Finally got a 2007 Prius after 9 yrs, 3 mo on PC

Could this be a record for longest PC member to get a Prius? 9 years and 3 months.

I joined originally to find out about the HSD - alien to a Honda guy (74 Civic, 86 CRX HF, 88 CRX HF, 2000 Insight, all manual sticks.) Later I would get caught up in PHoP, but I remain very much into hybrids and fuel efficiency.

My last drive on my 5-speed silver 2000 Honda Insight was the week before Christmas. Yellow lights can be trouble - I and a Dodge Ram could not quite move left from each other enough. The pickup had no damage - it's right front tire struck my right front tire so hard that wheel was pointing 15 degrees from the other front wheel. Distraught, I limped home. I elected not to report to the police.

Started on a new job with intensive training - money is tight for now. I initially paid $900 for a banager of a car - he was a scammer. By then, the insurance made the predicted verdict on my 15-yr car: totaled - just like the CRX before it - both with over 240,000 miles. I got my valuables out of the Insight and kissed it like it was a beloved workhorse of our ancestors. I fully intended to refurbish it, but it would run about $10K, including a battery pack dead over four years - yes, Honda can run with the hybrid system out.

Wanted to get a car I'd want to hang on that's not butt-ugly basic transportation, past searches revealed it's possible to get a Prius for under $4000. The challenge is getting one with a healthy battery pack. As some have said here, big dealerships often dump problem cars to small warehouse dealerships...some of those problem cars are older hybirds with packs needing repair...let the buyer beware!!!

Saturday I visited a small dealership, and it was a mistake that bordered on a 2nd disaster (1st one the scam.) The 2004 was on the lot for two months @ $3500 - paint and interior job not as good as the online ads. Worse, the SOC graph went thru 8 of 9 bars, instead of maybe 2...Matt of TexasHybridRepair said the battery pack is on a death rattle. For a little more, I could have purchased a Prius at Pat Lobb in McKinney with a 3-month warranty, but this religiously-maintained car was taken. It was 5pm Saturday, and I visited another tiny dealership on the way home like the one with the half-dead battery pack. This time, the SOC was blue, two bars under the max and steady most of the 15-mile, 15-minute trip. Got the car the next day. I suspect the Pat Lobb Prius was better, but it's a 2007, when Toyota made improvements to the battery pack durability. The condition is good enough it makes sense to detail it, invest in it.Paid $3900 before tax/title.

In 1-2 years, I might consider the plug-in kits, but already know some companies that did this are shuttered. Main thing is I have a car that I can easily get 55 mpg, which is not too far from the 60-70 my Insight would do in winter driving. Driving will be fun again. I'll do things the Insight could not do, but have fond memories of things the Insight could do, like 100mpg @ 50mph on an extended summer road trip. I would have loved to have had both, but from a financial point the wreck might have saved money over the long run.

Don't know what my car plans are. Again, I might make this one a plug-in, but perhaps, it might be the 'lifeboat' car in a few years after getting a new plug-in or EV. I was lucky Paulette loaned her car during this time....she has taken an interest in the Prius, esp when I told her the Pontiac Vibe is really a Toyota Matrix the Prius v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon) is based on.

Tech question: I'm trying to find the display for the air pressure, or is that Touring editions only? (mine is a 2007 base)

 

Any good tire pressure kits for Gen II Prius?

 

I meant tire stems that transmit the tire air pressure to the dashboard

The first work commute it averaged 55 mpg in 80% non-freeway driving...my new job probably fits the Prius....the old job was mostly freeway - ideal for the Insight.

Know the basics from 20-30 hours of driving other drivers cars, but so much to learn on the Prius. Realized that running the heater can cool the engine out of auto stop at intersections.

 

I got 70.9 mpg returning from work, so 80 is a realistic goal when it gets warmer.

a silver one like this

 

Scangage II reveals differences between the 2000 Insight and the 2007 Prius.

Insight coolant plateaus at 198-204F...Prius has not gone over 186F in freezing weather or even 60F days.

MPG Scangage function is useless on 5 speed Insight...lean burn. While the Prius reads it, Scangage cuts out when the ICE is off for long....any fixes for that?

 

I've got to mention this.

Monday the temperature dropped 20 F, and the low tire idiot light came on. I don't know, maybe the pressure decreased 2 psi. Reminds me of much ado about nothing this time a year ago. So I did my patriotic duty and inflated the tires.

 

Starting to get into the XGauge functions on my ScanGauge II (Version 4.09)

Programmed the percentage of SoC, but still struggling on the others, particularly the accelerator pedal pressure.

On the SoC, it looks like my State of Charge has gone from 76% down to 50%, but is usually 68% - 59%....that's from the low green bar (2nd from top) down to the two blue bars under that.