Dealer Availability of Prius, any waiting lists?

I don't know. And as tempting as that may be, I can't see doing that. Wouldn't this violate anti-idling laws? (Not that most folks pay any attention to them, although I suspect the folks in this group just may do so more than the avg person...)

I'll look into those--and the shades made especially for the Prius.

That is true for the Prius, but not for the Honda hybrids; they run the AC conventionally, but they do have a cutout option.

True on the current generation of Prius, but the pre-2004s (like our 2002) have an ICE driven A/C that really is a bit of a compromise.

Mike

In theory, the A/C could be run without engaging the drive system or starting the engine, the principle concerns of anti-idling laws. It would be more like listening to the radio with the engine off... just running an accessory.

In practice, it would require some changes to the control system to allow the battery to be used that way and I don't think Toyota wants to treat the battery that way. They are trying to build a reputation for reliable hybrids and seem uninterested in exploring more adventurous uses.

Mike

There have been a lot of complaints about that. The most common culprits are:

*They set tire pressure to Toyota standards, rather than the higher numbers many of us prefer *They run the engine a while during service, burning gas and making that tank have lower economy *They overfill the oil, putting in 4 qts instead of 3.5 *They fill the oil too fast, causing it to back up into the PCV and intake *They overadjust the parking brake - applying it hard and releasing ten times seems to help that.

Mike

Or they don't set it at all. I've given up on them in this regard. I just take the car to a filling station and set the tire pressure myself.

Yuppers. I had service done on Friday; when I brought it in, my mileage on the tank was 47.9 (I still had ten bars on it, and only about 100 miles on the tank); when I got it back, the mileage was 46.1

Instead of 3.9, not 3.5. When I brought mine in on Friday, I specifically told the service manager about that. They filled it properly this time.

I wouldn't know how to check on that.

That's one problem I haven't had.

"Bill" wrote

I really miss not having a sunroof, but I hadn't considered the headroom issue.

With summer weather, possible helped by summer fuel formulation, my mileage has shown a dramatic improvement. I decided to try to see what I could do by being careful. I switched from the left lane to the right lane on the highways and mostly tried to not exceed 65 or so. I went 533 miles on 9.7 gallons or 55 mpg. Surprisingly, the indicated mpg was very close to that calculated for the last couple of tanks. Before that, the indicated mpg averaged about 1.4 mpg higher. Long term average mpg is 45.2 while average of indicated mpg is 46.5

Al

I looked for a Prius AstroStart without success. Yes, that would violate the anti-idling laws where I live, laws that are generally ignored when the temps get well into the -F range. I have this picture of a cop midway through writing a ticket when the engine shuts down. Shortly after tearing up the ticket, it starts again. :-)

I've only kept track for the Prius:

Heat is provided in the traditional way - via "waste" heat from the engine. Since the Prius' engine is rather efficient, it is not uncommon for the engine to start just to provide the occupants with more heating (and therefore also heat the hybrid batteries), such as if you are stuck in unmoving traffic (or at a stoplight) when otherwise the engine would turn off. In some markets, there are some small electric PTC heaters for the front floor, but they're not very powerful/noticable. This is one of the (many) reasons that those in cold weather climates notice worse fuel economy in the colder winter months.

AC source depends on which Prius you're talking about.

The 2001-2003 "Classic" Prius (and I think also the original 1998-2000 Japanese Prius) have an AC compressor run the conventional way - by a belt off of the gasoline engine. If the compressor is running, then the engine must be on. (However, after a short while the AC compressor isn't needed constantly, and will cycle on and off as needed to provide more dehumidifying or a little more cooling (provided that you don't have the MAX AC button on), but the fan will stay on. So, the engine will cycle on/off as needed to run the AC compressor.) This is one of the reasons that those who live in warm weather climates notice worse fuel economy in the warmer summer months.

The 2004-current Prius has an electrically-driven AC compressor, run off of the hybrid traction battery. The engine is not required to be on for the AC compressor to be on. However, the charge for the hybrid battery has to come from somewhere, so it is not uncommon for the gasoline engine to come on just to recharge the hybrid battery (which was discharged due to heavy AC use). Again, this is one of the reasons that those who live in warm weather climates notice worse fuel economy in the warmer summer months.

Thanks. I'm going to save this post. I have rectified the situation (before) with the last-mentioned, but this time something else is happening. I will check all the things that I CAN check. If this keeps happening, I will try another dealership for service.

To resurrect an old topic....

Times are a changing.

My local dealer (Lexington, MA) currently has 9 displayed on the front lot with more (for customer delivery?) in the back. One even has the windshield marked "$500 discount".

Al