2007 Prius getting 30mpg

It's the short trips and having the heater running. That's the main 2 culprits

 

I second JC's assessment. Short trips are a mileage killer in the Prius, doubly so in cold winter weather. When Prius first starts up it runs in a deliberately inefficient mode until the engine heats up to around 140F in order to reduce emissions. Short trip means less time for it to heat up, winter weather means it's starting from a colder point.

Also, if you have the HID headlights (if your car has fog lights, the headlights are HIDs) then it's a known problem on the Gen 2 Prii that those burn out often. You can get the replacement bulb on Amazon or eBay for around $40-$50 and there's numerous videos on YouTube to show you how to do the replacement yourself... Though it's a bit of an annoying process, and you should watch out for counterfeit bulbs when purchasing... They'll die on you much more quickly.

 

If there were something wrong, you wouldn't get 50mpg on a long road trip.

When your heater is on, the engine will run non stop for a while. So on a short trip, it basically never stops. Like a short trip in a Corolla, getting 30mpg

 

do you get winter gas formulation?

 

This is a trick I picked up elsewhere on this site... During the winter I pick up a couple of pieces of cheap 1/2 inch pipe insulation at the Lowe's down the street (Shop Frost King 1/2-in x 6-ft Foam Plumbing Tubular Pipe Insulation at Lowes.com), cut em' in half lengthwise and cut notches in em' to match the Prius' front grill then use them to make a front grill guard like this:



If you make shorter trips pretty exclusively you should consider doing so as well... But remember to remove at least the bottom-grill pieces for any longer trips you make if you do!

 

you might reset the trip meter and go for a 20 mile highway drive as a test.

 

New tires would definitely tax your mileage, but it should only be a couple miles less

 

Has the transaxle ATF ever been changed? If not It needs to be done.

Benifits: The car hill be happier, run smoother, and pick up some mpgs.

I picked up the 4 mpgs I lost after waiting 100K to do mine.

 

I think you mean the transaxle ATF.

 

Yup,

Edited.

 

Yes, that is correct. ATF = Automatic Transmission Fluid, although the Prius' eCVT is a transmission system, it is not an automatic transmission mechanically as one would normally understand it. Be sure to use genuine Toyota ATF-WS, OR, if you want to use an alternative, be very sure that whatever you use instead is the equivalent. A couple of other members use something else, and in one case is more expensive than Toyota ATF-WS, but that member believes the one he uses to be superior.

It actually is not in the normal service schedule as Toyota market the eCVT ATF to be a "lifetime" factory fill.

However, some members, who have done oil analysis of their used ATF-WS, believe there to be benefit of changing the ATF first at 30,000 mi and thereafter every 60,000 mi. YMMV and it is your car so you decide when, or even if, to do it.

In your case, I would do it as soon as is practical for you and then every 60.000 mi thereafter.

In relation to the thread topic, if you are chasing MPG, I don't believe changing the ATF will add any significant MPG. I could be wrong, and I'm sure any others will chime in to correct me, if I am.

 

take a look at your spark plugs. I bought my 04 a few months ago with 140,000 miles. Vin number had no record of the spark plugs being changed so I decided to check and have a friend confirm that they needed replacing. Ended up going with the Bosch Iridium tips at Auto Zone for ~30$. Car is happier to sit in the 50-75 mpg range as opposed to 25-50 with the old spark plugs. The computer is still averaging the milage lower than I think it actually is, but we'll see once I add the data to my spreadsheet.

New spark plugs may not be the case for you, but they're suposed to be replaced every 120-140 thousand miles, and considering its a 30$ fix, I think it's worth it.