Prius v Two just reached (a bit over) 10,000 trouble free miles!

Did you do an intermittent oil change at 5k as some people do? Some guys recommend doing a first change at 5k then sticking to the 10k routine after that.

You've had your car about one year?

 

Picked up my PriVThree three weeks ago; drove 6400 miles in the mean time (NYC area to Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, and all over everywhere.) Brought the car in for its 5000 mile checkup last week, and they thought there was some mistake in the paperwork: doesn't everyone take a shakedown cruise in their new wheels?

Based on my experience, this is the best car ever: four people and all our stuff, and still got close to 44 MPG (at altitude, mileage goes down a bit.) I made great use of the "B" setting on the mountain downhills. There is a mandatory brake check part way down Pike's Peak at 14,100 feet - the ranger uses a laser thermometer on the front brakes, and I was the lowest temp all day. I don't wear "smug" well, but everyone could see that I was the coolest guy on the mountain with my cool brakes.

Regarding oil, I'll be back to 10K changes after this initial 5K. It's cheap and can't hurt. Meanwhile, I have a lot of buttons to figure out how to press. And I've been getting 47 or so on my commute: over 3X better mileage than my just-retired 2001 Isuzu Trooper.

Great forum - learning a lot.
Best,
Jim

 

We've hit 17000km after 1 year and unfortunately the shoulders of both front tyres are rubbing out. We run at standard pressures and don't corner too hard. Toyota said it was normal. Pretty disappointed.

 

That sounds way too early to have any signs of tire wear. What brand are your OEM tires?
My v with 16" wheels just rolled over 50,000km and tires still look great(OEM Michelin Energy Savers), I drive like a sane person "most" of the time but like to push it in the corners occasionally. I've gone through cheaper bargain bin tires on previous cars i've owned and i drove them like race cars so i know what worn shoulders on a tire tread look like.
Try running a bit more pressure in the tires than you normally do. Extra wear on the outside edge of the tread i believe is a sure sign of underinflated tires. Do you regularly have extra passengers with you, tools/junk in the trunk? Might help to increase the tire pressures a bit all around to compensate for extra load.
Another factor could be your location. If you drive on gravel/rough roads they tend to chew up tire treads i've noticed.

 

My 16's came with Bridgestone Turanza 92V. We always have at least 3 kids in the car and occasionally load it up for camping trips. The Toyota dealer said it's not uncommon for the OE tyres to last only 40K km.

 

I just read that V rated tyres are very soft. This might explain it... partially.

 

Time to inflate to 40 PSI Front, 38 PSI rear.

Too low a pressure wears the edges, too high a pressure wears the center. When you need new tires, try a little lower than 40 but above Toyota's spec. (IMO it favors comfort over mileage, life, and handling)

 

Ditto.
Thats what i run for pressures all the time, good balance of comfort, tread wear, and fuel economy, and 75% of the time its just me in the car. Perhaps the Michelin energy savers have exceptional tread life but judging by how they look now i can see getting another 50,000km out of them yet.
One annoying issue i have is my local dealership keeps reseting my tire pressures to 32 all around when i go in for an oil change!(they say they run those pressures on all their passenger cars based on customer feedback or some stupid thing) And I keep forgetting to tell em to leave the tires alone. Makes for alot of huffing and puffing after a service with a bicycle pump to get them back up to 40/38 again.

 

I specify 38f/36r and to leave my headlights ON.

 

Thanks all, I'll up the pressures and see how I go.