2007 Toyota Prius
Discussion
As suspected, there's nothing much to report.
Last week or so I removed the HV battery cooling fan and cleaned it; they are not part of the service schedule so over time can get very dirty so their effectiveness and lifespan are reduced. As they cease to cool the big battery properly, in turn the life of that battery is reduced.
Not terrible but after 8 years, it looked like this:
Split in half:
Job done:
Did a longish drive today, around 260km in total. Lots of motorway cruising which it was good at. My only complaints are lack of height in the door and centre console arm rests; makes me feel like my shoulders are drooping and that is uncomfortable, quite noisy at speed; mainly road and wind, not engine. Electric PAS is very dead in the centre of the wheel, makes you feel like you're constantly adjusting it to keep in a straight line; it doesn't want to self centre.
At 135 indicated km/h (on the flat... there's no hills here) the display was floating around 5l/100km which is 56mpg.
Filled it up on the way back. In true 320Touring styleee, a photo of the trip meter with fuel gauge. It would have gone to 900+, easily and I reckon 1000 is possible with some careful/annoying driving:
Trip meter complete with regen space invaders:
Last week or so I removed the HV battery cooling fan and cleaned it; they are not part of the service schedule so over time can get very dirty so their effectiveness and lifespan are reduced. As they cease to cool the big battery properly, in turn the life of that battery is reduced.
Not terrible but after 8 years, it looked like this:
Split in half:
Job done:
Did a longish drive today, around 260km in total. Lots of motorway cruising which it was good at. My only complaints are lack of height in the door and centre console arm rests; makes me feel like my shoulders are drooping and that is uncomfortable, quite noisy at speed; mainly road and wind, not engine. Electric PAS is very dead in the centre of the wheel, makes you feel like you're constantly adjusting it to keep in a straight line; it doesn't want to self centre.
At 135 indicated km/h (on the flat... there's no hills here) the display was floating around 5l/100km which is 56mpg.
Filled it up on the way back. In true 320Touring styleee, a photo of the trip meter with fuel gauge. It would have gone to 900+, easily and I reckon 1000 is possible with some careful/annoying driving:
Trip meter complete with regen space invaders:
This is my average since new , we dont really use it with economy in mind most of the time and it does spend most of its time on motorways at 70-75 leptons but since it was bought in March it has been steadily improving, many trips are into the mid 60's mpg wise now, the last 110 mile trip I did was 66.9mpg all on busy motorways
I find the on board display pretty accurate , much more so than my Skoda ones which are consistently 10-20% compared to fill to fill.
I find the on board display pretty accurate , much more so than my Skoda ones which are consistently 10-20% compared to fill to fill.
LeoZwalf said:
Engine water pump belt. This is the only belt on the engine, there is no other aux/cam/etc belt anywhere:
On the Gen3 they removed this belt as well, by making the water pump electrically driven. The Gen3 has no belts at all, which is pretty cool 
I run the 7-seat version of the Gen3, it's a great car. It's never going to hold any Ring records but it's an interesting piece of technology, different from the norm, and as an appliance it has no equal IMHO.
kapiteinlangzaam said:
Id quite like a camper, my Mrs. wont entertain it. I just want to complete the classic Dutch stereotype. If she isnt careful, I might even come home with a caravan one day! 
Only kidding.
You've got a great tow car if you do decide to get a caravan. Just saying Only kidding.
liner33 said:
This is my average since new , we dont really use it with economy in mind most of the time and it does spend most of its time on motorways at 70-75 leptons but since it was bought in March it has been steadily improving, many trips are into the mid 60's mpg wise now, the last 110 mile trip I did was 66.9mpg all on busy motorways
Last weekend we drove to Frankfurt and back. Cruise control was set at between 125-135 km/h most of the time and the computer showed an average of 5 l/100km which is 56mpg. I was surprised it was such good economy at those speeds - another Prius myth busted. Car was faultless, quiet and comfy. We had a brilliant weekend seeing old friends too 
AmitG said:
On the Gen3 they removed this belt as well, by making the water pump electrically driven. The Gen3 has no belts at all, which is pretty cool
I run the 7-seat version of the Gen3, it's a great car. It's never going to hold any Ring records but it's an interesting piece of technology, different from the norm, and as an appliance it has no equal IMHO.
Agreed, a car with ICE and no belts is pretty cool. One less thing to go wrong, be replaced or even think about when servicing. I know you've got the 7 seater (is it called a Prius Plus in UK? Here it is) because whilst researching them I came across your thread in these forums. I run the 7-seat version of the Gen3, it's a great car. It's never going to hold any Ring records but it's an interesting piece of technology, different from the norm, and as an appliance it has no equal IMHO.
