We've Joined The Hybrid Family :-)

[Gordon in Angus]

Hi All, just thought I'd say Hi having just joined the Hybrid family now with a new Yaris Excel Hybrid.

Traded in the ol' iQ after 47252 miles and 3 years of fun, slightly sorry to see the iQ go, but I'm keen to embrace the future as well and see how it goes...

Thanks folks.

Gordon

PS, any tips on getting the best out of the Hybrid world...?

[Sooty]

Hi and welcome to the Hybrid Family.

Just drive your new car and enjoy.

Let the car decide on how it wants to work and do not try to second guess it.

I'm sure that others will give some more tips.

[CPN]

Hi Gordon, what Sooty recommended (most important) and welcome to what will probably be the most relaxed and stress free driving experience you'll ever have! Be gentle with your right foot as it will reward your wallet big time... (and you won't necessarily be driving slowly either...) ☺

[unclepoo]

just sit back and enjoy the ride......keep the needle in the eco area and you`ll see the benefits at the pump.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Gordon

PS, any tips on getting the best out of the Hybrid world...?

Check tyre pressures as even 1 or 2 psi under can affect top end economy.

Don't try to beat the car at it's job of getting best mpg's - you won't. The programming really is clever (many threads and posts in the past on here about it). Don't try to force or keep the car in electric mode thinking you'll get great mpg's. You will for about 2 miles but overall you won't. What you take out of the HV Battery has to be put back in again - which ultimately uses more petrol. Just drive the car steady and let it work out when to fire up the engine or not. It sounds counter intuitive but it's right.

I used ECO mode in town, normal on the A roads and motorways and Power for overtaking. EV mode is a bit of fun only and is ideal for just taking the car out the garage to wash or showing off to friends in the carpark.

If sitting in the carpark waiting of the other half to do a shop leave the car in Ready NOT in ACC mode like you would in a traditional car. The engine will fire up from time to time but generally will barely use any petrol. The 12v in all Toyota hybrids isn't as 'strong' as a traditional car as all it does is boot up a computer to start the car - it doesn't need to turn over an engine. As such it doesn't like running lights or radios for an hour, let alone hours.

Finally, enjoy your new smooth ride. Stress free in traffic and a job to drive on todays congested roads.

[CPN]

(think you meant "joy" there... )

[Duffryn]

(think you meant "joy" there... )

That made I larf !

OP - good luck with the car. Incidentally, where is the Yaris Hybrid made - France or Japan? Maybe thinking of one myself in the distant future but would much prefer a Jap built effort.

[johalareewi]

PS, any tips on getting the best out of the Hybrid world...?

GC covered the essentials:-

Keep tyres pumped up;

Let the car do its thing;

Remember that the 12V Battery is small;

Add to that:-

Find out where the jump start points are and how to use them. If you do flatten the 12V Battery, there is a right way (and a wrong way) to jump start a Toyota hybrid.

Don't run out of petrol. You can't just pop in a couple of litres and drive to the nearest garage to fill up.

When it is time to buy new tyres, go for low rolling resistence (aka fuel saver) tyres.

The aircon is very fuel efficient. Use it rather than drive around with the windows open.

When servicing, check that the dealer will use the correct oil. Not as much of an issue now as it was when the gen3 Prius came out but there might still be the odd dealer who isn't sure.

B mode is for additional engine braking on long steep descents. It does not boost the HV Battery ;)

[Gordon in Angus]

Many thanks for the replies folks, lots of really good stuff there, all very much appreciated. Its going to be an interesting learning curve I think going by the 200 odd miles I've done already, but a fun one too.

Just wondering, I noticed that the buttons on the steering wheel controlling the Audio and the phone settings on the entertainment display thingie (I was tempted to call it a Radio or Cd player but its both more than that and neither at the same time!) don't light up when the lights are on. The iQ I have just traded in and the 2012 Rav4 I have do, & so did the Urban Cruiser I had pre the Rav4. Anyone else got that? Its not the end of the world but driving in the dark I've found I don't yet know what buttons do what so it was almost useless having them if you can't see them in front of you till you memorise where they are and what they all do. Almost a false safety feature i wondered. Anyone know if they should light up or not?

Anyway thanks again and I'll keep in touch re the car.

Thanks

Gordon

[Chris Dance]

Enjoy your new driving experience. Most points to watch have been fully covered but make sure all internal lights including the boot light are out when parking up. I did not close the rear hatch fully on my previous Prius, therefore the boot light was on all night. Next morning 12v Battery was dead.

[CPN]

Enjoy your new driving experience. Most points to watch have been fully covered but make sure all internal lights including the boot light are out when parking up. I did not close the rear hatch fully on my previous Prius, therefore the boot light was on all night. Next morning 12v battery was dead.

