Tdefny

I wish we saw those kinds of prices here in NY. Don't misunderstand, I wouldn't mind $4.00 per gallon gas if the money was improving maintenance of our crumbling roads and bridges, etc. or helping the environment. I am just not too sure how much of that is happening with the money. Instead, we are sending our dollars offshore to countries that hate us. At least the higher price mildly discourages wasting energy in giant SUVs or unnecessary trips. (I really hate when SUV drivers, already aggressive, are even more so at the gas pumps at Costco where the price is a few cents less per gallon.) Unfortunately there are a lot of people who have little choice in what they drive or how much they drive who can't afford the fuel either. I guess what I am really trying to say is that I am really grateful that we (I) have the opportunity to drive a hybrid and I look forward to the day when vehicles that use less fuel and harm the environment less than the best of the current hybrids are a viable option for everybody and they have the interest in taking it.

There is an advantage to more frequent oil changes, but it is to your mechanic, not you. This is especially true for hybrids. Our engines do start and stop more often, but they do it in a much cleaner fashion than in a standard car, so the leading source of engine schmutz is not there. Also the engine only runs about half the time (give or take) or even less for the Energi. The recommended interval on my '02 Prius is 7,500 miles. I have horgotten more than a few times and brought it in at around 10K and the oil never looked dirty like on a regular car. My Prius has over 200K miles on it now and runs as good as new, so it is safe to say that following the oil life monitor and other manufacturer's recommendations will be sufficient to protect the ICE in the Max. That is double true for Mobil One or similar synthetic.

It IS addictive!

That coincides with my experience on the Energi. It is always around 5.4 kwh when I get home if it used up all its grid power.

I bet that dealership has a loaner car for you too, when the time comes!

Make the new road use tax based on new tire purchase (adjusted for the rate at which a particular design wears). Let it be collected by the Feds and rebated to each state based on the number of cars registered. It is not perfect but it would be workable. The current use taxes found in fuel purchases should remain but be earmarked for green infrastructure, perhaps for charging stations of solar/wind generation. This way the drivers of fuel inefficient cars are encouraged to save energy and helping to prepare the way for the future. Drivers of efficient cars are already paying for this by purchasing a vehicle that harms the environment less. Or use it to help pay for the effects of the pollution created from fuel use like lung and heart diseases or global warming. Too bad you can't trust the government to actually spend it this way.

Back in the early days of the Prius, 500 miles on a tank was the mark to hit. It was referred to as the "Trenton challenge" although I can't remember why and am too lazy to look up (because who would even care). Once somebody hit it, then everybody seemed to. The C-max should easily hit that mark with its better (than the early Prii) mileage and bigger tank. I wish I could join the competition, but I have an Energi, which delivers whatever mileage I choose based on how I plug in. A lot of you guys are getting legit 49+ MPG. My lifetime MPGe is around 52.8 including about 50% plug-in miles and the rest hybrid. Does the regular Max report MPGe? If so, what are you seeing?

You are probably right because there does not need to be a reverse gear and the ICE can't run backwards. There ARE differences between how the two cars work, but the geometry must be pretty close nonetheless.

Replacing 180° air with 120° air would help, but you will still want the AC.

Coming from the '02 Prius, which was something like 32', the Max took some getting used to.

I got a flat before I used up my first tank of gas. Luckily someone at work had a plug kit. Before that I never knew that it was OK to plug radials.

Let's see what Consumer Reports says about these wheels. They always have unbiased information!

I don't have the manual in front of me, but I believe it is one of the ECO settings.

Welcome to the forum. I can empathize. I had to fill up my Prius the other night and I realized I hace been filling up the Max only about once a month and it doesn't look like this will be my month to do it. I admit that I cheat a bit by having a plug-in, but I sure have gotten rusty at the pump. With the electric rates around here, I doubt that the electricity is cheaper than gas, but it is sure convenient to not have to fill the tank in the cold weather.

The block heater probably won't improve economy much. The engine has to run to heat up the catalytic converter. The heater inside the car is intriguing, but you need to find the right kind, as many out there are too hot to use in the car. Our local ambulance company used to keep one in each ambulance and the vinyl floor were all scorched from the heaters.

Regen is sweet that way. I replaced my brakes in the Prius only once, at around 100k, because i thought I should. I now have over 200k in that car and I was told at my last inspection last month that they are worn about halfway. Another one of those things that people who look only at MPG will never understand about hybrid technology.

"Grabby" usually happens in the transition from regenerative braking to friction braking. It is difficult to completely eliminate this, but it is barely noticeable compared to my Prius.

Iwish I had gotten one! Probably too late to hit the dealer up for it after 4 months.

You missed one very important one - TLA! It is a Three Letter Acronym for, well, use your imagination.

Doh! I just knew I would regret not getting the parking assist one day.

The batteries last longer if they always stay between a set minimum and maximum charge. It kind of makes you wonder why they don't calibrate the display to not show those reserves, although I have occasionally seen my Prius go into these ranges under certain conditions.

We will never get to the "perfect" solution unless we start somewhere. EVs have a lot of room for growth, but it is nice to be able to participate in the process and reap some of the other benefits along the way. My Max drives better than any car I have ever owned and I expect lifetime maintenance costs to be low, as they have been so far on my Prius.

As I understand it EV+ does two things. The better known feature is that it allows you to run a little longer in EV to get you home. The other is that it pays for the extra battery power by actually runing the ICE when you are about 1/2 mile away to charge the battery up a bit and it allows the battery to run slightly lower at the end of the trip (but still within its safe limit). There is some smoke and mirrors going on, but it is nice to glide into the driveway on electric. As for the engine running at start-up, once it starts it is required to run until it has fully warmed up so the emissios controls come up to temperature. EV+ shouldn't affect this anyway, but shutting it off probably won't hurt your MPG any.

His number is the secret reboot code for all of MFT/sync.

Fuelly is absolute iron clad proof that they drive a superior car. At least that is how it reads in the Press, where the high fuel economy seems to be the only reason they can think of to buy a hybrid.