When to fill up

We fill up once the gage dings since the car rarely goes out of town. Normally we put in a little over 10 gallons even if we go beyond the "miles remaining" on the trip meter.

 

My approach, too -- unless my windshield gets seriously dirty sooner

But that's only around town. When traveling, it's based more on where the stations are and needed pit stops!

 

unfortunately, the odo doesn't give us average mpg's. wouldn't that be a nice surprise on the gen four.

 

I doubt you're odd man out anywhere but here, HGS. And even here, I'm not sure how many preoccupy themselves with micromanaging their mileage outside of those in this sub-forum. I admit I track it, but only because it's become a habit, it's easy enough to do and I'm curious what we get on our various road trips. I'm also curious about how much we're actually saving over the previous van we used to drive. Unfortunately, with fuel prices so low, we've only been able to get to a savings of $1,800 or so over the 35,000 miles we've driven so far.

As for the fuel pump, ETC(SS), I don't recall anyone saying we should be afraid. I've run out of fuel on other FI vehicles without any apparent harm, so I don't even think about it, though I doubt anyone recommends doing so on a regular basis. Given that the Toyota is so ultraconservative with their fuel gauge, I'm not sure fuel pump failure rates are any indicator of how much damage might be done. Those who do it here generally carry a container of fuel with them and I doubt they do it regularly. I support your point though, just fill up when you feel like it.

4rpr15, he said "brings down gas mileage", not helps. As HGS said, the Prius is actually pretty efficient and we often let the car run with the A/C on if just one of us needs to run into a store, rest stop or something for a few minutes. In our heat, there have been times when I've sat in the car with the A/C running listening to SiriusXM rather than wait in the waiting room during her doctor's appointments. And then there are those who use the Prius as a camper running the car and A/C all night long. Sure it affects mileage, but not as much as one might think. We've also been stuck in traffic for 1.5 hours or more due to accidents and we've just let the car run with the A/C on. You'd be surprised how little the engine runs to charge the battery.

 

Has someone said, "that's a very nice looking Prius Persona you bought"? White Persona is definitely one of my favorites. Happens to be a great car, too. Enjoy it.