To keep or not to keep??!!

Welcome to PC first of all. Now to the issue:

1. What service light came on? I am by no means a conservative driver and I have not been able to trigger a maintenance light just by flooring it.
- I have triggered the master warning light once due to low oil (Cap came loose). Master warning is the Triangle with ! inside.

2. I (as you are) was skeptical about the complexity of the hybrid system and it's reliability when I purchased my '05. I paid the extra $$ for the 100K warranty and I am 92.5% sure that it was a waste of my extra money. I am at 92500 Miles with no issues at all. Change Tires, Change Oil, Change ATF, Change Coolant, Alignment. That's all I've done in that time.

3. Don't know how much driving you do but I intend mine to run to 200 K and beyond as it is my work car and I do about 3000 Miles each month.

As for it not being a 'drivers car', I thought the same until I started playing with modifications and tweaks. I grew up driving whatever muscle car I could get my hands on and this was a change. I love it for a work / getting around car and it sounds like you can hang on to the German muscle for your power fix every so often. (I'm not so lucky so consider yourself blessed).

 

Welcome, sorry about your father-in-law.

What service light came on? (I'm assuming it wasn't the tire pressure warning system.) If you haven't checked out the basics on the car, you really should (tire pressures, tread condition, oil level, air filter, etc.) and read through the manual to get acquainted with this unusual vehicle.

Whether or not you should keep it boils down to whether you are satisfied with the compromises. If you intend to drive it aggressively you probably won't see great gas mileage. As you move north of 70 mph this becomes more noticeable. By 75 mph cruise ours is down to the EPA highway mileage rating.

Winter is also hard on mileage because it forces the engine to run more to keep you and the engine coolant and cat warm. There are some tricks to improving this once you are familiar with the car: engine block heaters.

Some will understandably dislike the Prius' handling, particularly if accustomed to aggressive performance. But this depends on what you like to drive and whether or not that exceeds other aspects such as fuel economy.

I think you are taking the right approach in giving it a little time behind the wheel to evalutate it. If it isn't for you that's fine, there is nothing wrong with that.

The warranty for the hybrid drive system and traction battery is very long (should be 100,000 miles/8 years on yours), so you should have little to fear in the way of major out of pocket costs for the near future even in the unlikely event of one of the major systems failing.

 

Actually, Shawn,
Since the car was purchased in & still resides in New England, Robert L's factory warranty on the hybrid components & traction battery is 10 years/150,000 miles (whichever comes first). [That also applies in NY, NJ, & of course Calif (where the extra length of the factory warranty started)].

And, Robert,

You should check in paperwork for the car (either in the glove box with the owner's manual, etc. or wherever your father-in-law kept his purchase papers/important documents) to see if there is anything in there to indicate whether or not he also bought an extended warranty (hopefully the official Toyota Financial Services one) that could possibly be transfered to you by the estate attorney or executor. If both he & his wife made the purchase together & her name (or that of his daughter, if she was a part of it) is listed on the purchase paperwork, whoever is the 2nd name, if still surviving, should be able to sign over the remainder of any existing extended warranty to you.

Also do some reading here (& at PriusOnLine too), Robert, to learn more about the car from us than what some dealers know. If you seem to be having some sort of problem, tell us about it here & give us a chance to help you before running down to the dealer for something you don't understand (& the dealer may overcharge you for).

That last comment was thrown in here mainly to bring to your attention the fact that when you take the Prius in for each 5,000 mile service, NOT to ask for a "xx,000 mile service" bcause they will charge you for things that don't need to be done or CAN'T even be done on a Prius. Just look at the "Passport" scheduled maintenance guide booklet ahead of time & take it with you to the dealership & ask them to do ONLY what is specified for that mileage that you're at & nothing more (don't ask or let them do anything listed under the "towing" conditions because you're NOT supposed to tow with a Prius. Normal maintenance for a Prius shouldn't be any more expensive than any other vehicle, in fact in most cases less [front brake pads normally last a VERY long time---like over 100,000 (maybe even 150,000) miles, coolant:100,000 miles, & spark plugs:120,000 miles, for example].

