Picking up my new to me 2006 Prius tomorrow...

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by sambojoho, Jun 22, 2009.

  1. sambojoho

    sambojoho Proud conservative

    Joined:
    Jun 22, 2009
    92
    23
    0
    Location:
    Ohio
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Never owned a Prius before, bought it not really for the fuel economy or the enviro benefit, but I just thought it was a really cool car with a lot of interesting technology.

    Anyway, the car has 68k miles on it. The guy I'm buying it from is the original owner, and he has all the service records. Basically oil and filter changes, including the air and cabin filters is all he's had replaced. However he has had regular checks and inspections at the dealer, and it did have the steering column recall done.

    I plan on replacing the ATF with OEM fluid from the dealer myself since that has never been done. Also going to inspect the brakes, and I'm going to pull the spark plugs to check the gap to see if they need replaced. Any other item that may need attention on this model with this kind of mileage? What about coolant? I'm used to changing coolant every 30k miles on my Hyundai's, do Toyota's require that frequent?

    Also, the Bridgestone tires that this guy had put on are very noisy. They have a lot of tread left, but a lot of road noise. Can anyone recommend a good all season tire that is quiet and does well in the rain and snow?

    Thanks!
     
    #1 sambojoho, Jun 22, 2009
  2. spitinuri

    spitinuri Member

    Joined:
    May 23, 2008
    317
    13
    0
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    First of all... congratulations on your purchase! I would recommend a website for you to look over. It has great information and can probably answer most of your questions. John has spent time putting together a comprehensive (with pictures) list of user maintenance items.

    John's Stuff - Toyota Prius and more (most of the info you want is under 'Prius Info')

    When you get your car you can register it with Toyota on the website. This will get you access to service manuals, schedules and additional information.

    I would look over the information before I did service that was not required. These are great cars with not much maintenance requirements. You will find your brakes will last about twice as long as a normal cars. Oil changes are every 5,000 miles.

    Do some checking here on tires but many people are recommending the Michelin Hydroedge as a good compromise tire (nice quiet ride, okay mpg).
     
    #2 spitinuri, Jun 23, 2009
  3. ursle

    ursle Gas miser

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2006
    1,049
    192
    0
    Location:
    NH
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Congrats, I'm just going thru 70,000 myself with my 06
    had both front and rear brakes off yesterday front shoes are more than half worn rear are less than half worn
    already replaced my plugs
    I find the way toyota placed the plugs to be amusing, hope you do
    enjoy
     
    #3 ursle, Jun 23, 2009
  4. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2004
    7,664
    1,042
    0
    Location:
    United States
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Sounds good, but remember that anything involving the brake fluid is *not* a DIY job. Toyota diagnostic equipment is required to bleed the system correctly.

    Many here like Nokians and Goodyear Assurance Fuelmax. The new Michelin fuel savers (?) are promising, but no reportd experience yet.
     
    #4 richard schumacher, Jun 23, 2009
  5. rrobin1057

    rrobin1057 New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2008
    24
    0
    32
    Location:
    Park Forest , IL
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    well have fun with it I love mine just look what I have done to it so far and not done with it yet .
     
    #5 rrobin1057, Jun 23, 2009
  6. Boo

    Boo Boola Boola Member

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2007
    5,051
    488
    97
    Location:
    Flushing, NY
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Welcome to PriusChat. You might find the following to be useful:

    Here's the 2006 Prius eBrochure: [​IMG] 06_prius.pdf

    Here's the 2007 Prius Owner's Manual: [​IMG] 2007 Prius Owners Manual.pdf . I think that 99+% of it must be identical to the 2006 Prius Owner's Manual.

    After registering on Toyota Owners Online, you can download sections of the 2006 Prius Owner's Manual and Navigation Manual in pdf files, as well as the complete 2006 Prius Maintenance Schedule.

    You can also get the 2006 Prius Maintenance Schedule on edmunds.com.

    * * * * * * *

    For a good passenger all season tire, especially for rain and snow, I like the Goodyear Assurance TripleTred very much. Or consider getting the Michelin X-Radial tire at Costco or other club stores. It performs substantially as well as the TripleTred, but has lower rolling resistance so it should get you better gas mileage.

    Although some people have recently been getting the new Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to you because Goodyear itself rates the Fuel Max's performance in snow as mediocre -- on par with the OEM Goodyear Integrity.

    Note that the United States OEM tire size for the 15" wheel is 185/65R15, and that a lot of good tires may not come in that size. Personally I like to use the alternative 195/60R15 size anyway because I like the better handling and braking that the 10mm greater treadwidth should bring.
     
    #6 Boo, Jun 23, 2009
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)