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newbie. startup ?'s in cold

Discussion in 'Prius c Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by JCW3, Feb 9, 2016.

  1. JCW3

    JCW3 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2016
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    Location:
    VA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius c
    Model:
    One
    My wife finally convinced me to pickup a used Prius. We got a 2013 Prius C, which we have only had for a few days. The whole concept is very interesting to me, but I am very worried about maintenance and general "hybrid" features. After reading many reviews, sounds like it should be a reliable vehicle.

    The biggest questions I have is related to Winter Startups and Warm-Ups (Defrosting) during the winter.

    Our salesman recommend we did not warm up the car, and if we did only do it for a minute or so. In theory this sounds great, but is not practical for my wife. Mainly because my 6 year old daughter is riding along with her in the car, and on frosty/icy mornings we need the defroster to clear up the windows before she drives away.

    In her past vehicles, she would normally start the car and let it run for 10-15 minutes. During this time the car would still be cool inside, but it at least defrosted the window and knocked off the chill.

    She has yet to drive the car to work, but the weather is forecasting cold (6-18° F) breezy conditions, with a chance of freezing rain and/or snow over the next few mornings. I was wondering does she just go out and start it with the heater on HI as normal? I am not worried about using up GAS, but mainly want to knock the chill off when the get in the car, and also make sure the windows are defrosted and safe for driving.

    Due to the fact we live in a foggy valley, its very common to have heavy frosted windows and/or ice on them in the mornings. I just feel the 1 minute warm up time is not going to create safe driving experience if the window is fogged/frosted up.

    I noticed last night when we started it in ECO mode with the heater on, it did not engage for the first minute or so. I assume this is part of the ECO settings to help improve gas mileage. Is it best to cut ECO mode of if we are focusing on defrosting the windows faster?
     
    #1 JCW3, Feb 9, 2016
  2. Mr Incredible

    Mr Incredible Chance favors the prepared mind.

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Four
    Drive it and operate as you wish. You'll still be many mpgs ahead of where you were.

    If you want to warm it up, go for it. It will drop your mileage, so be prepared for the hit. But, do what you want, it's a regular car after all.

    Take the car out of ECO mode for best heat and warm up. Once the car is warm and you're on your way you can put it back in ECO. Regular mode keeps the heat higher, turns the car on earlier and leaves it on longer, and is awesome for the really cold days. Heated seats are nice, too.
     
    #2 Mr Incredible, Feb 9, 2016
  3. JCW3

    JCW3 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2016
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    Location:
    VA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius c
    Model:
    One
    Thanks for the info. We are still amazed by all the HYBRID features, and have been playing around with a few things.

    I figured in the big picture, most of our habits "such as defrosting the windows" will not change.

    Over all, even on its worst day, the Prius C will get better gas mileage than most cars, so we are not to worried about that. I would much prefer pulling away in a warm defrosted car, than freezing to death with frosty windows.

    We may try turning off ECO mode and see if this helps the MORNING DEFROSTING.
     
    #3 JCW3, Feb 9, 2016
    bisco likes this.
  4. 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! second mr incredible, set the heat to high and power mode and let it warm up to your satisfaction. many people add block heaters and/or remote starters. all the best!(y)
     
    #4 bisco, Feb 9, 2016
  5. Sean Nelson

    Sean Nelson Active Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Vancouver, BC Canada
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    I picked up one of these interior car warmers. It's designed to be bolted into the car somewhere but I just sit it on the centre console pointing toward the driver's side and run the power cord over the door sill and close the door on it. I plug it in about an hour before I plan to use the car, then when I'm ready to leave I unplug it and remove it from the car. It leaves the car nice and toasty without requiring any engine power at all.

    I also bought and installed a block heater which pre-warms the engine so that it can deliver hot air sooner to keep the cabin warm without having to cycle the engine on as much. The block heater installation is pretty easy, I put together this YouTube video to show how it's done.
     
    #5 Sean Nelson, Feb 10, 2016
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  6. maddog61

    maddog61 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 3, 2012
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    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    electric heater on a timer to warm up the cab and defrost the windows is the way to go.......... gas here is expensive,99.9 cents/litre or $3.80/us gal
     
    #6 maddog61, Feb 14, 2016
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    Location:
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    Plug-in Base
    wow, that is expensive! where on earth are you?
     
    #7 bisco, Feb 14, 2016
  8. Scott D

    Scott D Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 1, 2014
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    Location:
    Buffalo/Niagara Falls area
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    One
    I like the Scrape A Round ice scraper to make quick work of frost or light ice or snow. It looks like a funnel. It takes less than half the time of a regular scrapper. Then you will be outside the car a shorter time and scaping will be no big deal. What vehicle did you have before that was not very hot after ten minutes of running the heater? Make sure you have the AC running with the defroster. I think it always defaults to that anyway in the C. The AC will take the moisture out of the interior air. Also, if you have frost on the inside of the windows then you either have a window partly open overnight or you have too much moisture inside the car, like a damp towel or soaked car mats or something. Get whatever is moist and causing the moisture problem on the inside of the windows out of the car.
     
    #8 Scott D, Feb 14, 2016
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    If you need to run it to clear the windows, you have to do it. Whenever that's NOT a factor, I would just start it and go. Any chance you can get the car under cover, in a garage. That'll prevent the fog/frost up.
     
    #9 Mendel Leisk, Feb 14, 2016
  10. maddog61

    maddog61 Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Vehicle:
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    Revelstoke,BC Canada...lots of taxes (carbon tax and etc) and gas stations taken over greedy people....
     
    #10 maddog61, Feb 14, 2016
    bisco likes this.
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