New hybrid owner

[Steven83]

Hello all.

I will pick up my 2015 pre face life auris on Saturday. 
I’ve been doing research on the car and it seems many suggest regularly cleaning out the fan filter that cools the Battery.

if this is such an important thing to do for the life of the Battery I’m surprised this isn’t covered in a dealership service.

is this something you guys diy?

also on the test drive when braking I could really feel the difference with the sharper engine braking, but once I’d almost come to a stop, say 5mph, I’d say the brakes ‘let off’ a bit and took me by surprise and I had to quick press the brake a bit harder. 

is this normal? It’s a Toyota approved car bought at main dealer with 30k miles and no advisories on mot.

thanks in advance for any answers. 
 

steve. 

[Saxmaniac]

How much dirt getting in the filter depends on how much dust and fluff is kicking about in the car interior. I checked mine at 30 k miles and there was a small amount of dirt so the timing in my case was about right. You might be best to check after a year or so and judge what's best. And if you want to keep the car a long time well maintained, there's plenty of maintenance over and above the dealer service schedule to keep it good long term

[Catlover]

Hi Steven, always good to see a newbie posting on the forum.

aYou could visit YouTube and search for something like “Toyota Auris 2015 hybrid Battery filter cleaning” you need to be year specific because your Gen2 may well be different procedure then my wife’s gen1.                 
How dirty and how quickly will depend on what you carry. If you have a dog that sheds hair then it may get to the filter. Another thing to be careful doing is not put shopping bags blocking it. When we go shopping I open back passenger door and drop shop bag on the floor. I always careful the bag is not blocking free flow of air to the filter, or a dangling coat on the back seat etc.

[TonyHSD]

Welcome to Toyota hybrid game👌 

For the cooling fan filter and air vent good tips had been shared already, I just want to add that blocking the air vent especially on long motorway journeys is where you may get a problems and can cause overheating and warning lights to come off the dashboard, since when you use the car longer the Battery gets warmer or when you drive more on Battery power discharge 🔋and then charge again, going long downhill for example.
Here there is one more thing we may never mentioned in the forum., it is a good idea to keep underfloor space in the boot clean and free from any objects that can block the air flow, bags with tools, cloths, rubbish in general, and make sure the boot is dry, can also place a bag of moisture absorbent (dehumidifier) to keep dry the Battery, overheating and moisture are the biggest enemies to Toyota hybrids batteries. Use heating in winter and use AC in hot summer days is highly recommended too. 👍

For the brakes: if there is a huge difference between regenerative braking and discs brakes  especially if the brakes feel weak it means they may need a service, this can be double checked when you drive for a while 50-60 miles travel and then after look at the brake disc they should be shiny polished like metal, if they are not and if they look scratched rusted then definitely you need to get them serviced. Brakes on Toyota hybrids get little work, they are cold most of the time and get rusted easily, they require more often service than standard car but the good bit is that they doesn’t require replacement parts as often, just dismantle callipers and pads, clean, lube the slider pins only with silicone grease and put back all together. Brake fluid change every 4-5 years.  👍 

[loz8]

Sometimes they do surge a bit on braking,dont know if thats the creep effect.

Same yr. as newbie,havnt cleaned Battery fan,or if dealer ever has but the cabin is much cleaner with cabin air filter.

Dont know how they get on with youngsters in back,a dustbin is the usual look.

[MagicBoy]

Brakes at low speeds can take a little getting used to, took me a couple of weeks. It uses regenerative braking where possible to put power back into the Battery, but it's less efficient at lower speed. If you brake gently it'll transition from regen braking to the traditional disc/pads at ~5mph.

[Steven83]

Thanks very much for the help guys. I will definitely put those tips to use! 

[Davidhee58]

On 10/15/2021 at 9:29 AM, TonyHSD said:

Brake fluid change every 4-5 years.

Hi Tony, as I remember, Toyota service schedule for brake fluid change is every 2 years, is 4-5 years interval OK?  

[TonyHSD]

53 minutes ago, Davidhee58 said:

Hi Tony, as I remember, Toyota service schedule for brake fluid change is every 2 years, is 4-5 years interval OK?  

Yes, per manufacturer (dealer) recommendation is every 2 years, but in real world 4 to 5 years max intervals are safe as usually the brake fluid used in hybrids has lower boiling point than regular brake fluid but the same time is less hygroscopic., best to stick to dealer service intervals if you ask me. Same for the air conditioning, recommended 2 years , I usually do every 2-3 years for both brake fluid and ac. 👍

[Davidhee58]

20 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

Yes, per manufacturer (dealer) recommendation is every 2 years, but in real world 4 to 5 years max intervals are safe as usually the brake fluid used in hybrids has lower boiling point than regular brake fluid but the same time is less hygroscopic., best to stick to dealer service intervals if you ask me. Same for the air conditioning, recommended 2 years , I usually do every 2-3 years for both brake fluid and ac. 👍

Thanks Tony for the above details👍

[TonyHSD]

31 minutes ago, Davidhee58 said:

Thanks Tony for the above details👍

You are welcome 👍

[Anthony Poli]

On 10/14/2021 at 9:43 PM, Steven83 said:

Hello all.

I will pick up my 2015 pre face life auris on Saturday. 
I’ve been doing research on the car and it seems many suggest regularly cleaning out the fan filter that cools the battery.

if this is such an important thing to do for the life of the battery I’m surprised this isn’t covered in a dealership service.

is this something you guys diy?

also on the test drive when braking I could really feel the difference with the sharper engine braking, but once I’d almost come to a stop, say 5mph, I’d say the brakes ‘let off’ a bit and took me by surprise and I had to quick press the brake a bit harder. 

is this normal? It’s a Toyota approved car bought at main dealer with 30k miles and no advisories on mot.

thanks in advance for any answers. 
 

steve. 

On my first hybrid test drive, I thought I had hit something when arriving back at the dealers, the mechanical brakes definitely stopped me at low speed.

The Regen braking is a different feel to the physical brakes and it just takes a little time to get used to.

I had a test drive in a car with one peddle driving, now that was an experience, but after 10 minutes I had learned to ease off the accelerator slowly.