After 6k miles on my 2011 Prius -- Observations

From the user reports on FuelEconomy.gov, for model years 2010 and 2011 combined (the later has too few reports to be useful), I figure his mpg, centered at 35, is 2.5 std devs below the mean:



Mean: 49.7 mpg
Std Dev: 5.8

Median: 49.3 mpg
#Samples: 152

 

I saw in a few of your other posts that your current/recent cars have been BMW X5, 328, Subaru WRX. Fair to say that you are accustomed to driving high performance cars and pushing them pretty hard? The Prius will do much better in terms of MPG and handling if driven non-aggressively, basically staying with the flow of traffic. I'm getting 50 mpg right now around driving 7000' Santa Fe, but I can easily push that down to 40 if I push it hard the 5 speed RAV that I have, or set the cruise to 85 on the interstate.

I also suggest you look into the maintenance costs of a TDI before you get one, although it may be a better fit to your expectations for performance and handling.

On the service, is this regarding the dealership or Toyota corporate?

 

You're right.
It does.
When I first drove the G3, I spent about 1,500 miles getting used to it and doing all of the silly stuff to see how high I could get my fuel efficiency to go. (60 was my best tank average)
Then I got over it, and I just drive it like a car. WOT starts. A/C settings wherever I want them. Speed limit ++. All like that. I currently average in the very high 40's....and I use my throttle like an on/off switch!

I concur with many of your observations, but you have to remember that the G3 is basically an $18,000 car with an expensive (but seemingly well built) drive train, and some high-end options to make up for the Yaris-like interior appointments.

You may wanna re-think the whole TDI thing...for a couple of reasons. They're more expensive than the G3, and if you're not knocking down 40+mpg in a Prius, your mileages in a TDI aren't going to be all that much better---even on the freeway.
As horrible as Toyota dealers are...there are a lot of them. Even post-tsunami..(so far) you don't have to wait a week to get some itty-bitty little part that's turned your TDI into a hangar queen. You also get to change your own oil in a G3 if you want to!!
Imagine that.
Das Volkawagens are also hideously expensive to repair or even maintain, and based on the the experiences of a couple of my friends, if you get one you will get to find this out first-hand! Just sayin.

The good news is that if Priuses aren't your kind of car, they're a hot commodity right now. You should be able to sell your G3 for top-dollar...unless you decide to trade it in.

Good Luck.
Drive carefully!!
No foolin. If you're only getting in the mid 30's for fuel efficiency you either have a sick car or you drive a little on the aggressive side!

 

All I can tell you is that if you are getting 33MPG and I am getting 48MPG on an older less advanced vehicle...something is wrong with you or your vehicle. Like I said, we have pretty heavy feet, don't think about maximizing mileage at all, and the ONLY time it ever falls below 43-44MPG is if the driving routine becomes short trips (2 miles each way per day). Even with those trips we got 40 in the summer, mid 30s in the winter. When you look at the experiences of others here, the experiences of the EPA in testing, and other journalistic testing...the car gets mileage far higher than you are getting with "normal" driving. Thats a fact.

Then why hasn't it happened? There are millions of Priuses on the roads, and with all the scrutiny Toyota has been under for the past couple years if teenagers were getting swept away under 18 wheelers don't you think that might be a news story? I have never heard one account on here of the Prius being blown in the wind and it causing an accident. Not one.

Its no more affected by the wind than any other higher profile lower weight vehicle. Its kind of like driving a little SUV in crosswinds. Unnerving if you're not used to it, but dangerous no.

I've had the car for 7 years...driven it at highway speeds for thousands and thousands of miles, in the mountains, etc. During winter and summer storms. The vehicle is NOT dangerous to drive in crosswinds.

It means you use and pay for half as much gas. Pretty straightforward.

No, just don't expect the Prius to be something its not. Its a slow, pondering, unrefined economy car built for getting good mileage in a high tech, futuristic package. Thats all it is. It isn't a sports car, or even sporty in any way. Its a driving appliance.

