Ran out of Gas, got BAD advice from Dealership!

My favorite ran out of gas story was during the 70's oil crisis. You could only fill up on odd or even days, but I was on call every other day!! Catch 22 that is the best there is. I had to get the dog to the vet on the first Saturday I was off and ran a little short of the station. Now you have to get the picture. The dog Big Male Newf (what else), the car a little 124 Fiat Spyder. He rode in the passenger seat. Now the car was a little old so the plastic window in the back of the rag top was a "bit fogged". I ran out of gas at the stop light one block from the gas station. So I got my can out of the trunk and walked up to the station and got a gallon and went back. On the way back I saw my little blue Fiat with Fred the Newf sitting in the drivers seat and waiting for me. The light turns green and the cars start honking their horns at "the person" they could just barely see through the fogged window. The price of gas, too high but lower than now, the look on the drivers face as they pulled around my car and saw "who" was driving... priceless! I still remember the look on their faces as they pulled around Fred sitting in the drivers seat as they looked at him in the side drivers window!! :lol: Makes me laugh even today. Good old Fred, great dog, great car, good times.

 

I'm a little east of you on the Outer Banks. My drive to my job ( selling Prius' ) in SE Virginia gives me a 150 mi RT commute. I've been running it down to the last bar then looking for a station. I had one 'triangle of death' event in the first week but from this thread I now know why.

All except the last tank ( 10.5 ) have been right at 10.2 gal. Based on the knowhow herein I intend to be more careful.
.

 

"so I figure mathematically we should be able to make it home from work and then some"
I think is what you said in your original story.
Which means you drove it as far as you could go on your way HOME not on your way to the nearest gas station. So you IGNORED the blinking NO GAS warning and kept driving on the ELECTRIC AFTER the car ran out of GAS.

so just out of curiosity... how many gas stations did you pass on your way home whilst this blinking gas light was on? Hope the $.20 was worth possibly comprimising your electrical system in your new car AND making your bf walk to the gas station that was SO close to your house that you weren't worried about driving your car home completely empty of fuel and expecting to have it have enough fuel to wake up and warm up int he morning and THEN drive to that REALLY CLOSE CHEAP GAS.

No, I NEVER called you an Idiot... i said the woman from the dealer must have ASSUMED you were and idiot because you were calling after just leaving the dealership saying your car wouldn't start because you ran it into the ground with no gas... and technically the system DID need to be reset with 3 gallons of gas... she just assumed you didn't know anything about it from runing your car dead, so needed you to come in to have it fixed so you didn't damage the car anymore than you had.

and for the Record i'm not just an english chick that knows nothing about what happens in america with gas and vehicle issues. i was born and raise in Atlanta, GA and lived in Providence, RI. I still had family and a home in Atlanta when Katrina hit and i'm fully aware of the gas issues. But running your car to empty and then proceeding to do the exact thing that the manual tells you NOT TO DO, is asking for people to assume you have no idea what you're doing and to just bring it to them without damaging the car anymore than it has been.

 

First of all, welcome to the community, gbgirl79!

I agree with mmfjj's post that we should be showing more understanding and appreciation for you sharing this experience with us. You had a bad experience, got through it, and learned some things you thought you might share with us.
I believe you are being totally sincere about the information you are trying to relay to PriusChatters.
It seems some people think the most important thing to be gleaned from your post is to figure out who deserves the most blame for what happened. I think those people are a little sensitive to potentially negative Prius posts because we have seen a lot of insincere people posting things (exaggerations, misinformation, etc.).
I hope some of the post replies you have read here don't discourage you from being an ongoing active member of Priuschat.

Personally, I feel Toyota should err on the conservative side of things in listing the tank capacity of the Prius which have the tank bladders. I'd much rather have them say the capacity is 10 gallons and then be able to fit in on occassion 10.5 or 11, or more.

 

the trick to good service is trial and error. if you know someone who went to a dealer service dept, ask how the job was. done right? good customer service? helpful service writers? tech a friendly guy? etc. then ask for him yourself if someone else was pleased with his work. if you happen to stumble upon a good service somewhere, continue to ask for the guy. he'll appreciate the repeat business (and they do know when they are specifically asked for) and you get more personal service. trust me on this one. the techs that have lots of regular customers have them for a reason.

not all techs are created equal.

i'm all about supporting small businesses, but you're not a sucker just because you take your car to a dealer for service. if you find a good tech there, it makes sense to have one person do all your services. and especially with the prius, quick lube places won't carry everything you need above and beyond an oil change.

and while i'm at it, avoid dealership "quick lube" places. they emphasize time over quality, which in that business causes problems. nasty problems.

 

Hey GBGirl. Welcome to the board. I'm in the D.C. area too - Calrendon area in Arlington - but still waiting on my Prius...

Just curious - where around town were you - up towards Baltimore ? (BW parkway sucks for gas).

