have you run out of gas in your prius?

I fill up every 300 miles because I do not trust the guess gauge. I have never run out of gas in my Prius.

 

PiousDork, the question is not how much fuel is left in the bladder, but how much fuel is *available* in the bladder? Realize that and the healing will begin :_>

 

The fuel gauge is a great tool, I fill at 2 pips which is under a 1/4 tank. The hand book warns not to go below 1/4 tank so I am pushing it. I still manage 800 - 900km from a tank which then takes about 41 litres to fill which creams my Camry that travelled 600km on a tank and took 50 - 55 litres to fill.

I only know there is a flashing pip because you lot keep telling me about it and reading in the hand book that you should top up the fuel immediately when the last pip flashes.

Am I ever glad you lot aren't airline pilots.

 

I personally haven't, but my dh has a few times, so I voted yes.

Everything was fine, btw.

 

i have run out of gas on purpose to see how the car reacts. it switches to the electric motor at full ability, accelerating briskley to 25 mph. i had a full gas can and filled the tank, i don't recommend anyone else do it, not worth the risk of damaging the car.

 

:loco:

haven't run out in the prius, but i did in the car before (chevy malibu) when the fuel guage broke. it said i had about 1/4 tank and suddenly i was coasting to the shoulder of the interstate and couldn't figure out what was going on...

 

"limp Mode" is not where you want to be. Traveling over the 4th of July, driving from point A to Point B each day we had made York Nebraska in one leg of a trip, 414 miles and put in exactly ten gallons of gas: 41.4 mpg driving 75-80 mph all day. Oh, we had just taken delivery of our Prius two days before we left on this trip.

The next day we left for Wyoming at Cheyenne we had two bars and decided to go 49 more miles to Laramie and gas up there. 18 Miles outside Cheyenne we went to one bar, FIVE miles later we were stranded on the side of the road in "limp mode." We had to be towed back to Cheyenne, wait four hours and then be told "you ran out of gas." They put 5 gallons of gas in the vehicle, I then put 5.5 gallons in (10.5 gallons total). I should have had 1.5 gallons remaining when I "ran out of gas."

Interestingly, the owners manual (that thing we don't read) states that the low fuel indicator is One Bar, and at that point you should have approximately THREE gallons of fuel remaining. Clearly the inplication from the owners manula is that you have ample time to reach the next fuel station once one bar is showing. We had exactly five miles and went to limp mode.

Trust me, limp mode is not where you want to find yourself, especially in the middle of Wyoming. $350 later we were on our way and had a great trip. 2500 miles we averaged 44.5 mpg.

 

I give up.

 

I have never run out of gas. However I usually let it get down to the blinking light before I fill up. I agree, it is like a game and one of these times it will be Game Over!

Just yesterday I went 571 miles and put 11.95 gallons of fuel in so I know I was cutting it close I ususally get 51 mpg, but am not brave enough to go over 600 miles

 

I had a 2005, and ran out once. I was trying to make it to my favorite filling station. Oops. Never did that again.

Won't do that when I get my new Prius!

 

On the way back from HybridFest, I had a couple of gallons of ethanol gas in the tank when I got to Huntsville. So I put my spare can of Shell 87 in the trunk and drove it to empty.

I pulled into a parking lot and drove to a shade tree. There I put in the spare gallon and continued my errands. Before heading home, I filled the tank and refilled the spare can.

We drive around with a spare tire. Having a spare can of gas seems as natural as belt-and-suspenders.

Bob Wilson

 

As you would Danny.
See post 103, I have lost count of the number of times I have posted the same thing.

 

I wanted to bump this because I'm an idiot, lol.

Happened to me today and I will never let it happen again. First time I ever ran out of gas in a car...maybe because I still don't fully understand the bladder.

Got back from work late last night, so I decided to fill it up the next day before class. I felt a little push when first accelerating on the road after leaving my driveway, but since there's a gas station near my classes, I tried to make it there. Then, getting on the onramp for the highway, it wouldn't accelerate past 30. I pulled off to the side, hazards and slowly backed up. Luckily, the ramp is huge...and my house isn't even 1/4 mile way home. I usually keep my screen on consumption, so I have no clue how much battery was left. I pulled back into my driveway and checked for any gas tanks in the shed. Luckily, there was enough to fill 2 gallons. Still gave me the warning lights and when I was backing up into the road, it shifted to neutral and wouldn't let me shift back. I blocked the road because it wasn't letting me move. Luckily, after 5 to 6 tries restarting it, I was able to pull it back into the driveway. I was almost late, so took my truck to class and called my dad saying to not worry about it, I'll get gas after class. His idea was to get the dealer to see what's wrong with it...

Back now and its at the dealer. I don't know why he called them to tow it, since we have All-State to tow it for free and I'm afraid of what outrageous costs will come to it when its at the dealer. I'm pretty sure I just lost a week's pay.

 

YES, I ran out of gas in my Prius. First time ever in my life of driving cars. Yes, I saw the blinking pip. However, I did not hear the little (too quiet) "peep". And I thought, sheesh, I am getting 48.2 MPG, so I can drive another day, right?

So, the next day I was on the interstate freeway (405) on my way to visit a friend. The irritating blinking fuel indicator was making me feel nervous. I know the stops along the frwy, and where the next gas place is.

Suddenly, the car de-cellerates! Beeps and warning lights like everyone said! I went from 70MPH to 20MPH - lucky this was a Saturday AM and not much traffic- I could have been killed.

Drove on battery-only, and the blue battery indicators went to 1/3 - that is the scary part, I know it is very bad to have the main battery killed!

Filled the tank (average capacity is 9.1 gals, Dash indicator says check engine....Red triangle..... finally, the car recognizes it is out of gas and "check engine" changes to "add fuel" - Sheesh.

But - so far, I don't think any damage was done to the vehicle............

So, now I fill up when the guage has one non-flashing blip on the screen.

 

I have been driving for over 40 years and for the first time ever ran out of gas with my Prius. Several times I filled up with the one bar flashing and could not put much more that 10 gallons into the tank. Therefore I reasoned I had 1-1.5 gallons left in the tank when the last bar started to flash. Wrong! Anyone know of a trick to filling up the bladder gas tank to really get it full?

ps. fortunately the electric motor got me another 1/8 mile to the gas station!

 

IMO if you drive around with the fuel light flashing and you run out of gas then you deserve every bit of the frustration involved with such an incident.

 

The "beeps and warning lights" are missing from the ZVW30. Personally, I think at least the "check engine" light should come on ... more are welcome ... but at least the "check engine" light.

Bob Wilson

 

"Actively updated gauge" maybe, but I think a lot of people might argue whether no gauge would be better than an inaccurate gauge. Toyota overdid it when setting the lights to flash when you still have so much range left. You see it flashing and pull over in a panic, and then fill up and only get in 6 or 7 gallons and you feel like you wasted your time, and resolve to find a more accurate way to know when to fill up. My wife has a long commute and has to fill up every week, but is under time pressure on both legs of the commute, and doesn't want to be stopping more often than she needs to. If she can go 500 miles instead of 300 miles between fillups, that's the difference between filling up 20 times a year and 33 times a year.

 

It takes 5 minutes to fill up. I highly doubt that your wife really can't find an extra 5 minutes once a week.

 

Most vehicles do not go more than 300-400 miles between fill-ups so expecting or even complaining that you cannot go further is a little ridiculous IMO. I hardly doubt she doesn't have the time to fill up once a week. It only takes 2-3min to fill the tank and get back on the road.