Six months of trouble free driving with the Prius - Gas Savers

jadziasman · 04-10-2011, 01:17 PM

Hey y'all

Been away for a while on another forum (can you guess which one).

My 2005 Prius has been excellent. I've put 10K miles on it so far and have had no mechanical problems that the car was responsible for anyway.

I had to replace a tire because I hadn't been checking the pressure in the cold and snowy winter we just made it through. It turned out that the front passenger tire had a leaking valve and after striking a pothole I ran it flat on the way to work. I couldn't believe I didn't notice it was completely flat until leaving the interstate in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the commute to work one Monday morning. Why did I miss this? I made the assumption that my Prius had TPMS when in fact tire pressure monitors were not added to the Prius until '06. So, all in all the tire fiasco was entirely my fault.

Funny thing was - this Prius has auto-levelling headlights. The warning light came on a couple of times within a week before the tire went flat. This indicates to me that the low pressure on the front passsenger tire was enough to trigger the sensor. The warning light has not lit since the tire was replaced. So it looks like I have a crude TPMS system in the auto-levelling sensor after all. Or it was just a coincidence. The auto-levelling sensor on the Prius is mounted next to the driver's rear tire. Other Prius owners have had the sensor trigger when the sensor gets wet or when its innards get corroded. I won't know what the deal is until the next time the warning light comes on. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

The fuel economy for the Prius has been a steady 44 mpg throughout the winter. This is about 10% better than I was getting with the VX. However, the VX was definitely long in the tooth and used to get better mpg when younger.

So, in summary, the Prius I bought has been a good car. Now if I can get it to 100K miles without major problems.....

VetteOwner · 04-10-2011, 06:58 PM

They actually have an auto leveling headlight system?!?!?!?! lol what a waste of money on that one...apparently 2 screws and 2 springs was too complicated for people.

I had a flat tire on my s10 and didnt notice it leaning any way, the only way i knew it was flat (radio was up so didnt notice any noises) was i noticed the truck had no power and was bogging down hard, shut off the radio and heard that wump wump wump noise and immediately pulled over and was flat as can be and the bead was off the rim. was kinda surprised at what little noise it made (prolly would have made a crapload once the tire shredded but i caught it in time, had it patched and still running it.)

these newer cars that dont have tires but rubber bands i think were gonna see alot more of shredded tires out there.

**theholycow** · 04-10-2011, 07:45 PM

Auto-leveling headlights aren't auto-aiming, they just compensate for attitude change from load, so when your trunk is full of bodies^H^H^H^H^H^Hlibrary books your headlights don't glare in everybody's eyes.

VetteOwner · 04-10-2011, 09:19 PM

meh haha still seems pointless tho. now on a pickup that can handle 1000+ lbs then yea it will make the front end pop up but ehh i dunno noones high beamed me yet...

trollbait · 04-12-2011, 08:50 AM

Not many trucks have HID head lamps standard.

Asian and European Prii may not have the auto leveler. There's a manual adjustment next to their EV button. Toyota deemed, likely correctly, NA drivers couldn't handle it.

VetteOwner · 04-12-2011, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trollbait

Not many trucks have HID head lamps standard.

Asian and European Prii may not have the auto leveler. There's a manual adjustment next to their EV button. Toyota deemed, likely correctly, NA drivers couldn't handle it.

lol figures, they got thier ink and feather and we got our jumbo crayons...

i dunno i have 80W/100W headlights now and still havent gotten flashed...i do love the high wattage lights tho

must find 9005 versions :P

trollbait · 04-13-2011, 12:20 PM

The spectrums are different.
The warm yellow white of a halogen isn't as glaring as the near actinic of the HID.

VetteOwner · 04-13-2011, 10:06 PM

well these are a higher whiter color spectrum, plus being 25W more powerful on low than standard lows and 40 more on highs i would think someone would be mad....

trollbait · 04-14-2011, 07:47 AM

You just aren't hearing their curses.

VetteOwner · 04-14-2011, 02:27 PM

haha i did discover people get mad when im in my blazer and follow a tad too close at night, but 4 55W headlights will do that :P not my fault thier going 50 in a 65 zone...

**theholycow** · 04-14-2011, 04:36 PM

Why is 50 in a 65 at night an excuse to "follow a tad too close" with your high beams on? Why not just pass?

If you're tailgating me I'll slow down. If I think you're doing it to be a jerk I'll slow down just enough to drive you crazy but not enough to make you pass (and I might speed up if you try to pass). If I think you're just an idiot without bad intentions, I'll slow down sharply to induce passing.

Somewhat on-topic, Prius drivers around here tend to tailgate, and their headlights are among the more glaring of OEM headlights.

VetteOwner · 04-16-2011, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theholycow

Why is 50 in a 65 at night an excuse to "follow a tad too close" with your high beams on? Why not just pass?

If you're tailgating me I'll slow down. If I think you're doing it to be a jerk I'll slow down just enough to drive you crazy but not enough to make you pass (and I might speed up if you try to pass). If I think you're just an idiot without bad intentions, I'll slow down sharply to induce passing.

Somewhat on-topic, Prius drivers around here tend to tailgate, and their headlights are among the more glaring of OEM headlights.

not highbeams 4 low beams lol but anyways...highbeams would be 4 55W and then 2 65W bulbs

Id LOVE to pass, its what Im trying to do! I usually do this when they dont understand left lane is passing not floating in but both lanes are usually clogged with morons going 50 sometimes 40 in BOTH lanes, day or night rain or shine, I don't get it! I usually give em a couple seconds if thier actively passing someone but its when thier pacing them going 40 or "passing" them going like 43 that Its like ohhh kay... Ive seen a few other people go farther than I do and literally high-beam them AND lay on the horn, I backed way off when I saw a semi doing that

If its a slow car in the right lane and left is open I just merge way back behind them and cruise on by.

its not just 4 cyl cars either that drive slow, its the 4x4's suburbans, suv this, v6 or 8 car that...

but on the prius note, ive noticed that too, usually thier the ones jackrabbiting from stoplights/signs or whippin around traffic around here...between thier headlights and the new audi's those are 2 of the worst for glare. Chrysler ones aint bad, ford ones arent too bad, mercdees can be bad but not usually.