Absolutely! I've had bad dealer experiences before too, and am basically distrustful of them - but this is pretty much over the top. These guys are supposed to be the experts on the car.

Hey y'all - I've reread this thread a couple times over the course of the past few days, and frankly can't understand how people are missing the point about the significance of the 3 gallon mark. If the woman on the phone from the dealer's service dept had responded with correct and helpful information, then GBgirls post would read very differently. If roadside assistance had responded the same as the dealer did, the gbgirl's day would have been a very long one, not to mention having had to pay for towing and dealer services, which would have been upwards of $200. I think think she's got a right to complain a little, and what's more, she's helping a lot of people out with the information.

totally. I also think I'll be avoiding that dealer. Thanks gbgirl!

Dave

 

A warning from my salesman. Running out of gas and running on electric only can kill the battery pack. Three times will do it. Toyota has installed a program in the computer to monitor this because it was getting to many warranty claims. If you kill the battery pack now because you run out of gas, they will not replace the battery pack. :angry:

 

Is this a true story or BS? I remember maybe a year or so ago, I'd seen statements or articles where Toyota was quoted as saying something to the effect of since the 1st gen Prius even in Japan which went on sale in 97, that they'd never had any battery packs have to be replaced due to wear.

That said, err, I think it's rather risky anyhow to run out of gas, hybrid car or not. I sure don't like running my gasoline only cars out of gas and never have. I've had a license since ~1991.

 

Ahh.. Yep, that area is hell to find a gas station in. There is in fact only one south of 395 in that whole area for about 3 miles south down Rt. 1 as far west from the river as King St. - but you'd kinda think there'd be LOTS more around there. Same thing north except for the little hidden one by the Pentagon.
Arlington is really tricky if you wind up on a parkway around the cemetary or the 395 intersection - i.e., the 2 separate roads called "27"; the brown signs (invisible at night) that say keep left for 50, keep right for 50, instructing you to swerve and merge through lanes of traffiic; the multipe exits for 395 that kind land you at a guards gate for Fort Myer or the Pentagon - I hear ya - it's hell to drive through. Once you get past all that, Arlington isn't as cool as it used to be either.... Wilson Blvd used to be a lot more like 7thNW was before the MCI stadium, and now it's like Reston.

Ah... the old days...

Dave

 

Wow, what a thread. I have to tell my own experiences.

1 I have driven as far as 230 miles on the last flashing bar without running out. Usually I can safely drive 100 miles on the flashing bar. I have run out with 16 miles on the flashing bar so it is not consistent.

2 I have pumped 12.7 gallons into my Prius at least 8 times.

3 I have run the battery down twice after running out of gas in quest of long tanks. It's a diversion. I learned a lot about the car by pushing it's limits to see what it could do. I no longer run out of gas.

4 I have gotten my car to start with 1 gallon of gas after running out.

5 I have gone over 700 miles on a single tank 7 times and once made 818 miles.

6 My last tank went 650 miles and I refilled with 12.2 gallons. Not bad for January.

7 I have not heard of any instances of depleted batteries requiring a charge even though I have heard the dire warnings repeated for over 2 years now. I have heard of a battery that was damaged in a repair shop but not in a roadside out of gas situation.

8 I have been warned that I would ruin my car if I drive it out of gas or top off my tank or coast in neutral. I have not caused noticable damage in the last 44,000 miles nor has my wife in the 18,000 miles she has on hers. I have not read of a documented case of any of these things actually causing damage to anyones car. Nor has it affected my mileage.

9 I currently refill when I reach the displayed average times 11-11.5. I have not run out in the last 25,000 miles using this method.


The point I'm trying to make is that there are a lot of old wive's tales that have developed around the Prius. If you want to operate your car to avoid the possibility that the dire warnings are true, then by all means, do so. There is however, another side to the story.

 

DH's shop has seen ONE classic prius that ran out of gas, then ran down the battery. they tried like hell to charge it using the HV charger, to no avail. because it was the owner's error in running out of gas, then running it in electric till it quit, he was responsible for battery replacement cost.

there have been a few batteries replaced for reasons like this. toyota means to say that none of them have failed just from regular use.

 

For my part I hate stopping for gas. If it weren't for all the good reasons
not to, I'd be trying to exceed 500 miles per tank full. I am usually pressed for time, I drive about 500 miles per week, and if they had the option of a larger tank I'd have bought it. Us type-A folks don't like waiting for the tank to fill when we've scheduled our work day down to the minute. Just wanted to you to understand the other side of it.

 

Knowing the history of Ray and following his posts...I'll practically accept this as gospel! Thanks Ray.

 

Which face is it?

 

Both....just because Ray is an expert on this issue does not mean it isn't funny that people "enjoy" pushing the car to the limit. It is something Ray likes to do...isn't that the definition of a hobby?

What is really amazing is that you remembered this, took the time to go find it and quote it, and still were irked enough to demand a response...well I guess we all need hobbies :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: