connecting a taxi meter in Gen3 2010 prius

Can you point us to the technical specifications for your meter?

I'm wondering if you're after one of the wheel encoders.

Bob Wilson

 

There is no cable:

• MG2 rpm -> fixed ratio to the drive wheels
• antilock encoders (one per wheel) -> feed the antilock brake controller

There is no mechanical cable which is why I was asking about the digital signal interface.

Bob Wilson

 

Why dont you contact the meter manufacturer and get instructions on how to hook it up to your Prius?

 

Hi

I don't know much about this as I got the local auto electrician to fit my radio and meter. He said the car wasn't anything unusual and not as complicated as some of the Peugeots! I know that doesn't really help. When I ran my Prius as a cab I had a digitax meter installed over the passenger side middle air vent. That way the wires ran internally. The wiring for the meter and two way radio was connected to the rear 12v battery (fused of course). I believe the only issue the installer had was finding a live that didn't switch off when the car was. Not sure how he got round that or even if he had to run a separate cable for it, but what he did worked well.

The benefit of the Prius is that if you leave the car in 'Ready' mode, the HV battery is always keeping the 12v topped up with minimal engine use.

I had over 12 months of mpg stats on fuelly where my cab average was 49 mpg uk, which in my town compared to a diesel manual average of about 32-35 mpg and a petrol automatic of about 24 mpg uk. Each town varies for taxi usage and mine had a lot of slow, bumper to bumper traffic where getting upto 30 mph was an achievement.

The Prius was so so for reliability and I'm not sure if that's because the gen3 (2009-) version is weaker than the older and more robust gen2 (2004-2009) version or that mine was one of the very first gen3's with a chassis number under 250! I've just had an inverter fitted (about £2,000) out of warranty, though Toyota supplied the part for free and I just paid the labour. I'm on my third steering motor (think £1,500 each) which were all under warranty (apparantly the t3 has a weaker motor than the t4 or tspirit), a HV battery ECU (£1,800) again under warranty, and a number of seat belt fittings and various rattles.

Would I get another? Hmmm, yes as it's a nice relaxing ride and the economy is good BUT I'd make damn sure i get one with the 5 year/100,000 mile all in warranty. My Toyota dealers are great and they're probably the reason I'd stay with Toyota. The free road tax is another perk and the hybrid is a great conversation piece; much better than discussing the weather.

You'll love the peace and quiet in heavy traffic, but watch out for customers missing you pulling up outside their house on an evening as they're waiting for a noisy diesel

 

I paid £200 inc vat to buy a NEW meter, have it installed and calibrated and have my two way and despatch fitted.

 

You've been very patient considering that list of problems.

If you have time, I would be interested in more details about the individual failures: (1) time/miles (km Ok) after delivery and (2) symptoms associated with each. The steering motor is especially interesting since there were three failures. I agree, a low production number is more likely to have a problem and we have one of the first delivered in SouthEastern Toyota region.

Thanks,
Bob Wilson

 

I've had 2 replacement motors failures and am on my third. They went at about 35,000 miles and 57,000 miles respectively (from memory). The HV battery ECU was about 30,000 miles too, again going from memory. If you really want, I can have a word with the dealer and find out when all these were replaced as they'll have the details on their system as my paperwork is presently with the accountant for end of year tax.

I'll also route out the chassis number for you and email it to you on the understanding you keep it private.

I've had a number of cars over the years and say what you like about French cars, but my Peugeot was probably better £ for £ than the Prius. OK, it had electrical niggles but they were all under warranty too and they didn't leave me stuck at the side of the road on a cold night. The Prius has had items replaces under warranty too and all with good service, but if I had had to pay for these with my own hard cash, I'd be very angry and skint.

My experience and that from the Greek taxi drivers seems to be showing that the gen3 might not be up to the job of 10 hours a day of hard, European start stop taxi use. My brakes wore out at 30,000 miles which was a surprise and I had a second opinion from a local garage I trust as I was so shocked. Better than a normal automatic taxi, but not the 60,000+ miles which was indicated to me. I have since had pads and discs replaced at 60,000 miles too. Now my usage is different so I am hoping they'll last.

Wonder how other gen3 taxi drivers have found the car? I wonder if our early experience is why improvements were made to the 2012 model update? and perhaps why the UK gen3 only got a 60,000 mile warranty? They knew it wouldn't get past that in hard use without failure?

 

^^^
FWIW, we don't have French cars in the US anymore. French automakers pulled out awhile ago. It's been a awhile since I've seen any French-badged cars on the road here.

I guess if you want something close to French, one can buy a Nissan (due to the Renault-Nissan alliance and each having an ownership stake in the other since Renault and Carlos Ghosn rescued Nissan from near death in 1999...) There is some sharing between the two (

Renault.com - Cooperations and synergies

) but from what I sat in some Renaults in Paris in late 2010, their interiors are virtually nothing like that of Nissans.

Then again, AFAIK, that's Ghosn goal. He doesn't want to have Nissan seems like Renaults and vice versa.

 

No need for additional details as this is enough. I'm especially interested in the brake pads.

Our early Prius had a problem with a brake "pause" that a software update corrected. So I'm wondering if I need to inspect our ZVW30 brake pads since they may also be wearing at a different rate than our NHW11?

Is the UK in your area subject to salted roads frequently?

Thanks,
Bob Wilson

 

Yes but these discs and pads lasted one year/30,000 miles give or take. Salt is a factor on rear discs for vehicles over 3 or 4 years old. Mine is just over 3 years and the rear discs are starting to corrode a little, but are still ok.