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Hybrid Vehicles Toyota Prius Toyota Prius
7471 messages, Last post on Sep 25, 2009 at 4:05 PM
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I will provide more detail in the near future, but I drove approximately 4500 miles with one passenger and about 150 lbs of luggage (total of 550 lbs). We drove to Dawson Creek, BC and took the Alaska Highway all the way to Delta Junction, AK. Then we drove on to Fairbanks, Denali, Anchorage, Seward, and Haines. From Haines we took the Alaskan Ferry to Juneau where I added a few more miles. The Prius (2006 package 8) then got a well-deserved rest on the ferry back to Bellingham, WA. For the most part, I pushed the vehicle fairly hard -- keeping it in cruise at 55/60/65 (100/90/80 kph in Canada) as posted. Of course there were a few bumpy stretches where I had to slow down, and a few construction areas with loose gravel where I did 20/30 mph. My overall mileage (per computer) was 48.6 before I started the trip (2500 miles on odometer), it now says 49.9. So I averaged over 50 mpg. I still need to compute mpg based on fillups. While the Alcan is mostly paved, it is far from being a good highway. Maybe 30% very good, 40% bumpy, 29 % rough, and 1% with long stretches of loose gravel in construction zones. I've got a few rock chips in the hood, just above the 3M clear-bra line. One bad one left a small dent, courtesy of an oncoming semi that didn't feel the need to slow down much over a loose gravel stretch. While the 3M bra certainly prevented a lot of chips, I would recommend to anyone considering a purchase to ask their installer to cover as much of the hood as possible. I have 4 or 5 small chips just above the line (some prior to the trip), and a couple just below the line (prior to installation of clear bra). Oh, the trip was GREAT!!! Saw tons of wildlife (eagles, puffins, black bears, brown bears, moose, caribou, buffalo, Dall sheep, wolves, humpback whales, orcas, seals and otters) and numerous glaciers. One last thing....I purchased the Monster iCarCharger for my iPod nano just before the trip. It works great (no feedback loop). I loaded most (AAC format) of my CD collection onto the iPod the night before the trip. I put the iPod into album shuffle mode. When I turned the car off, all I had to do was hit play after restarting and the iPod picked up where it left off. Never repeated a song (except the ones that occurred on more than one album). There were some long stretches with no radio stations, so the iPod came in quite handy. One sour note -- no navigation data for Alaska. I guess GPS satellite data can't be picked up very well that far north, so Toyota (and I think all of other manufacturers) didn't bother to load Alaska map data into the car. Now in reality, I was getting some GPS data in southern Alaska, but I only checked it a couple of times. It seemed to work for the most part in the Yukon on the Alcan, so I think it would work to some degree in southern Alaska. The Toyota dealership said there are supposed to be new satellites next year that will allow GPS to work in Alaska, at which time one could load map data for Alaska. BTW, I liked the Toyota dealership in Fairbanks, but they forgot to make adjustments in air pressure on the tires after rotation. I didn't discover this until I reached Seward. |
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Replying to: nw_viking (Jun 17, 2006 2:52 pm) GPS works fine all the way to the Arctic. I don't think the roads are up to date in the mapping software. Most hunting guides and bush pilots use GPS exclusively. They set their own map points. It is a great tool for not getting lost fishing and hunting. I get 4-5 birds in Prudhoe Bay with my cheapie antenna for my laptop. Our Garmin gets 5-7 most places. Sounds like you had a nice trip. And it did not cost you an arm and a leg for gas.
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Replying to: gagrice (Jun 17, 2006 4:50 pm) Maybe Toyota, or the SW company providing the map data, just decideed to exclude Alaska. Poor GPS reception may just be their patent excuse.
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Replying to: nw_viking (Jun 17, 2006 11:32 pm) |
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Replying to: nw_viking (Jun 17, 2006 11:32 pm) |
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Hi I'm hoping to order a new Prius in time to get the tax write off. Im in the SF bay area, east bay. Do you have a recommended dealer/service shop close to Oakland, do you think I can buy the car in time? One dealer said it would be about 3-5 months, it's looking pretty tight..
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Replying to: gringita66 (Jun 23, 2006 7:33 am) |
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I recently tended to the latest recall (steering) and was in/out in under two hrs. I have had only accolades for my Lake Shore Toyota Dealer here in NW INDIANA. I'm  41K and nary a problem. Still on original tires and the Prius has performed admiraly. I have to admit that the future of hybrids has me curious as to whats next. Time will tell. When I purchased the 04 Prius 2-1/2 yrs ago there was one other in the town of Valpo, IN. Now there are at least 12 other hybrid smart people. P.S. Prius can Free-us the pump.
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Replying to: railroadjames (Jun 23, 2006 4:57 pm) Anyway good to see you posting... Gary
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... the speedo passed over 20000 in just under 7 mo's. 4th free oil change coming up tomorrow. I'm curious about the tires since these OEM Integrity's are normally reported to be mediocre at best and I do use Michelins whenever I put them on myself. Will I reach 40K with baldies or maybe even 60K? No issues at all as yet. I'm 50/50 with investing in the 7/100 VSA insurance policy before the 36000 limit comes up in Dec. Fuel usage is now consistently at about 1.96 gpc ( 51 mpg ) since the weather warmed. |
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