[cunningkeith]

Alright, so I decided to buy about 4 weeks ago and made about 25 phone calls to different dealerships around the country. I found 1 that told me they just delivered their last Prius and didn't have anyone on list, so I gave deposit. That was end of May. I preferenced my color, package, and today I was notified that the Prius is "on the truck" to the dealership.

So now I'm preparing for pickup. The dealership is 1000 miles away. After calculating cost to have delivered versus flying and driving back, I'll save abou $400 picking up myself over the weekend.

So . . . my question is whether it would be good or bad for the car to drive it 1000 miles home. I've read what the manual says for break-in period about not taking it over 60mph, no quick stops or starts. But assuming, I follow those rules, my question is: does driving the car 1000 miles straight at 60 mph constitute "hard driving" that should be avoided during break-in period?

Your expertise is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Ray Moore]

I drove mine home 1000 miles at 72 mph mostly cruise control into a 15-20 mph wind. Averaged 42 MPG.

With further break-in and better conditions my high MPG is 59.5 for over 600 miles on a tank. At 5000 miles the oil I changed out looked barely used. I ignored the dealer's standard warning about varying my speed as the Prius has control over that regardless of vehicle speed. The Prius tries to keep engine rpm constant. I have had no problems with the car.

My back was not sore after 14.5 hours in the car with only a 15 minute break for lunch. Enjoy the car and don't worry.

I only read in the owner's manual to avoid hard acceleration at first. Where does it say keep it under 60. My mileage would have been better but I left early in the morning and wanted to get home before darkness and fatigue set in. 60 mph would have cost me over 2 more hours of drive time. YMMV

 

[richard schumacher]

I'm not an automotive engineer but I play one on the Net :_>

That long trip is an opportunity for a very good break-in for a Prius. You'll get it over with all at once and so minimize the chances that you'll get impatient and violate the break-in guidelines. (Plus you'll quickly burn any factory gunk off the exhaust manifold and never see that annoying O2 sensor bug.) Unlike an old-style engine and transmission there's no need to deliberately vary your speed to vary the engine RPMs. Assuming that the trip is not perfectly flat and level with a constant wind and no bathroom breaks, the Prius engine RPM will vary itself in the normal course of charging the traction battery and dealing with variations in wind resistance, climbing hills and starting and stopping. Just *follow the manual* and everyting' gwine be ahree, mon.

Before you fly read the entire manual and the following Prius pick-up checklist: http://www.vfaq.net/docs/pickup_checklist.html

 

[hdrygas]

I just ordered a Prius from a dealer in Helena MT. 600-700 miles from home. The shortest rout is I-90 and the first 50 miles is a 2 lane at 55 over the Divide followed by I-90 at a posted speed of 75mph through Montana. The last bit is to the top of Lookout Pass. Then Idaho a combination of 75 and 65 posted mph. Then Washington posted at 70. Should I go 60 mph. I am really going to make myself unpopular driving 60 mph on the freeway in Montana. Many of the locals still drive like there is no speed limit. My son who now lives there got caught going 90 mph on the freeway out side of Butte received a $35 "assessment" on the spot by the MSP officer and we have never seen any other side effect. Washington State never got a report. No insurance ding. No record. Those folks move and god help the slow pokes. I had planned to drive 70-75 range just to stay out of trouble but I am not going to harm my new car.
Henry Drygas

 

[jfschultz]

One point to keep in mind is that with the 200 mile brake break-in period probably assumes buying the car locally and the normal city stop and go driving. With the long initial drive, one should concider the brake break-in extending 200 miles after getting back to your home town.

 

[cunningkeith]

Thanks to all for your responses. Sounds like I'll be okay. As for the 60 mph, I got that from another thread on this board. I know the manual says don't drive at high speeds during break-in. Someone else said that meant 100 kph; ie 62 mph. I don't know what that person's source was for the 100 kph limit.

Anyhow, thanks again. I'll put something in the sales section once the pickup is done.

The 100 kph came from here:
http://www.priusonline.com/viewtopic.ph ... ht=breakin

 

[richard schumacher]

I'd swear that the "60 MPH max during break-in" is in the manual. I'll go look for it.