Just don't drive it like a WRX and it'll get great mileage. Don't blow down the highway at 90MPH passing trucks left and right and it'll be perfectly stable.

 

There are over 3 MILLION Prius on the road. How many have been blown under semi's?

 

Oh...... Just wait.

 

I can sympathize with the guy, but you can't buy a black pen, and complain that its a crappy pen because it doesn't write in blue.

It really makes me wonder, don't people do any research before they spend $25,000 on something? You know...drive it extensively, really scrutinize the build and all the plastics? You shouldn't "realize" any of this during the first 6k miles...you should buy a car despite these issues of if they're too big a deal...buy a different car.

 

I have also had some strange mpg results. Got over 51 mpg in the rain with rolling hills tire pressure 40/38 same gas i always use from same station. Next trip about 100 miles flat highway 65 mph 45 mpg cross wind new roadway surface, tires checked before and after trip 40/38 same gas same station. The new road surface felt sticky i go that way sometimes and the new road surface less than a month old. In my short prius ownership just over 2000 miles i have found wind even if a cross wind or angle to my prius cuts my highway milage and has the biggest effect for lowering. I still love my prius it keeps me so involved (brain) in my time behind the wheel and alert. I owned an MG back in the day with all the gauges , shifting and engine sounds that car also kept me alert while driving which i forgot how much enjoyment that brought .

 

45MPG at 65 with a crosswind is excellent. Remember the Prius gets better city mileage that hwy mileage.

 

wow,now you forum members call me out when i betch and moan,but this takes the cake. 30's for mpg and tin can sounding,but give it a good for the stereo.(unles your talking the jbl option) i would say something must be seriously wrong with your car.

 

I'm not calling the OP a liar, but perhaps this is an extreme case of making up your own facts or pulling random numbers when memory does not serve well. I suggest the OP may be prone to hyperbole.

Having driven 6000 miles, a 7-10 mpg error by the MFD, or 20%+, is not possible unless you are really bad at math or your gas pump is screwing with you.

 

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and everyone has one, so here is mine:

I am coming out of what I would consider, an amazing automobile, 2008 Infinti G37S coupe. The car was fast, quiet on the highway, very comfortable, all the bells and whistles and looked sexy. I've put 1500 miles on the Prius so far and other than the power, I dont feel like I'm missing a whole lot. On a recent 400 mile road trip, the car was very quiet inside, very comfortable ride, comfortable seats (Infiniti seats were incredible!), great stereo and by the time I got home, I still had a 1/4 tank of gas and averaged 49mpg for the trip. Yes, I drive it very conservatively and this tank, after 130 miles, am averaging almost 57mpg.

All in all, I love the car. I was contemplating the Jetta TDI wagon and after hearing all of the maintenance nightmares, leaky moonroofs, high pressure fuel pumps, DSG problems, poor build quality, huge lack of amenities and the only mpg advantage is long hauls, it wasnt the car for me.

 

Wow? Less than 40 mpg? You can see why you get such a strong reaction. When you look at the mileage tracking sites, the only ones that get that low mileage are people living in Europe with low energy gas.

My guess is that the original poster either has really low tire pressure or they aren't putting in the manual specified octane of 87 min.

A myth is that you can put in lower octane at higher elevations. Modern cars have sensors and take lower pressure in to account. The reported mileage is consistent with "flex" low octane gasoline.

My personal best is 55 mpg over 600 miles spread across Taos NM and the Pikes Peak area of Colorado in August. So far, can't beat it in the relatively flat lands of North/East Texas.

The manual says 87 octane MIN.

 

These observations make me think of someone who's fighting twinges of buyer's remorse. I can see hints of each comment thoughout other PriusChattters' across threads, but to me that reflects a buyer's perceptions and expectations, both good and bad. Lastly, MPG results are just too subjective to external influences from driver, weather, geography, etc to state that all Prius won't deliver better than OP observes. Most PriusChatters report higher MPG results which reinforces sensitivity of driving conditions.

