Hello from the Black Country

[demag]

Hello,

Well I don't actually own a Toyota yet but it seemed to be a required part of the registration process so I entered Prius as that is what I am aiming to get.

At the moment I own a pampered 60 plate Kia Venga with less than 30k on the clock but to be honest it is annoying the hell out of me. It is back to Kia tomorrow yet again for a knock on the steering, problems with the auto stop/go system and corrosion on the rear doors (a common problem). It does a hoppity skip and a jump on anything other than billiard table smooth bends and the rattles and squeaks have to be heard to be believed. I think I will wait until Christmas, New Year to change as salesmen seem a bit more desperate to sell then and I might get a good deal.

I will have about £5k available so am looking to get an 06, 07, or 08 car and will ask a few questions so I hopefully get a nice example.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Hello Dave - welcome to Toyota Owners Club.

[demag]

Thanks very much. I see you are in the Midlands as well.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Yes - Birmingham

[Heidfirst]

Enoch or Eli? 

welcome to the forum.

[demag]

Thankyou.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Aynuk and Ayli ....

Ayli was late for work and the gaffer asked him where he had been.

Ayli: "I've been to 'av me 'air cut."

Gaffer: "In the firm's time?"

Ayli: "Well it grows in the firm's time, doh it?"

Gaffer: "It doh all grow in the firm's time!"

Ayli: "I day 'av it all cut off !"

[Anthony Poli]

Hi Dave,

Have you had a test drive yet?

 

[demag]

Hello,

Well apologies but I've been a naughty boy and didn't follow through and buy a Prius. I did get rid of the Venga and used some of the proceeds to get a block paved drive. With my depleted funds I then went and bought a Citroen C5 as I've been a Citroen owner for more years than I care to recall. I still have an automatic Citroen BX which is a keeper at the moment.

Anyway I recently renewed my insurance, when I got up off the floor I realised that this can't go on, £280 I think for ved and nearly £400 insurance so pushing £700 before turning a wheel, now I'm retired I have to cut costs. I will have about £6k to buy something else and have decided to seriously look for a Prius as the cheap ved is obviously a big draw although I'm not sure what the insurance will be. I've seen an 06 T4 not too far away for reasonable money, with 60k on the clock and low mileage. One of the pics shows the hv Battery monitor and it's down in the purple on about 2 bars. Is this a worry and are there any little checks I can do if I look at the car as to its general state?

Anthony no I haven't had a test drive so not sure what to expect, although I've driven many traditional auto's before.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Moved to the Prius club.

[PeteB]

1 hour ago, demag said:

... hv battery monitor and it's down in the purple on about 2 bars. Is this a worry and are there any little checks I can do if I look at the car as to its general state?

The Battery state is normal.  In normal driving the HV Battery gauge will go between 2 and 6 bars.  It rarely goes below 2, but occasionally goes to 7 or even 8 bars (when the colour changes to green on the Gen 2), especially if you go down some long, steep hills.  The gauge only shows a window of the true charge state - 0% on the gauge would be about 40% in reality, 100% is really about 80%.  This is to ensure the long life of the Battery.

It can go down to 2 bars if stuck in traffic for a while, or the last mile or two of a journey is at a steady 20-30 mph, when it will try to run on electric only.  It will use a few more revs when pulling away until the battery is charged a bit more, especially if starting off uphill.

The CVT is a sort of illusion, without the cones and belts of a 'normal CVT, such as is fitted to some 2nd generation Nissan Micras, Honda Jazz and Honda Hybrids.  If feels just same in the way it drives however.  Mechanically, the Toyota eCVT is very much simpler than almost any other type of transmission (except EVs, which don't normally need any sort of gearing).  It does away with the need for cog swapping, a clutch or torque converter, so has far fewer moving parts than a conventional manual, auto or CVT system.

Main thing to watch with 2004-2006 Gen 2 Prius, is they tend to break the rear springs, which surprisingly is not obvious when you drive it.  I've not seen it myself, so don't know how to spot it, but a competent mechanic should be able to check, and it will almost certainly fail an MOT if one or both have snapped (unless you find a blind tester!).

Apart from that, just the normal checks on full lock each way for knocking that might indicate wear in the CV joints, and any odd noises, vibration etc.

[danowat]

11 hours ago, demag said:

 

Anthony no I haven't had a test drive so not sure what to expect, although I've driven many traditional auto's before.

It doesn't drive much like a traditional auto (IMO), I'd strongly suggest getting a test drive first, because you might not like it!

[Catlover]

14 minutes ago, danowat said:

It doesn't drive much like a traditional auto (IMO), I'd strongly suggest getting a test drive first, because you might not like it!

That seems a fair statement....but then again you might love it.  It is seemless (no changes like a "standard" auto) and therefore is so smooth.  What seems to "annoy" some people is if you put your right foot down hard the revs pick up disproportionately to the perceived progress.  I got used to it and got to the way of thinking that if I need to accelerate pretty quick then I need to be in Pwr (power) mode, when all the engine power and Battery power comes into effect.  When the revs do go high, I tend to back of with the accelerator a bit and just go with the system.

[PeteB]

32 minutes ago, danowat said:

It doesn't drive much like a traditional auto (IMO)...

It sort of does and it doesn't.  Having been familiar with 'ordinary' autos will help get accustomed to it, as like an auto, it just has a (rather unusual) selector, one pedal to go, and one to stop.  Just no manual overrides, flappy paddles or gear changes.  Apart from selecting ECO, PWR or EV modes, the only other 'toy' is B mode, which most people will hardly ever use.

