Today was a phenomenal day!

Check finally cleared, picked up Gloria today in plenty of time for work. Got most of my stuff transferred from one car to the other, got everything sorted, figured out the routing for my car top light, and headed out, ready for my big return after several days off. I figure I ran between 60 and 65 miles today at work. When I started my shift I had four bars on my fuel gauge. Before I finished my first run it dropped to three bars. It stayed steady on three bars until my very last delivery. As I pulled into my lot it dropped down to two bars. Now, I don't know how much each bar represents, but in my Corolla I would have gone through close to 3 gallons, I know I didn't go through near that much in Gloria. I figure I went through 2 gallons at the most! As long as I can see my car on a delivery I leave it running(well, in my Corolla I did) but in the Prius it just sits there in park waiting for me to return and get on with the next delivery. It started up a couple times while waiting but never more than a couple of minutes.

I learned a few things too, today. I learned what people mean by HID flicker. I'll be spending some time reading all I can find on new HID or converting to LEDs. Already installed a number of LED bulbs on the interior, mainly the dome and reading lights. The festoons I had are too large for the visor lights(I have 31mm, the ones I need are 28mm). I have already ordered new reverse and brake/tail LED lights(none of the LEDs from my Corolla with transfer over). I'm also debating LED turn signal lights. Amazon has some ballast units to make up for the bulb out fast blink, but I wonder if there is an LED compatible flasher relay out there.

I also learned how annoying the reverse beep can be. Turned that off after an hour at work! There are new indicators on my dash I also need to learn. Learned where to turn on the driving lights. Don't like them very much, very orange in color, maybe they are just really old and need new bulbs. I also need new wipers, I really don't like the articulated frame blades, much prefer the flexible RainX type and will convert to them probably next week. Also, need to find out if they can something for the rear wiper, it looks a little old but it looks like a single unit. Not sure how I would replace it.

Probably the biggest annoyance is how high the seat is. My head constantly rubs the roof and I have to tilt my head to see traffic lights. I'm only 6 foot 1 so I gotta wonder if Toyota even considered this car for anyone over 6 foot. Is the mounting unique or would a height adjustable Corolla seat work?

I received my block heater today. Since we are forecast to have 40+ temp days ahead I don't see a need to install it before my next day off on Monday, or maybe even Wednesday.

One last thing I learned is that I need to get a set of floor mats. I can see the bare carpet getting thrashed with as much as I am in and out of the car.

I was too busy with everything today for pics, but I will get some soon.

 

Another great day today! Now I know my tank level indicator has a total of 10 bars! From two bars it took a bit over 7 gallons to fill, I like that! What's even better is that right about mile 70 it dropped to 9 bars on the indicator! Total miles at work today was very close to 77.3 miles, MPG's averaged at 43.9 for my shift, so that's about 8 or 9 more miles per gallon than my Corolla was getting. I can't wait to see how long it takes to get back down to 2 bars again! Since I am wearing these clunky boots I have to think once I can switch back to regular shoes I might have a bit better feel of the car and increase my mileage.

I took to adjusting my seating position in the car today. I like sitting more upright so it will take a little getting used to slouching a bit. Sitting that way reduced the amount of head rubbing so it might work for the near term.

I ordered some OEM HID lamps to replace the ones currently in the car to see if they will stop the flickering. If not the bulbs, then I will look into new ballasts. I've read in several posts here it could be one or the other so one way or another I'll stop the flickering. I will say I didn't see the lights flicker once today, but I can't say I was paying as close attention to it as last night, we were a lot busier tonight so I was focused more on driving than the lights.

My LED conversion of all the interior lights progresses, the front dome and map lights are swapped, and will do the back dome tomorrow. Visor bulbs are ordered and will arrive soon. Reverse and brake tails are in my wishlist, but the turns are waiting for me to finish researching LED compatible flasher units. If they are not available, or just don't work, I'll buy a set of flasher ballasts to prevent the fast blink, though it kind of defeats the purpose of LEDs if you have to use the ballasts to use more energy to make them work correctly.

As far as floormats go, I really want a set of Weathertechs. The price tag is painful but I think the best way to afford it is getting the front set then save for the rear set. I'll pay a bit more but better than the full price up front for me, I am a lowly pizza delivery dude, LOL!

Anyway, I gotta crash for the night. More to come!

 

Thanks, and I don't think so, when left on in park it starts once in a while to keep the charge up. Not on every delivery but every so often. Besides, I'm usually only out of the car for a couple of minutes at a time. When I return to the shop to get another delivery I do a full shut down. I could be in the shop 2 minutes or 30, depends on the night.

I NEVER top off. Learned that from my 05 Corolla. The Evap system freaked out when I did that so I ONLY fill til it clicks.

Thank you for this, did not know this was an issue!

At the risk of sounding a fool, what makes them not DOT compliant? On the interiors I prefer the cleaner brighter LEDs because I drive a lot at night and being able to read my run slip is important. Those stock bulbs sometimes just don't put out enough light.

The exterior bulbs on the other hand, I want to be seen exiting and entering my vehicle, so brighter lights make sense as long as they don't blind other drivers.

 

I discovered something amazing today! In hindsight it makes sense, but it never occurred to me to think about it. Nothing I have read through mentions it at all. What was so amazing? The Prius has absolute instantaneous acceleration. No hesitation, no hiccup, just press the pedal and you go. I am so used to the momentary hesitation that every gas engine with an automatic transmission that when it dawned on me today that I wasn't experiencing it I was flabbergasted! I toyed with it a little to make sure I wasn't imagining it and sure enough, instant go power!

On another note, I'm really unhappy with my forward lighting capability. My low beams are good enough but my high beams(please forgive my vernacular) suck nice person. They do virtually nothing to increase illumination any farther than my low beams. The only way I see that they work is very close to the car, there is a slight, and I mean slight, increase in illumination of the area directly in front of the bumper. Also, I think the fog lights need aiming and replacement. They illuminate a wider area directly in front of the car, but it is a very orange glow, as if they were very old sealed beams getting ready to die. I deliver to areas that are very rural so good illumination is vital. My handheld helps but only out the side windows.