How long did it take you to read the manuals?

Oh you bet. Someone posted the link for the online manual so I spent, I don't even remember how much time I spent reviewing it, but definitely enough time for me to be super prepared by the day that I met with the dealer and drove the hybrid home.

 

Welcome to Prius Chat!

I've only read the parts of the manual that covered something I wanted to know. I use it like a dictionary - look up what I want to know and then move on. I read a lot of threads on this forum, though, that helped me understand more about the car.

 

Welcome and congratulations. For me, it was quite different. Going in, I didn't know a whole lot other than the Prius reputation for economy and reliability. But the dealer I bought from specializes in used Prii and he spent about an hour with us going over the features of our two 2nd gen Prii. (We had just moved back to the U.S.) So I felt fairly comfortable by the time we drove home. Like @Moving Right Along, I use the manual mostly as a reference. But I have set down with the manual for my new-to-me PiP and studied parts of it. By the way, we've now bought four cars from this guy.

Enjoy the "new" car. It's a ton of fun learning your way around all the nifty bells and whistles and the occasional "why the heck did they do that??!!"

 

This place is an awesome resource. I've learned a ton here.

 

I do the same. I keep going back to the manual each time I have a new question (that I can't find an answer from the search function on this forum).

 

i read half the manual on a 6 hour flight, but never finished it.

 

Many wise words have been written here for you and would not deign to disagree. I did read all the manual (yawn), but I learnt most by just driving the car. Yes, you may do some things wrong at first and you will learn from the little mistakes. Welcome aboard from Cornwall UK and good luck in future.

 

I keep a PDF version on my iPad and laptop for quick reference along with the paper version in the glove box. I spent quite a bit of time when we first got our car reading the paper version but not now...

 

Apparently, the Owners Manual for the 2012 Australian Prius depends on the build month. Sorry I could not narrow the selection down further. I believe in the US the Build Date may be contained in the information you can see on the edge of the driver's side door after opening it.
The 2012 Prius manuals are all listed here.
https://toyotamanuals.com.au/find/owners-manuals/Prius/2012/1/all

 

Consider downloading your Owner's Manual in pdf format, from TechInfo. Being searchable, it makes it relatively easy to find stuff. Handy too, when you're on the computer, or for posting excerpts.

 

I keep a copy of mine and my wife's in my iCloud drive so it's available on all my computers and devices.

 

G'day "neighbour",

Late in 2016, I traded in my much-loved 2003 Echo for a 2016 Prius c, to save a little money driving to Melbourne (from Sydney) to visit the grandchildren (and their parents). So I have also done a little bit of Melbourne meandering in my Prius when there.

Around Sydney, I get about 4.2-4.5L/100km so your Melbourne usage is OK by me. That's the car's reported value - when I do my own Litres bought for indicated kilometres travelled calculation, I get more like 4.7-4.8L/100km.
Both are slightly more than the laboratory-test 'city' cycle you may see quoted by Toyota (3.9L/100km). Reality involves fuel-using non-standard traffic situations (and drivers) and things like hills. Takes more to go up a hill than regeneration coming back down can recover - blame the Second Law of Thermodynamics for that, not the car.

My Sydney-Melbourne trip (M31) averages 5.0L/100km, cruising at 100-105km/h in the relaxed drivers' (left) lane, better fuel efficiency where it's flat, say, from Holbrook to Melbourne, not so good from Sydney to Holbrook where there's many hilly sections.

Regarding manuals:
Prior to purchase, I Googled then downloaded a US version of the c manual, as a pdf. Apart from being diagrammatically back-to-front (they drive on the right side of the road, we, of course, drive on the better side), it was helpful until I got the paper-based manuals with the car - one basic manual for the car, the other for the sat-nav and audio system which I had as an paid-for extra.
The manuals get read now when there's a problem with doing some new operation in the car, since our older cars were virtually 'computer-free' and most buttons or switches did just one thing. For instance, the AC was either on or off, none of this set a temperature anxiety.

As suggested in an earlier post, if you can find a pdf of an appropriate manual for your model and you have a good smart-phone, copy the pdf to your phone, if that's helpful. I don't think the car's AV system can display pdfs?

The manuals you've in mind are operating manuals, not workshop manuals. The latter would be an order of magnitude more time consuming and probably undecipherable, unless you already knew how to do "everything".

Happy hybrid motoring.

David S.

 

+1

Also leaves a lot more space in the glove box for actual stuff.

-Chap

 

I believe TechInfo is mainly US. The OP is in Australia where everything is backwards & upside down

Is there a problem with my link on Post 11? I just checked the first manual selection and they can download it as a pdf.