Hi everyone, New Prius owner here. I bought a 2015 Prius Three with 197k miles from a Toyota dealership. Had a Ford Focus but can't get parts for it - google Focus transmission problems if you're interested. Any way, hope the Prius is as reliable as their reputation. Any advice for a new owner?
congrats and welcome! 15 is the best year gen 3 due to updated pistons and rings. if you are a diy'er, dig right into the maintenance schedule and clean the egr circuit. all the best!
For EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) see first link in my signature. (if on a phone hold it landscape orientation to see signatures)
Thank you bisco and Mendel. Clean the EGR first. What else should be a priority? So far I'm getting about 41mpg on my commute to work. Most of that is on the freeway which can be stop and go like the city in the Greenville/Spartanburg area - I blame the short on off ramps. So a couple of cons. I am not good at buying cars so I don't find these things until after the purchase. 1. No auto headlights. I thought that would be a given. 2. The lock beep. Most cars you can turn off the beep when you lock and unlock the car but I could not find that feature on the Prius. I will go through your list Mendel but I doubt that I am going to buy snow tires for winter driving in South Carolina. One can only hope for that much snow, Oh yeah, and 3. The slow acceleration. I am having to learn to choose when I pull into traffic or merge more carefully. Thanks again for the replies.
tranny fluid (it's not on the maintenance schedule, toyota calls it lifetime. if you don't know the maintenance history (you can check at toyota.com/owners and get a maintenance schedule there as well, if you don't have one. clean the throttle body and maf replace all fluids get a free 12v load test at an auto parts store learn where the 12v battery is, the jump point under the hood and the emergency release inside the hatch door. make sure you have tow completely working fobs, and test the maechanical keys in the drivers door lock. tyres pressure, bump up a bit over door jamb spec cabin and air filters check/clean/replace follow the maintenance schedule, repeating at the end of the highest mileage in the schedule
Definitely clean egr. Search NutzAboutBolts on youtube for the diy videos. Give it a bottle of fuel treatment as well.
Thanks again everyone. Looks like I have my work cut out for me. I'll buy some fuel treatment this weekend. I have one key fob and have tested the manual key. Where is the best place to buy additional key sets? Also a confession. I came home from work and went to bed and my sister found my car running. It had ran for a few hours. So now I know. Foot off the brake and press the button while in park. Has anyone else done this?
Any time the cArs on and you push the power button, it should go into park and shut off, regardless of where your feet are.
