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New to Me 2006 Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by StingerGT, Oct 15, 2020.

  1. StingerGT

    StingerGT New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 8, 2020
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    Location:
    Dayton
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Hi all,

    Bought a Prius back in the beginning of September and just now getting around to posting on here. I've always been one to analyze MPGs and hypermiling when I have a car that is specifically used for good gas mileage. Never did I think I'd be driving around in a Prius LOL My commute went from 30 miles round trip to 100 round trip so I figured I'd get something that would ease the wallet pain. I'm getting paid to drive the extra miles so I'm not losing out but would still like to save money where I can; I'm a penny pincher. I bought a Stinger GT over the summer and I'm not willing to put over 25k miles/yr on it. She's a garage queen and will stay that way (crying inside because winter is coming).

    So far, I've put about 2500 miles on the Prius and it's run great so far. Bought it with 221k miles and you can hardly tell. Fuelly is a fun app I've used over the years to track MPGs. Currently, I'm sitting at 40.7 AVG with my best tank being 47.1 MPG. I'm sure it could be better but I understand that mileage and age of the battery have to do with the decline. I was driving an 06 Grand Prix before the Prius and was getting about 29 MPG; quite a positive difference!

    Some quirks in the beginning was the well-known combo-meter failure, low tire pressure light, and CEL.
    - I replaced the combo-meter last week and all is well now. Speedo wasn't on, car wouldn't turn off or lock, no cruise, back up camera, the usual defects from the combo-meter not working. Bought from Matt at Texas Hybrid Batteries and was a pleasure working with him, just waiting on the refund of the core charge. I know it's not that big of a deal to not have the speedo on but I figured I'd better so I don't run out of fuel at some point.
    - I'll live with the tire pressure light being on. I'm sure it's a bad sensor but all of the tires are inflated to 40 PSI and I check them weekly to help with MPGs.
    - The CEL light came on about two weeks ago when I turned the car on. P0420 which deals with the catalytic converter. Had Autozone clear it, I put a can of SeaFoam in it and we'll see how that works out. Hasn't been on since but it still has the factory convertors, they lasted well past through life-span; I won't argue.

    I plan to keep it at least through winter but maybe longer. I changed the air filter, wipers, and plan on doing the spark plugs at some point over the winter. I've had plenty of cars in the past from sports cars to beaters to grocery getters. I like the change and every car I've owned has something special I can remember. I'd like to take it to 250k miles but I probably won't have it that long LOL see; I'm already talking about selling it!

    Cheers
    Ty


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    Aaron Vitolins, Raytheeagle and bisco like this.
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
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    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    congrats and welcome, all the best!(y)
     
  3. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Vehicle:
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    Model:
    Two
    I'd encourage you to make a long term plans for low rolling resistance tires, as well as experiment with increasing tire pressure even more... I prefer Ecopias at 47psi in front and 45psi in the rear.

    Also do some reading on pulse and glide technique...

    As for P0420, I'm convinced that is caused by oil change places chronic problem with adding over 4 quarts of oil when engine only holds a bit under 4 quarts. When I do oil changes I start at 3.5 quarts and then add a little after a few hundred miles.

    Also another way to address P0420 is new spark plugs, air filter, clean out throttle body and mass air flow sensor...
     
  4. StingerGT

    StingerGT New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 8, 2020
    3
    6
    0
    Location:
    Dayton
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I'll check out those techniques, thanks. I might be able to put the tire pressures that high but with winter coming and the roads becoming slick, I wouldn't want them too hard (ice rink). The tires on it have decent tread so I might hold off until I need them. The cost of new tires offsets the 2 dollars I may save at the pump from the extra mileage from the LRRTs. I'll be checking in from time to time since there's a lot of good info from this forum.
     
    PriusCamper likes this.