New to the family

Have you learned about hybrid automotive and battery reconditioning yet? That's a pretty crazy rabbit hole to go down...

 

congrats and welcome, 2008 is a beast! all the best

 

Congrats and welcome! Have you checked out @john1701a's website yet? John's Stuff - Toyota Prius and more

He has some really good info on the 2nd generation Prius there dealing with ways to get the most out of it, what to do, and what not to do.

 

There are dozens of threads about the Prolong grid charger and other schemes to repair, rebuild, restore traction batteries. Do a google search for something like "priuschat grid charging," or various words to that effect.

 

Welcome!

Since you are in Virginia too I will tell you my favorite salesman, Sam Lee at Miller Toyota in Manassas still drives a Gen 1 Prius. My opinion is that Toyota is successful i. Spite of many of their dealers. Sam made it worthwhile to drive 150 miles to buy from him.

The best place to start learning about your Prius here would be

Gen 2 (2004-2009) Toyota Prius Forums | PriusChat

Register your car at the Toyota owners site to learn about its options and past dealer maintenance. The owners manuals are also available online as pdfs.

My son started years ago with a 2005 Gen 2 that he kept for 10 years. He did not need to change the coolant because that happened as part of a recall. Other than regular oil and filter maintenance, he replaced the 12 volt battery after 8 years just so he would not be surprised with a failure. The only other aintenance was replacing the headlamp bulbs. He traded Gen 2 for a 2015 Prius v station wagon because he needed the extra room for transporting his dogs to dog shows. Experience with his cars led me to buy my 2017 Gen 4 Prius.