and the Knights, my man. Is that Bluto I see?
You know it makes me wanna shout, shout, shout...a little bit louder now...

 

congrats daisy, all the best!

 

Last vehicle I sold to an individual I went with him to the courthouse to get the papers put in his name. Only after the paperwork was done did I hand over the keys. Here in Texas you even pull plates when you sell vehicles. Same thing on trade in's. Plates come off and new plates issued to new owners.

You done good Daisy!

Animal House...

Almost forgot, I carry a blue tarp in the black box under the back floor boards for when I am hauling gardening stuff.

Who needs a truck, the Prius will haul it all! | PriusChat

 

My wife has a special blue tarp we have had for years. When we haul mulch it's usual wet. It works and if it doesn't we have a Hoover carpet cleaner that works very well.

I've had the interior detailed once. It really make the car feel ultra clean. I worked at a place that gave us black pants to wear as part of a uniform. It left gray stains on the beige interior. The detailer really worked a miracle by getting that out.

Be careful how you clean your windshield. That is a long reach. And, I got too much cleaner on my glass, it ran down to the speedometer. For about two days, the numbers looked like they stood out from the fuel gauge and the transmission quadrant. Afterward the numbers receded back to normal.

It's party time, we got the cedar fence stained completely today. That was four hundred feet of four foot by four inches pickets. It took better than eight gallons of stain.

Doing that makes working on cars feel easy. Next, replace the garbage disposal rubber gasket

 

I drove my Prius to get pizza for the gang that helped stain my fence. My car now reeks of garlic onion and pepperoni.
I got the rubber gasket in place after two trips to two different big box stores. In-sink-erator makes a "special" rubber gasket with a lip that holds it to the top of the disposal.
Oh my, it is SO much quieter now. For $12 and two trips to the stores it is fixed
Now how can I relate this to Prius power? Let's see, two trips at five miles each way equal twenty miles. .057 cents per mile times 20 miles equal $1.14 for fuel.Not bad for an eleven going on twelve year old vehicle ( this is based on the cost of fuel for the past twelve months, not Lifetime results). No its not total electric power, but it did it with zero trouble. Just drive it. After all, its not how fast you get there, its how economically you can do the trip. Now that's high performance.