This isn't really much of an update but I did a bit of work on the car yesterday. Although the interior appeared to be clean, I wanted to exercise my carpet cleaner so went to work on the Prius. It looks and smells fresher inside, not hugely noticable but better. Considering the small improvement, it is shocking to see the dirt which came out!
Gross, eww, yuck, etc.:
Another oil change today, 4500km after the last one. It came out very dark brown so there must be a fair bit of dirt still left in the engine. Since winter is coming, I probably won't be able to change it again for a fair while because I've no garage. Apart from that, it just keeps doing the job very nicely. 50/50 mix of motorway and urban driving is still giving around 50-55mpg. Nothing has broken or gone wrong Boring!
Boring!Found rust!
Looks like it had been scraped over a kerb and caused some damage to the rear of the left sill, just fore of the wheel arch. Badly repaired so it came back quite quick. Dropped it off at a local bodyshop on Monday yesterday and hope to pick it up tomorrow.
Not ideal at all, hopefully this place has done a good job and it won't come back - it will be fairly obvious in the next months what with the cold, wet and nice salty roads doing their job.
Looks like it had been scraped over a kerb and caused some damage to the rear of the left sill, just fore of the wheel arch. Badly repaired so it came back quite quick. Dropped it off at a local bodyshop on Monday yesterday and hope to pick it up tomorrow.
Not ideal at all, hopefully this place has done a good job and it won't come back - it will be fairly obvious in the next months what with the cold, wet and nice salty roads doing their job.
LeoZwalf said:
212535 km so around 131000 miles. How are you getting on with yours?
Mine has only 30,000 miles so it's barely run in compared to yours Starts in all weathers, reasonably quiet and refined, runs fine on cheap fuel, easy to drive, and withstands endless abuse. Nothing gone wrong, except that it has a cracked front bumper where someone reversed into it without looking 
As I said before, it's IMHO the best "appliance" car going.
I'm looking forward to trying the new Gen4 Prius. Apparently they have improved fuel economy by 18% over the Gen3
LeoZwalf said:
Odo ticked over to 220,000 km yesterday.
Still nothing to report, it just works.
You have some way to go yet Still nothing to report, it just works.
http://artofgears.com/2016/02/23/this-second-gener...
kapiteinlangzaam said:
Impressive.
Not really my sort of car, but as a 'tool' that sort of economy and reliability can not be sniffed at.
It's not my sort of car either but at the moment I'm hard pressed to find something which does the job as well for the price (not so much purchase price but running costs here). It is as you say a tool, a fridge, toaster, Prius.Not really my sort of car, but as a 'tool' that sort of economy and reliability can not be sniffed at.
AmitG said:
Hmm, thanks but I really hope I don't have to keep it that long! :PBaryonyx said:
That's a great car. Hybrids are excellent choices for day to day use vehicles.
It is a good car, I certainly wouldn't go so far as "great". But yes, day to day especially urban and semi-urban they are a good choice. One of the best things is the quietness, it takes some stress out of driving.JonnyVTEC said:
Hey Leo,
Looks like it's doing the job! I'm at 241k miles on my mk1 insight now!
I know that name... it has been a LONG time! Looks like it's doing the job! I'm at 241k miles on my mk1 insight now!
How many of those 241k Insight miles have you done? Got any more info on your one? They are fascinating things.
Since the days are just starting to get longer, I'm leaving work when it is still light. Went for a bit of a drive out and along the Amstel yesterday evening and there was a lovely sunset. iPhone camera doesn't do it justice really and the Prius is hard to get a good photo of from most angles (I reckon the side profile is its best angle and even that is debatable):
Also: 220,220 km on the clock:
APK (Dutch version of the MOT) today.
Naturally I was a bit nervous about this but it passed with no advisories. The guy did mention that the rear pads are getting low so I will have a look at them myself when I put the summer wheels/tyres back on (probably in the next day or two) then check them again after summer. Hybrids use the brakes so little that I'm sure what's left of the pads will last ages.
Naturally I was a bit nervous about this but it passed with no advisories. The guy did mention that the rear pads are getting low so I will have a look at them myself when I put the summer wheels/tyres back on (probably in the next day or two) then check them again after summer. Hybrids use the brakes so little that I'm sure what's left of the pads will last ages.
Pad change is normal on the fronts but for the rears you need a Techstream otherwise, IIRC, the brake pump just keeps on pumping and, well you can imagine.
Forgot to post this pic, it is from September last year when the weather was warm. I'd always thought it possible
In other news, there is no news. This thing just keeps on going and doesn't need anything except petrol and the occasional oil topup. Currently on 235,5xx km.
Forgot to post this pic, it is from September last year when the weather was warm. I'd always thought it possible
In other news, there is no news. This thing just keeps on going and doesn't need anything except petrol and the occasional oil topup. Currently on 235,5xx km.
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