The only bad thing about the 2006 (& later) Prius is the early failure & high cost of replacing the HID headlights [if your father-in law's car has them---it has them if you see little fog lights within the lower grill (& I'm sure a Pkg #7 has them)]. But don't be too frightened by that issue. Do a search here using something like "2006 HID headlight problem" or "failed headlights" to read all about it first. You'll see that many times if the owner contacts Toyota directly & explains the specifics & asks for a case number, that Toyota will cover some or all of the expense.

I hope this helps you to make your decision. P.S. Since you say the car is at 65,000 miles, could the "service" light you're talking about be the one on the dash that actually says "maintenance required"? It usually blinks momentarily at start-up 4,500 miles from the last service (oil/oil filter chg & tire rotation) & will come on & stay on steady after 5,000 miles from that previous service. Maybe that's all you're seeing---just time to go in for those 2 things (& anything else listed in the "Passport" booklet). Most of the time my dealer only charges less than $50, but as I said earlier, those who go in & foolishly ask for some interval of the "5,000 mile service" (instead of showing the service writer/advisor the specific items you want done from the "Passport" page for your mileage) have been charged as much as $300 for what I pay only $50 or less for. Also, reject any suggestion that you do a fuel injection treatment (a waste of money & may even cause you some problems) or a spark plug or coolant chg any earlier than I already mentioned above.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

Hi Rob...,

You will find the Prius one of the longer lasting cars lower mainetnance cars. The brakes are electric down to 7mph, so it does not need brake jobs till well up above 100K miles. The starter is a secondary funciton of MG1 (motor / generator 1), which is like an electric torque converter. The 30 HP battery hybrid drive battery is used to power this MG1 when starting the car, so there is lots of starting power for the sub-zero weather. There is also no alternator to replace, as the hybrid battery has a 12 Volt switching power supply attached which provides that electricity. And how does the electricty get to the battery? By that same MG1 being run as a generator. Not bad eh? 3 functions, one electric machine, allowing it to be built robust enough to do the job for the life of the car.

Being in Maine, you will want to get Nokian RSi Tires on that for winter, quick, or at least that is what many in heavy snow areas swear by for the Prius winter tire. The Prius has too much torque for the smaller tires on slippery roads. And rather than let the tires spin, it shuts em down to protect the single planetary gear set in the transmission. Go easy on the peddle when you feel the traction control light comes on. In the summer keep your eyes out for manhole covers. The Prius will spin those if you do not hit them on-center during the slower speeds of an accelleration, and then the traction control kicks in again.

 

We also just picked up our '09 and while I drive a S4 Avant- driving the Prius is pretty cool in it's own right. Not having to check your "6" all the time makes for a relaxing drive. I did a lot of research before I bought it - and with the exceptions with the HID's I found very little that suggested that it wasn't a wise purchase. Also our first tank was @42mpg- not quite as good as my motorcycle. I'm keeping my hot rod and the BMW as well.

 

I got my Prius a week and a half ago. Before that, i drove normal cars.
I too have thought the headlights were aiming high, higher than what i was used to. I figured maybe it's just something to do with the kind of light it is and hadn't thought of it much until you mentioned it, there really does seem to be something different about the aim of the lights to me. But i can see well, that isn't a problem. I just happened to think to my self that the light was covering a tall area. and come to think of it, i don't think the brights make as big of difference as on my other car experiences. Maybe.

If you keep the Prius and change the tires, watch out for the tire pressure monitor sensors, the tire changes have to be done correctly, apparently not in the normal way i just found out after the fact this week and am still not sure my sensors are OK.

Good luck with the decision. One thing to consider, if you keep the Prius, you'll have laughs about it that will last as long as the car.

What color do you have?