Collected my car today

[demag]

I collected my Prius today about lunch time, it was a bit odd at first but I soon got used to it coming from an automatic. I drove straight to the petrol station as the gauge was flashing "R" and put 44.09 litres in. I sat in and prayed I'd remember the start up procedure but all was well. I'm quite impressed, especially with the unearthly silence at low speed and after 11 miles of quite heavy urban traffic and just a couple of miles dual carriageway I'm up to 50mpg.

One thing that I am puzzled by is the heating and ventilation screen. Is aircon on all the time or only if I press the AC button? If I set a temperature and a manual fan speed is that just heating/cooling but not ac? Reading through the manual it keeps stressing to not drive with ac on unless it's necessary.

One other thing I'm sure I read that you could see your old service/maintenance info at Toyota. Can you do that online?

[pfe4]

AC ON/OFF - will activate air conditioner section (this will use high voltage Battery and engine to charge the HVB)

Without AC ON pressed you'll use just a fan and heat from the engine.

PS. It is recommended to enable AC from time to time even in winter so coolant will move a bit. In fact you can use AC all the time, even during the winter, there is nothing wrong with it, except slightly decreased fuel economy (that's what manual is stressing about :)

 

Online service - just register on toyota.co.uk, add your car, confirm it, and you'll see the service history (if done by Toyota dealer of course).

 

Hope this helps.Enjoy your Prius :)

 

[thecaretaker]

Well done and congratulations on getting your new Prius. Welcome to the club.

As for AC, I have mine on all the time hot or cold. It really helps to stop you steaming up on wet days.

[PeteB]

10 hours ago, thecaretaker said:

Well done and congratulations on getting your new Prius. Welcome to the club.

As for AC, I have mine on all the time hot or cold. It really helps to stop you steaming up on wet days.

ditto to both

On my Gen 1 Prius (old fashion engine driven A/C compressor, not electric lake later models) I tried turning the A/C off (most of the time) for the odd tank full and couldn't see any difference in the mpg except in very hot weather.

[danowat]

Mine has climate, so I just set the temp and leave it to do what it does, that said, the front screen clear uses AC, so it does get a work out every now and then.

I also turn the heater off completely sometimes, when I start the car up in the city, if the heater is on, it means the ICE is on all the time until the cabin reaches temp, so I just leave it off until I am out of the city so the ICE shuts off when sitting in traffic.

Anal, I know.............

[demag]

Thanks all, I 've done another 10 miles this morning and am now at 56.7 mpg and all this round town. I think I'm becoming addicted.

[BhxTrev]

Hi Dave,

I tend to put my Air Con on only when necessary but I do take on board the comments that leaving it on only affects fuel consumption slightly. Might try leaving it on in future. Also congrats on your new Prius. I love mine & don't think you'll be disappointed. I've had some great cars throughout my life but nothing ever came close to my previous Gen3 Prius. I've had my Gen4 Excel for over a year now & it's proving to be even better then the previous model. Enjoy! 

[johalareewi]

Is the gen4 A/C switch like the gen3 A/C switch?  With the gen3, when the A/C switch is ON you are telling the Prius it is OK to use the air con if needed, as opposed to the air con is on and working.

[demag]

Well nearly a month and the Prius is great. I filled the tank yesterday having done 452 miles at 51.55mpg so I can't complain, that's nearly twice as much as my Citroen was doing. It's very comfortable and very quiet and when there isn't a local loon glued to my back bumper I practice my hyper mileing. A couple of things annoy, not having speed sensitive auto locking and the MFD is a pain, almost to the point of being dangerous in that I have to take my eyes off the road to set things like the heater or radio, I would much rather have a switch or knob, sod the aesthetics. But generally speaking we are gelling quite nicely, I just wish the weather would warm up  so I didn't have to drive with a big coat on. I've ordered some Osram Night Breakers to beef the lights up slightly, they should be here soon.

[PeteB]

43 minutes ago, demag said:

... the MFD is a pain, almost to the point of being dangerous in that I have to take my eyes off the road to set things like the heater or radio...

can you not get on with the steering controls for the main features of the climate control and audio?  I found I could find the buttons by feel quite easily.

It's a few years since I last drove a Gen 2 Prius, but from memory there was something about the shape of each steering wheel button that made it easy to identify.

[RelaxedDrive]

On my gen2 you can definitiely feel the different button shapes, very clever!  The only issue is when you want to adjust something while negotiating a corner.

I have found I only really use the buttons on the steering wheel for audio/climate control.  And I always leave AC on (as mentioned above, it's only actually on when needed).

BTW, do you realise the 2 audio knobs push in/out, i.e. can be recessed, just in case yours are recessed!  And have you found the hidden 'tissue box' tray?

 

[demag]

I've owned it a few months now and am getting more used to it. The actual driving is just second nature now but I still think the mfd is a pain although I know my way around it now. Yes the steering wheel buttons are good I just wish you could put the heating on auto without the ac kicking in and then having to switch ac off with the mfd but it's only a minor issue. Probably my ocd acting up.

[Joseph D]

15 hours ago, demag said:

I just wish you could put the heating on auto without the ac kicking in and then having to switch ac off with the mfd but it's only a minor issue.

Why do you want to do that?

You realise on auto, it won't use the A/C if it is not needed. Just set it on auto, select the temperature on the screen and let it control the climate itself AUTOmatically. (Make sure all 4 dash vents are open, so it can work at its optimum.)

[danowat]

Gen3 does that, you have to manually turn the AC button on or off, it won't do it on auto mode.

[Joseph D]

3 minutes ago, danowat said:

Gen3 does that, you have to manually turn the AC button on or off, it won't do it on auto mode.

