Prius "Died" 500 Miles from Home

Prius experts>>> Do you think we should go back to the dealer and see if they can adjust the hatch ??Is there a danger of developing leaks or rattles ??Any previous events on the 2nd edition Prius Help Dr Evan..??

 

i definitely would. on mine, being a new car i close it with as little force as possible and it takes very little. if you have toslam it then there is something wrong with the alignment or soemthing

 

i've never had to slam the hatch... now i'm not a weak girl, but i just have to grab the handle on the inside and pull down quickly.

 

well didnt make the 90 minute time limit so i guess ill not say any thing

 

I just had a failure. Every thing went dead as I made a left turn at10mph. Luckly, I was able to coast to a place with a Phone. Called for tow. Sat in car and after a few mins. I tried to turn off the dash indicators which I could not before, and lo and behold, it shut everything off. I then tried to restart and it worked. Cancelled tow, drove to dealer, and they said it lost memory. They completely reprogrammed the little devil and I got home. I have 20,000 miles of trouble free driving since Nov. 2003. AVG. 53mpg at 65 mph on cruise control,and 42 @ 72 mph.

 

relucey, glad to hear everything is working well with you. i am surprised to hear your mileage is so low at 72 mph.

i average right at 48-50 mpg... you must be driving against the wind

 

Here's a post from another topic., figure I can get help here too + thanks Galaxee and the suggestion about the hatch., seems to have good expertise here in this thread so I will give it a try here too:

(this was my post)

"DanMan...HOW do you press reset on the MFD and what is the MFD?? and while we're on the subject, in this small TX town, we only maybe have about 25 (out of 250,000 citizens in the county) cars out there. Typically most here get 35-40 mpg now in summer with AC. One biggest question the locals and the local dealer gets is WHY on www.PriusChat.com is everybody claiming to get 50's in the mileage.

Just today I was at the dealer with my salesman, and a customer was looking at one there, and that was his very question, and I have heard this before and I always expected the MPG to be lower especially here for me. But the customers think there is some kind of CON going on. The car around here has this reputation, due to Media and other factors, I certainly want to break this mold, because I do think the mileage claims are valid if the user understands and uses the technology. I am sure you realize that most car forums such as KELLEY and the likes all hands down inform the potential buyer that TOYOTA has inflated its mileage claims.

Are the claims you all make because:
1) Climate and temps differences
2) AC usage - we use it too much
3) What other factors ? extreme heat ?
4) Highway / town driving
5) Lengths of trips - short vs long

None of the drivers here I have talked to and there are quite a few, can or have gotten anywhere close to the mileages claimed, and this is past the break in period for some of them. Still the mileage in my book is good, going from 15 to 40 MPG is good, but what is the major difference ? Some are dis-illusioned, a shame I think. Can some help be given here?

Do most of the high mileagers
-make longer trips?
-do you use AC at all?
-what is the magic ?
-what can TEXANS in high heat, high humidity, and some on short trips do to get MPG??

What should I be telling the people who are considering this car? I am trying to bolster the Prius population here."

 

short trips is the killer. learning to anticipate would be the next biggest thing. both of those things if you are not careful, can easily take 10 mpg off your totals.

as for me, at 70 mph on the freeway with the air cranking, i still wouldnt get as bad as 40 mpg. 48-50 mpg maybe

 

also another thing that helped push my mileage to the next level was driving without stopping. this sometimes means driving slowly. starting your coasting early when there is a light ahead with more than 4 or 5 cars sitting there, etc.

last summer, i did a lot of trials with and without air conditioning and as far as i could tell, air will use 1-3 mpg. seems the faster you drive, the less effect it seems to have. its to the point now that unless its very warm (it dont take much for me, i drove nearly all last winter without using the heat and it aint cause i was freezing, just like it cool) i roll the windows down when driving in town. most of the time, i prefer it that way. my air is set to 68º and nearly everyone i ride with say its way too cold, i just tell em to point their vents my way and shut up

 

MFD= Multi-Function Display. Its the display you find on the dash between the driver and the passenger
In the consumption screen, there is a soft button called RESET. Pressing it will bring the MPG and miles driven on the display to 0. Refilling your tank will auto-reset.

