Miscellaneous questions for you guys

1, yes, the wheel covers are cheesy.

2, you should be able to set the DRLs through the multi function display screen settings. 2012+ have LED DRLs.

SCH-I535

 

what happen to you OLD guys?

 

2, yes, there is an auto off feature. Default is 90 seconds IIRC. that's why the car doesn't beep at you if you leave the car and lock it with the lights on.

SCH-I535

 

I believe the DRL and auto headlights are on only available on the 4 series not the 2 series. There is a built in auto shut off of the headlights after 1 minute(?) or so with all the Prius models. Every time I fill up, a shut off the car. Once I start the car the display will flash with the price per gallon screen. Using the steering wheel controls I can then set the price per gallon that I just paid. The price per gallon can also be set in the display menu at any time. I am sure there are some differences between the 2 series and the 3, 4 and 5 series of Prii.

 

Plenty of other U.S. market cars still don't. But my 2012 Prius Three has them, and the brochure says your Two also has them.
Does your light switch look something like this? If so, use the DRL position to turn them on. Unlike most cars with DRL, Prius gives the driver an on/off choice.

The fact that the car started is very solid evidence that the headlights didn't stay on all night. The 12V battery isn't big enough to last that long.

The headlights are Auto-Off. You can adjust the delay to 0, 30, 60, or 90 seconds after shutdown-exit. This also means that you can simply turn the headlights on once, and never ever touch the switch again. The lights will then turn on when the car is started up, and go off when the car is shut down and you exit the driver door. I did this with two previous cars lacking DRLs. But with this car, I now use that switch again, headlights at night, but the more energy efficient DRLs in daytime.

But beware that the Auto-Off feature can be accidentally defeated. If you exit through a different door (e.g. crawl over to and out the front passenger door), the lights won't go off. Also, don't move the light switch during the auto-off delay, as it will override the delay. I.e. if you reflexively turn the switch off, then remember and turn the switch back on to have lights automatically on for the next trip, the lights will stay on and drain the battery.

 

Cheesey is cheap and good

 

1) Yes, they are kind of cheesy, but the whole idea behind the Prius is mpg and supposedly the covers are good for 1+ mpg because they make airflow smoother over the wheels. I was going to test that theory on our trip, but it turned out the terrain coming/going was too different for a proper comparison. Then I decided I really didn't care. I was going to take mine off until someone posted a photo of the black 15" wheels on a Blizzard Pearl like mine and I just didn't like either look. So, I'm going to wait until I need new tires and then check out new wheels too.

4) Caveat - I've never used this feature, so I'm not sure if I'm right. My understanding though is that this feature can be used 2 ways:
-- If you enter a price, but don't enter an mpg for comparison, the system calculates and displays the cost for each trip based on the price you entered. Bear in mind that the display is only an approximation based in the last price entered and we know the Prius overestimates mpg. This can be useful if you want an idea of how much it costs you to go somewhere on a regular basis. For example, we refill prescriptions out at Luke AFB because they are free vs a $5 copay at Walmart. However, if the cost to go to Luke is more than the copay plus the cost to go to Walmart, it would be cheaper to pay the copay.
-- If you enter a price and an mpg for comparison, the system calculates and displays how much you saved on each trip compared to the mpg you entered. Again, it's only an approximation based on the price/mpg entered. This is useful if you want to see how much you are saving on each trip compared to another vehicle, perhaps the one the Prius replaced. Let's say we're going on a trip and I want to see how much we're saving over our old van. I enter the current price of gas and the van's average mpg. Then, each time I stop, the displays shows how much we're saving over the van.

I happen to use a spreadsheet to calculate such savings based on actual price/mpg for each fill-up and that's how I know we saved over $500 on our recent trip. If I want to compare things to another vehicle, say my brother's Sonata Blue that gets 37 mpg, I simply change the "compare mpg" field in my spreadsheet to 37 and I know instantly how much I'm saving over the car I considered, but didn't buy. Of course, this is still not accurate because I have no way of knowing what the actual mpg of the other vehicle would have been over the same terrain, etc., but it's still helpful to reinforce our decision to buy a Prius.

 

Depends what the stain is, if it's food protein, then try an enzymatic stain remover. Simple Green is a pretty good cleaner, and degreaser, it smells pretty good too.

Whatever you use, make sure you try it on an inconspicuous area of the carpet first, like under the front seat, to make sure you don't have any surprises.

SCH-I535

 

Sorry, I have a 2011 without the LED DRLs, I might have been mistaken for something that could be setup under the settings area in the multifunction display.
SCH-I535

 

You actually guessed right. In addition to the light switch on the control stalk, there is also a setting in the MFD menus.

See the Customizable Features section your Owner's Manual, page 593, the bottom entry of the table on that page. To learn how to actually make any changes, you will have to go to the Display Audio or Navigation System manual, a separate book.

The manual switch is described on page 250, DRL function on page 253. The difference between the switch and the MFD setting doesn't seem to be explained anywhere. And none of the switch illustrations match my car, that is why I posted a picture of mine in a previous reply.

 

somehow i keep reading the op's name as nude driver tsk tsk tsk.

 

I've been looking at every Prius I see just to see how many actually removed the wheel covers and it's actually very few, at least here in Phoenix. I've been tempted to remove them, but I just haven't taken the time. However, it's not because I dislike the design and I don't think it's the design for those who do remove them. I think folks just dislike wheels covers in general, especially when they cover alloy wheels. Unfortunately, I don't like the look of the all-black wheels and tires against the Blizzard Pearl body even more, so I've elected to leave them on for now. If I decide not to upgrade to a new Prius when I need new tires, I'll get some better looking wheels then. I just checked and leaving them on only saves me 4 gallons of gas in 10,000 miles, so the rationale Prius uses for putting them on seems kind of silly for all but the total mpg miser.

 

I never noticed, but I guess it's because I'm an old guy.