 

Great analogy. STM lots of people these days expect a multicolored pen when they buy a car: big enough to carry everything they could ever possibly want to carry, great acceleration, terrific handling, AWD, and fantastic fuel mileage. Not going to happen!

The funny thing is that you don't hear complaints that sports cars like Porsches seat only two (not talking about the Porsche Cayenne or sedan here). Or lack AWD. Or get lousy mpg. I guess they fall into the "expensive toy" category and therefore aren't expected to be practical? Or maybe people have become accustomed to the compromises inherent in two-seater sports cars?

Spot on again.

And as for driving "normal": you can drive a hybrid in the same way you drove a conventional car but doing so won't realize the hybrid's full mpg potential. Hybrids achieve higher mpg in part by having a smaller and detuned ICE. So wringing that ICE for accel will sacrifice mpg. Ditto for heavy braking and cornering hard: the car isn't designed for that, and doing those things will usually hurt mpg. If you want to drive like that, buy a sports car or sports sedan, enjoy its capabilities, and accept its poorer mpg.

In a way, someone who buys a Porsche and doesn't drive it in a spirited way isn't realizing the full (amazing!) potential of the Porsche either. And most people on the road in sports cars just drive along "normal".

So many people who aren't happy with the mpg they are getting turn out to be driving fast, and don't grasp that higher speeds kill mpg. Basically, if you're not happy with your mpg, leave a bit earlier, don't hurry, and drive slower [in the right lane of course, and at the speed limit on two-lane secondary roads unless no one is behind you]. And pay attention to the mpg displays to see how you are doing. Or just drive "normal" and get what you get.

 

Very true but I would say that driving the car like a normal car will still reward the driver with higher MPG's than they will get from a similar sized standard car.

I am precisely the sort of driver that many Prius owners would say am not suitable for a Prius. I do short 0.5 to 1.5 mile jorneys most of the time, rant along at about 80-85 on the Motorway (Highway as you guys calls it) when I do do longer trips and dont mind keeping up with the flow of traffic even if it means using power. I still get around 40mpg in town and around 50 on the highway. Pretty good I'd say compared to my Jag which returned 12 and 26 respectively.

Lastly, I live in the UK where we get 40% of Europes wind. I don't find the Prius any more dangerous in strong side gusts than other similarly shaped vehicles I have driven. The OP has to be realistic. Its a light car to get the MPGs with steep sides and it will react a bit to wind, not dangerously so though.

 

35 MPG? Yeah, sure. I don't know how you drive or about your 7k ft altitude, but pic above is Bay Area (sea level), 40 miles after a fillup. After 172 miles and refilling, pump came out to 59 MPG.

I've rented 2010 Prius 10 times and not once has there been a bunch of squeaks

Prius a $12k car? Yeah, sure.
Uncomfortable seats? They are more cushy than the seats in my Accord Coupe, not that I'm complaining about them.

Prius could use a leather wrap on the plastic/rubbery steering wheel, but other materials are alright. Seat fabric is decent.

 

Hi your observations seem accurate just the MPG are very low I have noticed that wind is a big problem and also slope, probably you will have to practice more the "pulse and glide" technique and stay in the 70MPH , I get 52 MPG driving like a grandmother and 42-45 driving normal all with "ECO ON"

The weak point of Prius are; the noises, rattles and the interior quality. The (leather in my case) sits are very uncomfortable

The Dealers are BRUTAL, they first say nothing is bad then second option lie then they offer a terrible service !! like the OLD WILD WEST!!

I decided not to go anymore to the dealer and trade in the car in 2 years from now to recover some of the investment, very sad I love the concept but the quality is not there and there is no support unless you call the corporate number

Good luck and turn the radio on LOUD!!