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First road trip in my 2011

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by alltherightpills, Jun 8, 2021.

  1. alltherightpills

    alltherightpills Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    St. Louis, MO
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I bought my 2011 about 3 weeks ago with just under 130k on it. Thanks to the wisdom here, I’ve successfully changed the oil, both coolants, transmission fluid, front brake pads, spark plugs, lubed the brake caliper pins, cleaned the egr valve/cooler/intake manifold, replaced the PCV, and installed an oil catch can. Genuinely could not have done all that without tons of Priuschat reading & research.

    It’s been running great around town, but tomorrow through Saturday I’m making the drive from St. Louis to Maine. Really looking forward to seeing how it handles those highway miles.
     
  2. alltherightpills

    alltherightpills Junior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Almost forgot…I also installed a new Android head unit…spent 30 minutes this afternoon getting Torque pro set up. So nice to be able to see all that info all that on my head unit!
     

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    Maarten28, Grit, mikey_t and 2 others like this.
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    wow, great work. have a safe and fun road trip!
     
  4. BurkPhoto@aol.com

    Joined:
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    What head unit is that?


    — Bill Burkholder
     
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    A DIY success story!

    Pathetic that so much of OP’s laundry list is not even acknowledged by Toyota, but that’s how it is now.
     
    alltherightpills and Grit like this.
  6. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    if this was a list provided by Toyota for prospective prius owners, how many will actually buy a used Prius? Or any other used car with that list? :ROFLMAO:
     
  7. AzusaPrius

    AzusaPrius Senior Member

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    Do you have a link to where you purchased the head unit?
     
  8. alltherightpills

    alltherightpills Junior Member

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    Location:
    St. Louis, MO
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Hello from Cleveland, Ohio. A simple 9 hour drive today. The car handled beautifully.

    The day I bought this car, I had a ~100mile drive home. With just me and no cargo, it averaged 39 mpg that day. After all my maintenance work, today’s drive averaged 47.5mpg while hauling a few hundred pounds of gear and 2 adult humans. I understand this is just one data point, but I’m convinced!
     
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  9. alltherightpills

    alltherightpills Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
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    III
    I’m sure you can find this on Aliexpress, but I grabbed the Amazon option for carefree returns just in case.
     
  10. alltherightpills

    alltherightpills Junior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Now in upstate New York, almost to Vermont. Took maybe 25 gallons of gas to get here from STL? This is awesome.

    When I got off the Interstate and started driving on winding county roads through mountain towns, I switched over to PWR mode. Way easier to get up to speed going uphill…and with P&G I’m still hitting 44mpg.
     
  11. BigTimeBurrito

    BigTimeBurrito New Member

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    Where can I find how to do all of this? I'm interested in learning how to and doing the same!
     
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  12. burebista

    burebista Active Member

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  13. alltherightpills

    alltherightpills Junior Member

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    Location:
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    2011 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Exactly! The Nutzaboutbolts youtube videos were my main source.

    I did the oil change, transmission fluid & coolant all the same day while I had the splash guard off the bottom of the car. Then spark plugs and EGR cleaning with the wipers and cowling removed. Finally I cleaned the intake manifold - easy enough to replace the PCV and install the oil catch can while that’s off.
     
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  14. alltherightpills

    alltherightpills Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    St. Louis, MO
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Made it to Maine.

    I’m getting better…technique combined with slightly slower speeds (65-70mph) meant today’s ~300 miles through the mountains in Vermont & New Hampshire averaged 51.4mpg.

    Now to unplug for a week by the ocean.