šŸ”§ BUILD #imwithher. Frankā€™s ā€˜07 Prius adventures.

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Bought a Prius. Itā€™s exactly what I thought it would be. Like driving a washing machine. No thrills. All the economy.

Basics;

2007 Toyota Prius Base. 166,000 miles. Ex Lake County forest preserve vehicle. Came on brand new Goodyear tires, full tank of fuel and like 100 miles since the last service for $3,500. Everything works. No rust. Put 218 miles on it since yesterday AM. Averaging 51.2mpg. Most of that was with a passenger and trunk full of Costco purchases.

The purpose of this thing is to be a daily driver, and for me thatā€™s a big ask. It has a hitch on it with 1ā€ receiver for a bike rack, Iā€™ll add wiring to tow my 5x8 trailer. The rear suspension is sitting about 1ā€ lower than stock. From what Iā€™ve seen itā€™s a pretty common thing. A company in California used to convert these 2nd gens to plug-in hybrids, and used a local spring align type company to make the HD rear springs for the added battery packs they used. That company still makes the springs for customers if they ask so Iā€™ll be giving them a call tomorrow. Itā€™ll end up going from like 1ā€ of sag to about 3/4ā€ above stock ride height and is a stiffer spring. Perfect for packing full of stuff or trailer tongue weight. Figure Iā€™ll order new struts as well since Iā€™ll have them apart anyways.

Rear suspension upgrades, trailer wiring, window tint and regular maintenance is about all this will see. I imagine the thread will just be filled with pictures of me doing things in a Prius people donā€™t do in a 1500 pickup.

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Outlaw

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The regenerative braking and electric motor use at low speed is why these cars all get better city mileage ratings than highway. a 2007 Prius is rated at 60 city/ 51 highway. Whether those numbers are obtainable Iā€™m not sure yet. The driving I mostly do is 60-65 with zero traffic with 2-10+ miles between stop signs or lights and Iā€™m averaging 51...

When my friend drove this exact car home from the auction in stop and go suburban traffic it did read 58.6, so itā€™s definitely believable, I just havenā€™t done it myself for any extended period of time.
 

Outlaw

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Definitely a good option for those with range anxiety and such. For the distances I drive, an EV just isnā€™t feasible.

The technology is awesome, and keep in mind Toyota pretty much has a hybrid version of all of their models now a days aside from the trucks... so you can get that same tech (but with 15 years of improvement) in a car that actually just looks like a normal car. Back when these were new I think the Prius, Camry and Highlander were the only options. All of their other hybrid models look just like their gasoline counterparts.

This is the same tech in that new Ford Maverick pickup as well, which I have one ordered as of right now... but with all the parts interruptions and labor shortages as well as it being a totally new vehicle, Iā€™ll probably pass on the first model year (2022) and wait a bit. If itā€™s anything like the Bronco rollout, Iā€™ll just sit tight lol.
 
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Outlaw

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Makes sense, I do think the hybrid route seems alot smarter tho. I hate to admit I kinda like it now lol

What makes it such an easy choice is how bulletproof these cars are as well, which is not always the case with hybrids... Toyota just has their shit together like youā€™d expect. Plenty of 300-400k mile examples out there still on the road. And now that DIY battery repairs and balancing is common knowledge, if the battery does go bad itā€™s pretty easy to fix. You just use a scanner app to find which cells went bad, do the math to get an average voltage of your remaining good cells and hop on eBay and buy used cells that match that voltage to replace your dead cells in the pack.

I ordered the Carista OBD Bluetooth dongle today. I can plug that into the car and then use my phone as a scanner. Thereā€™s an app called Dr. Prius that essentially gives you dealer level access for like $15 or something super reasonable. Does super accurate battery life tests, parameter changes, etc. So once that comes in Iā€™ll be able to get a really good idea of what Iā€™m working with.
 

Yaj Yak

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If youā€™re diligent you can usually find them on marketplace with a ā€œbad batteryā€ for under a grand and do the repair yourself for 2-300 in cells if you were wanting to get into one cheap.

that's what my buddy did back in the day with one of his.

but the repair was even better... the junkyard he went to sold the entire battery to him as a "normal car battery" because they had no other way to code it in their point of sale system... so he got the entire fucking battery out of a relatively low mile car for like 25-50 bucks :rofl:
 

FESTER665

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Definitely a good option for those with range anxiety and such. For the distances I drive, an EV just isnā€™t feasible.

The technology is awesome, and keep in mind Toyota pretty much has a hybrid version of all of their models now a days aside from the trucks... so you can get that same tech (but with 15 years of improvement) in a car that actually just looks like a normal car. Back when these were new I think the Prius, Camry and Highlander were the only options. All of their other hybrid models look just like their gasoline counterparts.

This is the same tech in that new Ford Maverick pickup as well, which I have one ordered as of right now... but with all the parts interruptions and labor shortages as well as it being a totally new vehicle, Iā€™ll probably pass on the first model year (2022) and wait a bit. If itā€™s anything like the Bronco rollout, Iā€™ll just sit tight lol.

Congrats on the purchase, sounds like it will fill your needs quite well.

I keep saying if I were in the market for a new smaller SUV it would be a RAV4 Prime all damn day.
 
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PANDA

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OffshoreDrilling OffshoreDrilling and I took his prius up to the northwoods to fish the other weekened. Two bros, rear seats down, loaded up with shit, canoe on the roof. 30mpg at 75+.

He said they don't get great highway milage if you drive that fast but still was pretty impressive knowing thats alot of drag on the roof.
 
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OffshoreDrilling

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OffshoreDrilling OffshoreDrilling and I took his prius up to the northwoods to fish the other weekened. Two bros, rear seats down, loaded up with shit, canoe on the roof. 30mpg at 75+.

He said they don't get great highway milage if you drive that fast but still was pretty impressive knowing thats alot of drag on the roof.
Something is up with the car I think too. Need to get it up on jack stands and check if any of the brakes are dragging. The tires def knocked off 5-7mpg. I tried hypermiling my commute all last week and struggled to stay around 42mpg. My city commute before lift and driving somewhat carefully was 50-56mpg. Feel like I should be upper 30s low 40s as long as Iā€™m not doing an 80mph cruise
 

OffshoreDrilling

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This is the app.

disregard the low reviews, itā€™s mostly people that donā€™t realize you need an OBD2 Dongle and think itā€™s a scam lol

View attachment 102338
Iā€™m aware. Have a dongle it just doesnā€™t like the app. Cheapo $10 Amazon special
 
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Outlaw

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I didn't hate driving the Prius. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another 3rd gen as a eco-daily at all.

Couple facts for ya:

When the gas range says zero, it's lying
You can drink a beer while driving one and no one will know
It will out run most 90's GM sedans

All comes from experience.

The 2nd gens donā€™t have distance to empty. Annoying.

Ive tried the beer trick already. Works as described.

Have not raced. Will report back.
 

Outlaw

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I really need to get weather tech mats for the front. Iā€™ve already about ruined the carpeted floor mat.

GF wants to go drive it shopping today. Is it bad I donā€™t want her to take it because sheā€™s going to fuck up my MPGā€™s?

My God Iā€™ve become a lame human being.
 

OffshoreDrilling

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I really need to get weather tech mats for the front. Iā€™ve already about ruined the carpeted floor mat.

GF wants to go drive it shopping today. Is it bad I donā€™t want her to take it because sheā€™s going to fuck up my MPGā€™s?

My God Iā€™ve become a lame human being.
Itā€™ll do that to you.

same thing with a fast car, it just begs to be pushed
 
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