Questions From A Nearly Owner

[Duffryn]

Hello to all

Just moving over from Avensis forum as acquiring a 2010 Prius T4 shortly to replace my trusty and much-loved Ven. Have a couple of questions, with apologies if they are a bit elementary or have been covered previously.

Cabin heater. Upon on leaving my home my journey initially takes me mostly downhill (ie coasting) for half a mile down to the main road, then I usually tag on to the end of a queue of traffic shuffling along for the next mile or so at jogging pace or less.I assume the Prius would run on solely on Battery power during this time if left to it's own devices? If this is the case, how does the heater to provide warm air in the cabin, or could/should I tell the car to run on petrol engine until warm?

Batteries. I believe the batteries are warranted by Toyota for 8 years. Mr.Sales Exec tells me he's not aware of any problems arising (well he would say that wouldn't he) after that time. I'm likely to keep car for some while, so can I be confident that there won't be serious problems after warranty has expired? Perhaps the model still too new for any experiences yet.

Any advice appreciated.

[wass]

When our cars first start up, they annoyingly always appear to run the engine somewhat wastefully, just to warm themselves up regardless of how we may have the ventilation system set. I am guessing that Toyota design engineers found that doing this is just as economical as allowing the engine to warm up as it actually has a need to drive the car. Hence your initial down hill section of your journey will probably be completed with the engine running regardless of the fact that you wont need it to run in the summer months since it will be warm enough to be comfortable.

The traction batteries do seem to be extremely reliable and you will see that it is seldom that any issues with the traction batteries themselves are reported. According to Grumpy Cabbie, they are regarded as good for around half a million miles amongst some members of the cab trade. The little 12 volt batteries can sometimes flatten themselves quickly because they are fitted just to run the electronics and lights and are not used to run the starter motor.

[steverally]

With regard to start up you can restrict the operation of the combustion engine if certain conditions are meet. After pressing the start button, if you press the 'ev' button within about 5 seconds the car will operate in 'ev' mode providing they'res enough charge in the Battery, also don't depress the accelerator too hard as this will cause the engine to start, also when your speed exceeds about 20MPH the engine will start.

I use this like you propose to leave home down a hill, also its ideal for just moving the car in/out of the garage, or a short distance

Obviously, no heating until the engine running

[kithmo]

Cabin heater. Upon on leaving my home my journey initially takes me mostly downhill (ie coasting) for half a mile down to the main road, then I usually tag on to the end of a queue of traffic shuffling along for the next mile or so at jogging pace or less.I assume the Prius would run on solely on battery power during this time if left to it's own devices? If this is the case, how does the heater to provide warm air in the cabin, or could/should I tell the car to run on petrol engine until warm?

Any advice appreciated.

I have a similar start to my commute to work, you can make the petrol engine run simply by turning on the heater but you won't get any heat out of the vents until you have gone around a mile or so, then the fan gradually starts blowing and builds up to a faster speed. The petrol engine will continue to cycle on and off as you sit in traffic to maintain the set temperature. Note: to save fuel but lose out on some heat, you can use ECO mode, but if it's heat you want then leave the car in normal mode (no mode selected).

[johalareewi]

Upon on leaving my home my journey initially takes me mostly downhill (ie coasting) for half a mile down to the main road, then I usually tag on to the end of a queue of traffic shuffling along for the next mile or so at jogging pace or less.I assume the Prius would run on solely on battery power during this time if left to it's own devices?

If the Prius is nicely warmed up then yes, it will run on Battery power if possible.

When started up from cold, it will go through the warmup stages.

See Prius Chat for the gen3 warmup stages

http://priuschat.com...p-stages.76501/

how does the heater provide warm air in the cabin

To heat the cabin, the Prius burns petrol. The Prius also burns petrol to warm itself up.

Generally, the Prius will try to get itself warmed up nicely before letting heat through to the cabin.

Batteries. I believe the batteries are warranted by Toyota for 8 years.

The HV Battery has an 8 year (or 100000 miles) warranty but gen3 registered before 1 June 2010 have a warranty lite package so only 5 years (or 60000 miles) for the HV Battery.

The 12v battery just has the normal warranty.

http://www.toyota.co... Offers&sr=Mall

Mr.Sales Exec tells me he's not aware of any problems arising

Best place to look is over on the Prius Chat forum (and this one of course).

http://priuschat.com...rius-forums.93/

I'm likely to keep car for some while, so can I be confident that there won't be serious problems after warranty has expired?

You can extend the Toyota warranty for up to 10 years with unlimiited mileage. Ball park figure £350 per year.

This is the normal Toyota Extended Warranty which also covers all the hybrid parts and the HV battery.

http://www.toyota.co...nership&sr=Mall

[Duffryn]

Many thanks for all the info & advice guys :). I'm expecting to pick up the car in the next few days - it's being 'prepared' at the mo - , no doubt I'll have more soft questions to ask once I'm behind the wheel.....