Our mileage is disappointing, wondering if it's normal

the 6 mile trip is your biggest problem, prius is best for a lot of driving. how many miles a year have you put on her?
that being said, there could be something wrong.
how long have you owned her?
how many miles on her?
has the mpg always been low, or has it fallen?
has all the regular maintenance been done?
how old is the 12v?
do you check oil level and tire pressures regularly?

there are many parts/systems that can affect mpg.

 

First, forget the car’s self-reported mpg. The only number that matters is when you tank up and divide actual miles by actual gallons. That said, different grannies drive differently. Coasting up to a stop and early braking will make a big difference, as will the handling of hill-climbs and descents, particularly if the hills are somewhat steep and you begin climbing from a dead stop. The hybrid feature does its most valuable fuel-saving work while you’re sitting in traffic, creeping along in a jam or waiting at a light. Other than that, it’s pretty much another compact car. With extra practice and attention and some extra air in the tires I think you might eke out an extra 5 mpg without too much trouble.

 

20 minutes to go 3 miles? Personally, I'd switch to a bike.

But to answer your question, that's totally reasonable mpg. The Prius goes through a warmup cycle that burns a lot of gas on startup, and takes about 5 - 10 miles, temperature and speed depending, to complete. Only afterwards does your MPG start going up.

If you're finishing your trip before the warmup completes, and you're not doing any fancy MPG tricks, you can expect MPGs in the 30s.

 

Your profile says Tucson. (It's easy to change that when you move). Based on your membership date, profile location, and present location, I'll fill in the blanks and deduce that you recently moved from Tucson to Nashville and your driving scenario has changed radically.

Your mileage is not far from what I would expect for a six mile commute in a Prius. It's probably still way better that most other cars in that commute, but not what you're used to. The problem is that, while it's warming up it's borrowing from the traction battery. Once it gets warm enough, the engine works a little harder to repay the loan and get the battery back to its normal state of charge. All that takes somewhere around five minutes. So, by the time it's ready to show what a Prius can do, you're almost to work.

What you need is a PiP or a Prime. Then you'd get infinite miles per gallon commuting and still be able to take long road trips.

Oops! I just saw that it's six miles round trip. That's even worse!! Definitely need a bicycle or EV/PHEV.

 

So you drive 3 miles and shut it down. That is not enough to get the oil warm or blow the contaminants out the tailpipe, let alone charge the 12V and keep the traction battery in the middle. I believe this is considered "harsh duty" in the maintenance schedule due to lots of short trips. You ought to look for an EV in your situation.

 

reset a trip meter and take a long drive under varied conditions. this will give you a better idea of mpg performance.
i suspect 37 is normal for your type of driving, and you'll get close to 50 on a test.

not much can go wrong at 50k that affects mpg if you're air filter is clean and nothing funky has happened to the car.
oem tires or replacements?

 

no, not a noticeable difference. but it is possible you have a weak module, or other unusual issue.

 

if they are not 'low rolling resistance', that can be a factor.

 

What milage did it get on the drive to Tennessee?

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

no, a specific test would have to be done with toyota tech stream diagnostic software, which most dealers don't understand.
but even a weak module that hasn't gone outside operating parameters yet (you would have a trouble light) shouldn't affect mpg much.