Ran out of Gas, got BAD advice from Dealership!

At least so far we've been spared the headline in the Detroit Free Press (or on CNN):

More Owners of New Prius Run Out
of Gas Than Any Other New Car

...even though it's true.

 

I was very fortunate to have a very well informed dealer who took time with me and knew the car. Carlsbad Toyota has specific salespeople for the Prius. They sat in the car with me after the sale and went over every little thing. And they told me I should also read the manuals.

Beyond the excellent introduction and going through the manuals lightly once or twice I still listen to the car as it is very efficient in letting you know what it needs right up to reminding you that it is cold enough for the bridges to freeze (snowflake icon :wacko

 

There might be a grain of truth to what the dealer said, but not the whole truth.

"Reprogrammed" is not the right word. But to clear the "out of gas" or "fail to start" error code you would have to either use an OBD-II scanner or the THHT. Perhaps that is what they meant by "reprogrammed."

If you told them you put gas in it and it didn't start, is it unreasonable for them to tell you to have it towed to a dealer? How else would it get there if it won't start?

As for needing to add at least 3 gallons, this is curious. There is no mechanical reason it would require that, but perhaps once an "out of gas" condition is noted by the ECU, it refused to keep trying to start (especially with a run-down HV battery). Given there is about a 3 gallon minimum to reset the MPG tracking, maybe the ECU also uses this sensed condition to once again allow starts.

I also wonder if a few READY-OFF cycles would have allowed it to start without the extra gas.

 

Very good information priusham. I just picked up my 06' Driftwood this past weekend and have been driving it all week. I did get 49 MPG on the highway on the way back from the dealer in Traverse City. I was very happy with that.

I've been driving it around town all week and have only been averaging 32 MPG up until Tuesday when I started to read all the excellent techniques from fellow posters on this forum. Since Tuesday I've gotten my MPG up to 36.5 MPG but suspected that my city mileage would suffer somewhat by the fact that my drive to work is under 3 miles, combined with the fact that I've been needing to run the defrosters/heater and the engine not warming up during my short commute.

Last night I did drive around town for an extended period and did get it to go into stealth mode for an extended period of time. Before this the only time the ICE turned off was at traffic lights. From what it sounds like and looking at your excellent information that my mileage should improve dramatically once winter is over. Any other tips/information that anyone can pass along to me for winter driving?

 

I noticed that, too. Remarkable! To me, the manual is something one looks up when one has a specific question in mind. I read the entire 2001 manual because I was having a stalling problem which the dealer could not fix initially. The only question I had with the 06 was the Homelink, so that's what I read.

By the way, I assume the blink/ding is the quarter tank indicator, then. Otherwise, Toyota should implement such an indicatior. The bars are highly non-linear.

 

The last blinking pip usually means (for my Prius) that I may be able to get another 80 miles out of the tank so that would translate in to less than two gallons left. My idea of one quarter tank is a quarter of the pips still showing. That may not be accurate but that's what I go by

 

Yep, they are very non-linear. The (VERY approximately) one-quarter-tank-remaining indicator is two bars. A single blinking bar is the "buy gas now, dammit" indicator.

Very old joke follows.
Q: How do you know when a car dealer is lying?
A: His lips are moving.

 

Yesterday in 59F temperatures, I filled up 11.5 gallons. Also, I've been able to fill up to 12 gallons before. I just follow the Japanese advice of fill slow, burp often, and drive it down way past the blinking bar. Total miles has been more a reliable indicator to me than the guess gauge.

 

Or maybe that gas station is padding their profits.

 

eh double post :blink:

 

so lets say your tank makes it home... how the hell were you planning on leaving your driveway to get to the gas station in the morning?

:huh:

she probably just assumed that you were an idiot for letting it run out of gas LOL


sorry... :lol:

 

gbgirl79, please don't be discouraged by some of the replies you received. I, a Prius old-timer notwithstanding, have learned a lot from your experience, and really appreciate that you decided to share it with us.

I have heard conflicting reports about the roadside assistance for 06. Thanks to you, now I know what to expect if I actually called them. I have never run out of fuel. Now I know what some of the things the dealer might say in that situation. Heck, I didn't even know the 3 gallon bit. Now I know. I certainly don't intend to use this piece of information, but that doesn't diminish its value.

Speaking of dealer arrogance, ever since I upgraded the notorious OEM tires on the 01, my dealer has refused to let me pass the state safety inspection. First they said it was the load rating, but after I pointed out the new tires had higher load rating they said it didn't matter. I have been forced to do the state inspection at a neighborhood garage (for much less) for the past three years. Can you believe it?

Anyway, thanks again for posting. I really appreciate it.

 

She probably never heard of Katrina, then.

 

You are most welcome. Enjoy the new car, it only gets better. Both you and the car will slowly improve. It eventually will get warmer, we'll get rid of the awful "winter grade" gas (if there really is such a thing), you'll switch to synthetic oil

I highly recommend you (well everyone) actually keep track of your mileage and fuel consumption.

I never really was this anal about record keeping in the past The Prius just makes it almost fun. The car loves to go for LONG (1 hour +), steady (cruise control) drives (no stopping) in the 45-55 MPH range during the summer.

 

oh, and it's those sweeping generalizations that start trouble around here.

there are PLENTY of PERFECTLY GOOD dealers out there, my husband happens to be very dedicated to making sure a person's car gets fixed right, the first time. in fact, he logs over 60 hours a week most weeks (and 10-20 are free, pretty much), leaving me to sit at home alone, to take care of his customers.

sweeping generalizations = bad move.

 

you are not an idiot...there is over 2 million incidences of people running out of gas every year... it aint all that uncommon...besides, the fact that you bought a Prius makes you much smarter than the ones who bought gas guzzling SUV's only because gm cut the price by $10,000...

 

I agree. PERSONALLY, I seem to always have bad luck with the service writers at Toyota dealerships, but I have run into good salespersons and mechanics from time to time.