2009 Prius Base - $19k

[Matt Herring]

FYI - A little nugget of info. I picked up from my Toyota dealer yesterday when I was picking up my Prius. As part of Obama's economic stimulus plan (in relation to the automotive industry)...any new hybrid vehicle manufactured in the United States (including those of foreign car companies with plants in the US) qualifies for a sales tax credit when filing your tax return.

Essentially, if you buy a hybrid vehicle that is manufactured in the United States you can claim the amount you paid for sales tax as a tax credit when you file your taxes.

My new Prius, manufactured in Japan, does not qualify. However, the Toyota dealer told me any VIN on a Toyota that starts with a number and not a letter is manufactured in the US. My VIN starts with a "J" for Japan but there are many, many Toyota cars out there with VIN's that start with a number and are manufactured in the US.

[MetroMPG]

Oh, also for mods, don't forget:

- block heater (sooner the ICE is up to temp, the sooner it will stop when you don't need it for propulsion/charging), and

- EV mode switch

[Matt Herring]

I just got back from Home Depot with the foam pipe insulation and will be installing that in the upper grill this weekend after I get a few more miles in the car and can re-fuel for accurate recording. That will help to get the ICE up to temp. quicker. I might go for a few slots in the lower grill too but want to see what the temp. runs at with the upper blocked. I haven't seen anyone on any site that said they ran too hot with the upper and partial lower blocked so I'll take a crack at it.

A block heater is a tough one for me because I live in a private community with big parking lots and no electric source near the parking spaces.

I did look into the EV mode switch and it looked very, very cool. EV mode (under 34 mph) would benefit me for about 4 miles of my 11 mile commute so it's a viable option for me (I really don't drive much outside of my commute to work 6 days a week...maybe I work too much...something to think about)! For $45 how can you go wrong...although on the Coastal website it says the switch is only available for 2004-2008 models (maybe they didn't update the site yet for the 2009's)?

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Oh, also for mods, don't forget:

- block heater (sooner the ICE is up to temp, the sooner it will stop when you don't need it for propulsion/charging), and

- EV mode switch

[PaleMelanesian]

Do the DIY radio shack EV switch, not the Coastal one. There's some kind of delay with the Coastal switch, that can get really annoying really quickly.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi Matt,

Take a picture please of the grill block, so I can do the same on my Mom's 2005. So far I just used Gorilla tape...

[PaleMelanesian]

Something like this, I'd imagine.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/...rill_Block.jpg

[Matt Herring]

Pale,

That's the exact pic I was working off to make my grill block. Home Depot sells the 3/4" foam pipe insulation for $2.79 for a 4 pack of 3 foot sections. From past posts about using the foam insulation for the grill block everybody cut the foam circle in half to make 2 "C's". They then folded the C's in half to create 2 V Shape sections. Then the V shape was tightly stuffed/packed into the upper grill block. The lower grill openings look a bit smaller so I made need to pick up the next size down to block any of the lower openings. Some people used the full 3 foot section (which kind of makes it wavy along the grill and not as nice looking and others cut the 3 foot sections into smaller sections to avoid the wavy look...I have plenty of material so I might try both to see how it works out).

I'll be filling up this weekend to get my SGII and tank avg. in line and will be working on the grill block as well. Will take pics and post them when I get it done (rain Saturday/sunny Sunday).

FYI - today's commute to work
54 degrees
11.0 miles
60.7 mpg on the SGII (note: I have not filled up and 100% calibrated my SGII yet so it may be off but my in-car MPG is recording similar results...reports - 2 mpg compared to SGII)

Anxious for this weekend to get everything on point and squared away!

[MetroMPG]

Since you're beating your MPG estimates, I think you should make a distinction between money saved @ up to 50 mpg, and money saved above and beyond 50 mpg. Fun money? Money for additional mods? Just a thought.

[Matt Herring]

Metro,

I like that...might have to draw up a fancy chart (like those politicians use in campaigns)!

After a few days in the Prius I'm surprised how far the car allows you to drive in "dead band" without engaging the ICE even when you have your foot on the gas pedal for acceleration. Throttle up to speed (in the 30-36 mph range) and slight release of the pedal and then slight throttle on and the SGII reports 9999 mpg and 0 rpm (the car energy screen also reports 99.9 mpg). I expected to be in "dead band" in a neutral coast but had no idea I could do it while "actually using the throttle and speeding up." My last 5 mins. to work were over 100 mpg on the energy screen and I accelerated about half of that time.

On my way home from work yesterday I was in pretty heavy traffic (crawling along at 10-15 mph) and it stayed in electric mode the final 2 miles of my commute.

[PaleMelanesian]

Ha! I like this one. Hopefully, you'll be improving on that number.