Several Questions about my new 2011 Prius!

I just wrapped up a full paint correction and interior detailing on my 2011 Prius that I bought couple of weeks ago, the car is just amazing. There are several things that I do wanted to ask here as I don't know how to fix:

1. The Interior has holes that were drilled into them, as the previous owner used a Laptop stand, fancy iPad stand. I removed those as he gave me the stands/mounts which were just absolutely unnecessary and way too big (who the heck uses a Laptop while driving?!). Anywho - there are drill holes on the car upholstery (mainly dashboard area). I trialed some of the holes by melting the holes down with a soldering pen, it filled up the holes, but they look awkward. Was hoping if anyone had cool creative ideas to cover the holes. One thing that came to my mind was one of those DashMat's, but not sure if it really would look nice (and its $50!), and not sure how to cleanly hide the other holes around the steering wheel. Pictures attached.
   
2. The driver side headlight eye has water inside, no freaking clue how. I originally dried it all out, and couldn't find a leak, but it came back as it rained here the last couple of days. I also attached pictures, as I have no clue how to repair this.
3. The windshield wiper is currently sitting at a higher position for some reason. When I turn them on, they first lower, than rise up to the highest position to make the full wipe. When I turn off the wipers, they go back to the higher position, rather than the normal position they are supposed to be in. I was hoping if anyone had any idea on how I can fix this? I can attach pictures if needed.
   
4. And lastly, I went to my local AutoZone to pick up fluids for the car (Engine Coolant, Power Control Coolant). Apparently the guy claims he doesn't carry Toyota Spec fluids (I bought my fluids from them in the past for my 2007/2004 Prius's). Was hoping if anyone can direct me to the appropriate place to buy the fluids, anything on the cheaper side is super appreciated, as I do want to avoid having to pay a super high price directly from Toyota.

Thanks!

 

Yeah, I realized after some research that the coolant is the same thing as the one used for the Gen 2. I am coming from multiple Gen 2 Prius's, so I thought maybe it was different with the Gen 3, but I guess not. It is the SLLC from Toyota, correct?

Also now we are on this subject - my fluid levels are close to the low level, I never did a flush on any of my cars, but do you recommend that I should? Or should I top it off, and change it in the future?

 

I have no idea where to start with something like that... lol. It also sounds super pricey. As for the panels, I am not sure what you mean by "easy", I know how to disassemble it, but that means I'd have to buy new ones which is just way too expensive as that means pulling out the cabin doors and entire dashboard.



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I'll give them a try tomorrow, since I do need something immediately... As for the oil, I normally just use Mobil1 5W-30 on my Gen2 Prius's since they are driven a lot... should I switch to 0W-20 for this Gen2? It does have a lot of miles on it, and I am going to make it my daily, so it can easily get 60-70 miles a day. I was thinking of sticking to 5W-30, but if 0W-20 is better for Gen3, I'll just buy that.

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Would this one on Amazon be it? amazon.com/Toyota-Genuine-Fluid-00272-SLLC2-Coolant/dp/B004SL8568

It is currently $24.21, is it possible to find it even cheaper than that by any chance, or is this the best price? Since my levels are so low, I don't even think a flush makes sense at this point, and might as well top it off.

 

I have no idea when the last time the coolant was flushed as I just got the car. Is there proper documentation/videos you can link me to by any chance? Also, how many gallons should I buy of the coolant? I assume the same coolant can go to both the Engine and Power Control reservoirs?

And lastly, is it possible to do the flush without the airlift tools and all of that stuff? Anything I can do with just bare household tools?

 

Lol, the dealership is asking for $28 per gallon, its a dollar more expensive if I call around elsewhere. No thank you.

Are there seriously no alternatives to the SLLC2? I don't believe every Prius on the road is using the OEM fluid...

EDIT: I just placed an order from Amazon for two gallons, I should get it by today so hopefully I can just wrap up the entire flush this evening.

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Oh, so if it is going down, than up, that is just an alignment issue? Is there some sort of sensor associated with the motor to tell it to do that or something? I'll give it a look later today and see if that actually does the trick.


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Yeah, that is probably my best bet. I was thinking of getting those fancy tapes that have a texture on them and try to match that gray interior color, and put small circles of them wherever the holes are. Or of course, I can just buy those DashMats and look like I just came from a Buick lol


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WOAH, thank you so much! This looks like a simple step, just drain the fluid, go inside the car, perform the steps to get both pumps working, and refill to the Full line. This is so simple, thank you!

 

So I managed to get the fluids flushed today, so that is now set. I will open up the assembly for the windshield wipers tomorrow and see if aligning them appropriately helps, I'll provide updates on that of course.

Still seeking some creative insight for the drill holes, I put some stickers on them, not sure if it looks nice, is there any other ideas some folks here might have?

And lastly, for the driver side headlight, if there is water getting in, it has to be the the seals, right? I also noticed my back passenger side tail light has water (blinker fluid!) in the bottom by that red strip. I am also assuming the problem may be in the seal itself? Would love to hear if any folks on here had identical issues, and how they went about to fix it.

 

So I opened up the wipers to align them properly, but I realized the problem is just bigger than an alignment:

As mentioned, the wiper normally rests at a higher position than normal, but when using the wiper in any setting, it does make a full "wipe" by first going down to where it should be, than goes back up, until I stop it, which than it parks at a higher position.

When I did the alignment of resting it where it should be (matching the dots on the black part of the windshield), it doesn't make a full "wipe" as instead, it makes almost a ~75 to 80 degrees wipe, versus a regular wiper usually makes what looks like a ~90 to 95 degrees wipe.

So I am not sure if the problem rests on the motor, or maybe something with the mounting of the motor? Definitely not an alignment issue. Since the wipers are capable of making a full wipe, but park at a higher position, I suspect the motor is just fine? Never seen an issue like this before... lol.