According to the posters profile, they have a 2006 T4, making it a Gen 2.

[danowat]

2 hours ago, Joseph D said:

According to the posters profile, they have a 2006 T4, making it a Gen 2.

I know that, I was just making the point that it does happen, and it's not that far fetched to expect it to happen, in response to your "why would you want it to do that" comment.

[PeteB]

On the Gen 4, there are settings in the Customisation pages for:

• A/C auto switching operation
• Switching between outside air and recirculated air mode linked to A/C auto switch operation

The former can only be changed by the dealer* via the diagnostic port, while the latter can also be changed by the user through the centre (infotainment) MFD.

I believe these settings could by changed by the dealer for both Gen 2 & 3, can't remember if the latter setting was user selectable on those models.

Certainly the Gen 4 allows more functions to be changed by the user through the centre MFD and/or the one next to the speedo, but I remain at a loss as to why they insist many are still dealer only, such as:

• Sensor sensitivity for darkening the brightness of the instrument cluster depending on the outside brightness
• Time elapsed before the automatic door lock function is activated if a door is not opened after being unlocked
• Automatic mirror folding and extending operation
• Signal (buzzer) when the shift position is in R (at least this was optional in Gen 3 & 4 - on Gen 2 it was optional vie wire cutters!)
• Times of flashing of the lane change signal flasher
• Time elapsed before headlights turn off (follow me home system)
• wiper operation when the wiper switch is in the “AUTO” position (also not changeable on earlier models)
• Footwell lighting On Off
• Interior lights illumination control

Maybe something to hope for in Gen 5?

* or people with a OBDII port device and suitable software

[kithmo]

There's a switch on the door for the automatic mirror folding.

Re: suitable software: IIRC most if not all the others can be done with the Carista app (subscription required).

[PeteB]

13 hours ago, kithmo said:

There's a switch on the door for the automatic mirror folding...

Yes, the setting changes the AUTO function from the default lock car - mirrors close, unlock car - mirrors open, to Ignition on - open, ignition off - close

Personally I prefer the default so the mirrors are available to check what's coming from behind before opening a door.

[kithmo]

2 hours ago, PeteB said:

Yes, the setting changes the AUTO function from the default lock car - mirrors close, unlock car - mirrors open, to Ignition on - open, ignition off - close

Personally I prefer the default so the mirrors are available to check what's coming from behind before opening a door.

I don't understand, the mirrors are open (available) when you're sitting in the car unless you manually closed them before switching off ?

[PeteB]

24 minutes ago, kithmo said:

I don't understand, the mirrors are open (available) when you're sitting in the car unless you manually closed them before switching off ?

Yes.  I leave them on Auto, so that they close themselves when I lock the car.

All I was pointing out is that it's possible to ask a dealer to change a setting so whilst set to Auto they close as soon as you turn the engine off, and open again when you turn it on.  Wouldn't appeal to me, but it's there.

[Ten Ninety]

On 5/15/2018 at 12:22 PM, PeteB said:

On the Gen 4, there are settings in the Customisation pages for:

• A/C auto switching operation
• Switching between outside air and recirculated air mode linked to A/C auto switch operation

Does that mean on the Gen 4 it is possible to completely prevent the car from deciding to switch to outside air on its own? That used to wind me up on the Gen 3 as I drive everywhere on recirc and on chilly mornings it would decide to suddenly switch itself and give me a faceful of diesel fug. 

[PeteB]

10 minutes ago, Ten Ninety said:

Does that mean on the Gen 4 it is possible to completely prevent the car from deciding to switch to outside air on its own? That used to wind me up on the Gen 3 as I drive everywhere on recirc and on chilly mornings it would decide to suddenly switch itself and give me a faceful of diesel fug. 

Yes.

Actually, you could do this with the Gen 3 too:

• "Switching between outside air and recirculated air mode linked to “AUTO” switch operation   Default: ON     Customised: OFF"

This could be done by user or dealer.

Pressing the Defrost/demist button would also switch to fresh air, as that will speed up demisting.  I don't think this can be overridden, but I notice the Gen 4 doesn't always do this, so maybe it senses humidity or something.  I like the way pressing this button a second time puts everything back as it was (unless any other HV buttons have been pressed in between).

[Ten Ninety]

4 minutes ago, PeteB said:

Yes.

Actually, you could do this with the Gen 3 too:

• "Switching between outside air and recirculated air mode linked to “AUTO” switch operation   Default: ON     Customised: OFF"

This could be done by user or dealer.

Pressing the Defrost/demist button would also switch to fresh air, as that will speed up demisting.  I don't think this can be overridden, but I notice the Gen 4 doesn't always do this, so maybe it senses humidity or something.  I like the way pressing this button a second time puts everything back as it was (unless any other HV buttons have been pressed in between).

Thanks for clarifying. Pity I never realised that 'feature' could be customised at the time I had my Gen3!

My GS is even worse, to be fair. The recirc button itself controls auto or manual operation which you'd think would be on-or-off straightforward. However, even when clearly set to manual, it insists on switching to outside air every time the temperature drops below a certain point outside. Oh for the days of a physical slider that did as it was told, stayed where you put it and didn't need electronic customisation!

[kithmo]

10 hours ago, PeteB said:

Yes.  I leave them on Auto, so that they close themselves when I lock the car.

All I was pointing out is that it's possible to ask a dealer to change a setting so whilst set to Auto they close as soon as you turn the engine off, and open again when you turn it on.  Wouldn't appeal to me, but it's there.

Ah, I get it now, I thought you meant you had the auto close on engine shutdown