The thing that throws some people is the fact that it moves off and drives some of the time with no engine sounds, but to me that's part of the appeal that hasn't even started to wear off after 16 years and over 300,000 miles in Hybrids.

[16_Auris_HSD]

Have you checked how much insurance is going to be on the prius? It could end up costing you more and difference could be close to the amount of VED you pay on C5.

Which C5 do you have BTW, I'm a Citroen nut too.

[danowat]

1 hour ago, Catlover said:

What seems to "annoy" some people is if you put your right foot down hard the revs pick up disproportionately to the perceived progress.  I got used to it and got to the way of thinking that if I need to accelerate pretty quick then I need to be in Pwr (power) mode, when all the engine power and battery power comes into effect.  When the revs do go high, I tend to back of with the accelerator a bit and just go with the system.

Yes, I agree, they can feel very strained, I've had people ask me if the clutch is slipping...........

[PeteB]

1 hour ago, Catlover said:

... if you put your right foot down hard the revs pick up disproportionately to the perceived progress.  I got used to it and got to the way of thinking that if I need to accelerate pretty quick then I need to be in Pwr (power) mode, when all the engine power and battery power comes into effect.  When the revs do go high, I tend to back of with the accelerator a bit and just go with the system.

I find the best way is to briskly but smoothly squeeze the accelerator, rather than just stamp on it.  That seems to send a different signal to the computers and you still get a good shove but with less noise.

PWR mode just changes the amount of depression of the accelerator.  All three modes will give you max power if you floor it, PWR mode just gives you a bigger shove in the first inch or two of the pedal travel (ECO does the opposite).

If the reports are correct, early Gen 3 models in 2009-10 also boosted the electric assistance at full throttle in PWR mode to give slightly more power than the other two modes, but too frequent use of this reportedly fried the inverter (or something), so there was a recall to re-flash the ECU to stop this behaviour.

[danowat]

13 minutes ago, PeteB said:

If the reports are correct, early Gen 3 models in 2009-10 also boosted the electric assistance at full throttle in PWR mode to give slightly more power than the other two modes, but too frequent use of this reportedly fried the inverter (or something), so there was a recall to re-flash the ECU to stop this behaviour.

It might be placebo affect, but both the EV and ICE+EV performance feels quite a bit more spritely in PWR than I could explain with it being just shorter throttle response.

[PeteB]

12 minutes ago, danowat said:

It might be placebo affect, but both the EV and ICE+EV performance feels quite a bit more spritely in PWR than I could explain with it being just shorter throttle response.

The Gen 3 was the first version to have PWR and ECO modes, and at the launch Toyota produced a graph that looked something like this:

I left my Gen 3 in ECO mode almost all the time, and do the same in my current Gen 4, but squeezing the pedal to the metal still seems to give a really good push.

[demag]

I don't drive all that briskly if I can help it now I'm retired. I quite often used to see what I could squeeze out of a gallon coming home from work in the early hours after the late shift. My record was just under 66mpg driving like Miss Daisy in my 1.4td Skoda Roomster. 

My present Citroen is an 04 plate C5 exclusive estate 2.2 hdi auto so not exactly the most economical car on the planet, but I've seen 50mpg+ at 60mph in cruise on the motorway. However around town I usually see mid to high twenties!

[Catlover]

I fallen in love with my Prius and I only had it since Sunday. Because I had an Auris hybrid I was used to the mechanics of the system (same in the Prius).  The wife now has what was my Auris hybrid, but I like the Prius much better.  Now teaching the wife to get the best from the Auris - could end up in divorce.  Picked up the Prius from the wheel embellisher this afternoon, done them in Gunmetal, really nice finish.  Missing auto lights though, the wife has them in the Auris T-Spirit but the Prius T-Spirit doesnt have them, nor the auto dipping interior mirror, nor the folding door mirrors. The list is growing. 

[demag]

Actually you mentioning the Auris, one of my questions was going to be, in my price range of up to £6k there are a few later Auris's (Aurii?) and gen 3 Prius's listed but with 150k+ mileages. Is it best to stick with a low mile gen2 Prius or look at later but high mile models? I know these cars will do phenomenal miles but surely stuff must wear out on them as well.

[danowat]

26 minutes ago, Catlover said:

 Missing auto lights though, the wife has them in the Auris T-Spirit but the Prius T-Spirit doesnt have them, nor the auto dipping interior mirror, nor the folding door mirrors. The list is growing. 

That's odd, I thought that was standard equpiment on the T-Spirit?, mine has all that (and more)

[PeteB]

Some features were added at the 2012 face-lift.  All models got DRLs, electrically folding mirrors, and some stiffening of the chassis.

I thought soem of the auto functions, like Adaptive Cruise Control and the Auto headlights were part of the Tech option pack?

I seem to recall the auto mirror was on the later T-Spirits, but I'm not impressed by it in my Gen 4.

[danowat]

1 minute ago, PeteB said:

Some features were added at the 2012 face-lift.  All models got DRLs, electrically folding mirrors, and some stiffening of the chassis.

I thought soem of the auto functions, like Adaptive Cruise Control and the Auto headlights were part of the Tech option pack?

I seem to recall the auto mirror was on the later T-Spirits, but I'm not impressed by it in my Gen 4.

Never easy are they, spec levels and face-lift refreshes!.

Pretty sure mine is a face lift (has DRLs and folding mirrors), it has auto lights but not adaptive CC, and I'll agree, the auto dipping is rubbish, nowhere near as good as the only on my old Renault.