New Prius V - out of gas - need clarification please

Are you serious? She's PO'd because they put gas in the car (on side of highway) and it would not go into D. Car had to be towed.

 

Is there no beep that goes off when the low fuel light goes on?

edit - apparently there is a beep.

 

Please read this thread http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-main-forum/64211-warning-running-out-gas-gen-iii.html by Bob Wilson, he has run out of gas 3 times it his Gen3 on puropose so he could find out what happens. It is not the same as other cars, it is not even the same as the earlier Prius models.

I can't think of any reason why the codes would need to be reset after running out? anyone think of a reason? I also think the car should have started after putting in 2 gallons unless the traction battery had run down to far by that time.

To the OP: I have run out of gas also, fortunately not in my Prius and fortunately not on a busy freeway. But I think I know how you felt, I had a flat tire one night on I5 between Portland and Salem in a blinding rain storm. A good Samaritan in the form of a State Policeman pulled up behind me with his lights on and stayed there while I changed the tire.

I have observed, as have others, that when the last pip on the gas gauge starts to blink I have about 2 gallons left. For me that's a good time to start looking for a gas station.

 

well i hope more people chime in about the actual problem (the car needing a tow after running out of gas)... i'm more concerned about this issue instead of bashing on the op :flock:

Thank you for the very informative link!!!

 

I was thinking about the fuel pump too. When no fuel for it to drink, seems like it could burn up.

When mine hits 1 bar, I gas up.

 

Guess what, when you abuse the car, there are consequences. Those consequences are not the fault of the manufacturer or the dealer, they're your fault for not knowing about what you bought.

Come on, she ran out of gas. It's simply the most basic bit of regular car maintenance any owner does and she failed. The rest is mostly irrelevant. If owner's manual said the car explodes if it runs out of gas, do you think the post would be any different?

"I can't believe my Prius exploded. Even though I knew running out of gas was bad, I can't Toyota and the dealer did this to me."

It's fueling up the vehicle. If you're not competent to do that, you shouldn't be driving. Do we have any standards any more?

 

No wonder why they outlawed normal cell phone calls in many states. Seems like bluetooth phone calls are almost as distracting.

 

Sorry to hear about your experiences. Probably on the phone you might not have heard the beep(something toyota should look into). As for the flashing light I think it is inadequate and not enough to catch ones attention if one is not looking.

But sorry I don't know why the car needs to be towed and why running out of gas would cause all those faults. For sure I don't want to be out of gas on this car!

 

People: accepting that it is a pain in the arse running out of gas in our Prius', why don't we just make a pact to fill up when we're down to a quarter tank. It'll prevent a whole lot of hurt , and, thanks to the thread-starter, Priusmah, for pointing it out.

 

No it is not an issue on the 2010 or any other Prius unless either the traction battery or the 12V battery is to low to start the car. Read the link in my post #23 above. Bob W. ran out 3 times and did not need to get his car towed.

The owner's manual is woefully inadequate when it comes to running out of fuel but there is a brief note on page 538 that just says to put fuel in it, nothing about having it towed to a dealer so you can get ripped off.

 

This thread is ridiculous!

 

Perhaps this could be a warning to us all

Indeed. It's the positive point of this incident.

 

Most likely you were too distracted/immersed in the conversation to hear the beep.

You would've been treated better if you had not included inflammatory remarks like going back to GM because of a one-time mistake due to your own fault.

 

I'm sorry for your trouble and sorry for the bashing.

The only code I see that might require dealer reset in a theoretical way is Power Source. I hope someone knowledgeable will chime in. IMHO it is an awful decision by Toyota to disable the car for anything but a dangerous condition. They could fill the screen with warnings instead.

We seem to be part of a club that does not want us. Any questioning of the car's action seems to bring mounds of insults, instead of advice and thought. Running out of gas is not a crime. Talking on cell phones is required by many of us to do our jobs properely. Smug insults seem to be part of the old prius culture. If anyone deserves bashing, you should bash the dealer for inept customer service. They could have explained why the code required a tow to a dealership, or empathized with her about the stupid choices toyota made with that "feature". Instead they implied that running out of gas should void an expensive maintenance agreement.

 

Perhaps if she had thorougly read the Toyota website, read all the reviews on the 2010 Prius available or even went as far as to get an owner's manual to read it before her purchase? Guess what, none of those would have prepped her for this scenario, either.

Well, to be fair, Toyota does say this:

Now there's a scary consequence of something that causes basically nothing but the effort to get a gallon of gas in other cars. This was a point the OP made and it was absoltely correct. But, instead of focusing on the questions that were asked, they were instead treated to a barage of nasty responses, despite their first comment where they admitted to being an idiot for running out of gas. Nice.

Running out of gas happens. It simply shouldn't take an act of congress to get back on the road again. Poor design by Toyota, period. I guess it takes threads like this one to alert potential buyers about this safety issue so they don't incur the wrath of Prius Chat in the future? It's not like the OP came here to slam the Prius or to be a troll. They came with a genuine concern. Did the original post really justify everyone being so defensive about a real shortcoming in their beloved Prius?

 

Actually this takes place on any forum when people post stupid things and throw in a bit of negativity aimed at the model of vehicle the forum is designed for. lol

Post the same thread on a GM site and you'll receive 10x the amount of bashing responses that you would on PC. Trust me, I've been on Dodge, GM, and Ford forums for a decade now.

 

Sure, if the OP hadn't run out of gas, then the OP would not have had a reason to post here with their questions. Had Toyota designed it such that the new Prius could resume driving without a major ordeal after being out of fuel, that would have had the same effect; not only for the OP, but for everyone else who will come here some day after finding out the hard way that the Prius can be crippled if it runs out of gas.

 

And I am willing to bed it the OP had not added in the GM comments the responses would have been much different than what was received. Willing to take that wager?

 

So, given the entire context of the original post, you think it was fair to respond to a new member seeking information just because they said, "I am new to Toyota and considering going back to GM ... hence my post .. to make a decision."?

And, instead of giving them some information to help them make the decision, as they said in that very same comment, it was a better idea just to bash them for running out of gas? Were those comments about going back to GM so infuriating that they blocked out all the other information and requests in the post?

No, I wouldn't take that wager. I just thought it would have been easier and nicer to provide them with some information, rather than beat on them for a mistake they already acknowledged very clearly. To each their own, I guess!