I can get high 50's when I commute from home to work using US19. US19 is a major road with traffic lights averaging 5 miles apart. Speed limits vary from 55 down to 45, with most of the commute at 45. My commute is 48 miles. In cooler days where no AC or heat is needed, I can exceed 60 MPG if I don't do any short trips.
Driving on the highway will bring my MPG down, with the trip mileage somewhere between 45-50.
First 5 minutes of any trip will yield about 35MPG. If this is all you do, that's what your MPG will be.

But back to our regularly scheduled topic:
I dislike everyone saying "the car won't start". On a regular car that's too broad of a statement, and on a prius its downright wrong.
Did the car not power up? Did it go into any powerup mode (ACC, Ig-On, Ready)? Did the ICE go into its warmup cycle after 7 second of going into ready?
Power modes:
Off: No light in power button, no display on dash
ACC: green light in power button - allows radio operation
Ig-On: amber light in power button - similar to putting a car to ON, but not actually starting the engine.
READY: no light in power button, READY indicated on dash. - Car is fully operational to drive. This is the only mode where the HV battery is engaged.

Sometimes the car will hang on Ig-On, where there's an amber light on the power button, but you can't transition to READY, even though you are pressing the brake pedal.
Solution to get out of this: press power WITHOUT pressing the brake. This will turn off the car.
Then try to go back to READY by pressing power while holding down the brake. Don't be quick with the power button, we suspect that may be the cause of the hang.

 

Thank you Dan., some of us are Newbies, so we don't have all the acronyms down yet, thanks for the clarification.

And yes I am saddled with a lot of short trips, so I realize this is difficult.

On the stuck IGN ON., I posted on that because it not only happened to me, but also to another friend who had close to 5000 miles. Could not believe he was having such problems. I carefully read the owner's manual, and yes everything clearly explained the situations. You are 100% right that initial error by the user is the root cause, in isolated cases the computer system is tricked. But in all cases, the methods of POWER down and firm pedal pressure solve the problem. It is like re-booting a computer..

"Sometimes the car will hang on Ig-On, where there's an amber light on the power button, but you can't transition to READY, even though you are pressing the brake pedal.
Solution to get out of this: press power WITHOUT pressing the brake. This will turn off the car.
Then try to go back to READY by pressing power while holding down the brake. Don't be quick with the power button, we suspect that may be the cause of the hang." That is exactly what the owner's manual says in so many words!

 

MY mileage was read by the computer. I set the setting to Zero, then set cruise at 65. In a 200 mile trip on Intersteate 84, Portland to Pendelton, I registered 53 mgp. Maybe the computer is wrong. I doubt it!!

 

I would not worry about the relatively low MPG, IAltmann. I have over 50K on a 2006 and about 12K on an 08. Short trips is a total killer in any weather but I have found much better MPG in 60 to 80 degrees. Cold weather, 40 and below is a major blow to good miliage and so are snow tires based on my experience. Both cars average around 47 but if you are careful and drive just a little slower (40 to 55 MPH) off the xways taking advantage of the lower speed limits but not blocking traffic, just slightly nudging the gas pedal a hair to keep speed on level or slight down grade areas, and get to the speed limit quickly, then ease off to minimize use if the ICE, you should achieve over 50 MPG on trips of 30 minutes or more. I have COMPLETELY changed my driving habits since becoming a Prius owner and I am happy to have lost the urge to veer and weave and stop on the gas peddle just to get one up on a car at the signal. You'll know you have been tamed when you delight in being passed by the SUV's and then just inch past them at the next signal as it turns green! Have fun and good luck. Paul H.