One way of mitigating that is to replace all relevant filament bulbs with LED equivalents = massive reduction in current consumption = less risk... (of flattening the 12v battery)

[MEP's Yaris GS]

Just wondering, I noticed that the buttons on the steering wheel controlling the Audio and the phone settings on the entertainment display thingie (I was tempted to call it a Radio or Cd player but its both more than that and neither at the same time!) don't light up when the lights are on. The iQ I have just traded in and the 2012 Rav4 I have do, & so did the Urban Cruiser I had pre the Rav4. Anyone else got that? Its not the end of the world but driving in the dark I've found I don't yet know what buttons do what so it was almost useless having them if you can't see them in front of you till you memorise where they are and what they all do. Almost a false safety feature i wondered. Anyone know if they should light up or not?

Unfortunately they don't :(

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/166546-mk3-yaris-trend-steering-wheel-controls-back-light/

[Gordon in Angus]

Ah, right, that explains it I suppose, thanks for that MEP, much appreciated.

Cheers

Gordon

[johalareewi]

I noticed that the buttons on the steering wheel controlling the Audio and the phone settings ... don't light up when the lights are on. ... Almost a false safety feature i wondered. Anyone know if they should light up or not?

I guess that the touch-trace feature hasn't made it to the Yaris?

On my prius, when you touch a steering wheel control, an image of the control (and which bit you are touching) is shown on the main display. So you can see what you are doing while still watching the road. You don't have to look at the steering wheel.

[PeteB]

I noticed that the buttons on the steering wheel controlling the Audio and the phone settings ... don't light up when the lights are on. ... Almost a false safety feature i wondered. Anyone know if they should light up or not?

I guess that the touch-trace feature hasn't made it to the Yaris?...

that was one reason I was very disappointed the Prius C didn't make it to the UK - it has almost the same dash as a Prius (including touch tracer and same steering wheels, so presumably steering buttons are illuminated) but is Yaris sized with the 1.5 engine (more than adequate IMHO).

That said, if they've used the same body as the current Yaris (and I'm not sure), the low rear roofline will mean rear seat entry is almost impossible for someone my size, and sitting upright in the back definitely is! Also seems to have copied the minimalist oddments storage too.

[FROSTYBALLS]

The Prius C/Aqua shares the same platform as the Vitz/Yaris, and presumably similar body architecture.

[Bibsy]

I had the query about the lights on the steering wheel buttons on my old Prius. From memory, the answer was that each button is in fact subtly different - one had a pip in the middle, one was convex, one concave - and therefore you could tell by touch which you were pressing, once you'd learned that.

Don't know if it's the same in a Yaris, but that Toyota "philosophy" may be in that too. Or maybe I'm remembering wrong.

[johalareewi]

Yesterday my OH replaced her 10yo Yaris with a 62 plate hybrid Yaris T4. It will get a good workout this weekend ;)

One thing that surprised us was the lack of user manuals. Sales guy said they are all online and we have to download them. Is that correct?

[Gordon in Angus]

That's what i was told as well when picking up the Yaris. There is a Quick Start user guide supplied with the car new, but its not as comprehensive as a full manual. I finally managed to get the full manual as a PDF file after setting up an account on a Toyota website. The quick start guide pointed to http://my.toyota.eu from in there select your country then set up an account. Once inside you can get access to manuals and other info etc.

Gordon

[FROSTYBALLS]

TOC have been highlighting the availability of online owner's manuals for recent models since July 2014 - see. http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/tutorials/article/35-electronic-owners-manuals/

[MEP's Yaris GS]

Yesterday my OH replaced her 10yo Yaris with a 62 plate hybrid Yaris T4. It will get a good workout this weekend ;)

One thing that surprised us was the lack of user manuals. Sales guy said they are all online and we have to download them. Is that correct?

Not at all, we've got full booklets given to us for both our 2014 Yaris Trend and my 2013 PiP. All 700 pages of it!

[Gordon in Angus]

Sounds like since they are no longer giving them away with new cars now the sales folks are taking the easy option & trying to save you money at the same time by saying "just get them online if you want one..."

Gordon

[MEP's Yaris GS]

Sounds like since they are no longer giving them away with new cars now the sales folks are taking the easy option & trying to save you money at the same time by saying "just get them online if you want one..."

Gordon

God help the section of the population who don't have access to the internet then.

[Gordon in Angus]

I wouldn't worry about that MEP, they can't hear you at the moment either...

[johalareewi]

Looks like they could be online here

http://www.toyota.com/owners/web/pages/resources/owners-manuals#Owners-Manuals

Drat, they are USA manuals.

Found some UK stuff here.

http://www.toyota.co.uk/owners-info/vehicle-information

Interestingly it says in the hybrid yaris book

"This Brief Guide does not replace the or substitute the Owner's Manual, which you will find in the vehicle's glove compartment."

Hmmmm

Digging deeper, the full blown books are here...

https://customerportal.toyota-europe.com/login/index.html

(My OH has already given up and left me to find them) ;)