Used Prius - New Owner

Hello to whomever might come across this.

I am brand new to this community (as in hybrid cars in general). I just acquired a 2010 Prius with 227k miles. I was only open to purchasing it as such because A) It's a Toyota, B) It's a Prius, C) It was obvious from the seller's description and then proven in the subsequent inspection, test-drive, etc. that this car has been IMMACULATELY cared for and maintained by it's only owner. Almost all of those miles are cruise-controlled highway miles between Riverside and San Diego (work commute). As further evidence, the car has been garaged it's entire life and the int/ext are spotless. He now lives in SE Arizona, as do I.

So . . . He has been changing the oil every 5,000 miles and I still have half of that to go. I believe he's been using 5w30 (or maybe it was 10w30) blend oil. Thoughts on that? Should I stick to the heavier weight because of the miles? Switch to full synthetic? It still has the original HV battery, so I'm preparing for it's inevitable replacement. Even the 12V battery is still the original! :-o I guess my question is quite broad, but . . . What else do Prius veterans suggest I investigate further to stay on top of keeping this beauty happy? The 2010 through 2015 service records through his dealership in Carlsbad, Ca. are all up at Toyota, but I haven't looked through them in any detail yet.

Thanks for any suggestions, questions, feedback, etc.

Roderick

 

Excellent! I'll dig into the suggested maintenance issues, see if any have been performed already and go from there and I'm definitely intrigued by the Prolong system! Thanks for that! :-D

R

 

Well, I'm thrilled to report that I finally scoured through all of the maintenance records and in fact last July (shy of 50k miles ago) the previous owner did the EGR service, brake fluid exchange, coolant service, inverter service, cabin air filter change, throttle body service, rear hubs, and "evacuate and recharge" (I'm not clear - is that the HV Battery?). He says he had them put in the "expensive" spark plugs and that they should still have another 40k on them.

I will still have a look at all of this over the weekend, but I'm encouraged by the records.

Roderick

 

Indeed!

Long ago, I used to be a grease monkey, but admittedly I've spent the last 30 years doing all I can to avoid it. I went into this car intending to do as much as I can myself again. In fact I spent an hour or so Saturday watching an assortment of videos about some of these particular services before finding out that they had already been done. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Fortunately, I picked this car up for such a GREAT price that I'm less concerned with resale value and more with just keeping it going as long as possible.

Roderick

 

Well, I've now gone through a full tank and a half of gas and am calculating about 35mpg.

I just watched a video someone posted elsewhere here on Priuschat that explained all the driving/braking behaviors for increasing one's mileage, so I'll be incorporating those in the future. I sure didn't expect the mileage to be so low, though. Admittedly, my daughter drove the car for several days 'like a normal car', as I had not showed her anything yet. She also then drove it the 75 miles on the highway to bring it to me at 75+ mph. I, on the other hand have kept it around 65mph when I'm on the highway. We're in Arizona, so the AC has been on every time we've been in the car. :-o I've also got to check the tire pressure. They all 'look good', but maybe they're low and I don't realize it.

All that said, does it sound normal to be getting such low mileage? Any suggestions are appreciated.

Roderick

 

Yep, the original owner only went to Toyota for everything, even oil changes, Haha. I'm hoping that suggests thorough service. I did watch a video about servicing the EGR and if I have to, I'll dive into it.

I paid $2,500. Pic attached.

Yeah, I'll check the tire pressure next. I believe I normally get average mileage, though I've long had unconventional circumstances; a Toyota FJ Cruiser, but with much larger truck tires, or older, used cars, etc. Haha. LONG ago I owned a Chevy Metro and got 50mpg on the highway. I know I'm still driving it a bit too 'normal' and half the miles on it so far are my daughter, who drove it even more 'normal', but it still seems like awfully low mileage. I'll just have to start eliminating issues one at a time, I guess.

One of my challenges is that I live 2.5 miles down a rough dirt road that I don't want to abuse this car with, so when I'm just running into town (12 miles away), I'll keep using my old '97 Tahoe. I bought this car specifically for when I need to go out of town. For instance, I usually drive about 80 miles to Tucson every couple of weeks to visit my offspring. And then at some point next year I will likely move elsewhere , and that's when this car will start to get more daily usage. That's all great for keeping the car in decent shape, but means it may take me some time to troubleshoot things. :-P