have you run out of gas in your prius?

I haven't run out with the Prius, but I have run out of gas twice.

Both times with Chevy Cavaliers, actually.

The first time was about three years ago, I knew I had to get gas, but I was in some annyoing-nice person part of the Cities, where there were no gas stations at the top of the exit ramps. So, ended up running out of gas, and had to call AAA.

The second time was in a different Cav, my wife's, about two or three months ago, when it was still really cold (before the Prius). I borrowed it to go to work, and noticed the low-fuel light was on. I figured I'd be able to make the 8 miles to work and gas up at the station nearby. No such luck. Five miles down the road, I ran out of gas. . .heh. My wife, who _had_ been planning to sleep in that morning, got a rather unhappy phone call from me about then. Long story short, I was 20 minutes late for work, and very cold.

it's never fun to run out of gas.

 

thought we might be close once while driving down to champaign/urbana with flashing pip but we found gas. never run out in the prius. havent owned very long though. only time was on my honda shadow 600 back in 96 i think it was on that same route down to U of I... had it on reserve so when i started sputtering went to switch and thats that, no gas....

 

I was going by the many reports of people who said they got 100+ miles after the last bar started flashing. Bear in mind this was in early 2004, and there weren't nearly as many Prius on the road, and still fewer were posting about their experiences (but lots of those were testing the limits at that time...). I decided to chance it, and got about 62 miles past the flashing bar. Fortunately, I was on a very long, slight downhill on I-280 near Stanford, and when I finally pulled into a gas station (after about 3-1/2 miles), my battery was actually at 7 bars--higher than when I first ran out!

 

I just came back from a 650 mile trip up to NC and ran out on I-95 in GA while looking for cheap gas. I was lucky I was going 70 in the right lane and right at an exit when the lights and beepers went off. I drove right into the nearest station on the battery's juice and got about 3 gallons of $3.05 gas to last me to the $2.77 stuff a few miles down the road.

With all the warnings on the dash, I was surprised that there wasn't something that said "Low Fuel." I am sure that other Toyotas I have had did have a low fuel warning indicator that beeped and lit up prior to running out of gas. Anyway, in 20+ years of driving Toyotas, I have never run out of gas before, because I did heed the low fuel warning light and BUY GAS!

 

I've never run out of gas in any car, and I have only seen the flashing pip twice in my 14 months of ownership, which I promptly filled.

My rule of thumb is to always fill up when 1-2 (non-flashing) pips are left, always in the evening. In Toronto, the gas is always expensive in the morning, and a couple cents cheaper (per liter) in the evening. <_<

Such games they play...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MercerGirl @ Jun 28 2007, 08:35 AM) [snapback]469408[/snapback]</div>

When you are low on fuel, the last bar on the fuel gauge starts flashing, a beep sounds and an "Add Fuel" banner appears on the MFD. The beep and the banner repeat every time that you restart the car until you refuel.

 

This might be $13 well spent:
http://www.rei.com/product/695244

Fill it up and keep it in the cubby under the trunk? It should give you 10 miles or so, to get to a gas station.

 

Ran out of gas last week while in Florida, now I think my gas gauge is off.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(desertbriez @ Jun 28 2007, 04:46 PM) [snapback]469696[/snapback]</div>

SIGG Fuel Bottles are pretty safe, I believe. Been used for backpacking for years - years of people carrying fuel in their backpacks - i.e. next to their back. These metal bottles are certainly safer than the plastic gas containers most people use. But, each to their own.

 

I ran out after only 15 miles on a flashing pip. I was stunned. Had about 520 miles on the tank. It was the Prius I rented before I actually made up my mind to buy one.

I would love to get the mileage everyone seems to be getting but right now I can't seem to get it above 45 mpg.

 

Ok, I'll fess up. <_<

Ran out of gas in pre-Prius cars maybe 6 times. Pain in the nice person on several occasions. Usually the spare fuel in the SIGG bottle (yes I'm a backpacker) was enough ot get to a station.

Ran out in the '01 4 times. Battery was enough to get to a station most times, the longest was 6 miles of hilly terrain. Once it died after 12 miles and I had to stop and put in the gas in the SIGG bottle.

Ran out in the '05 a couple times. Got to a gas station in 1.2 miles and it seemed to be just about out of juice; ran out of battery in 1.8 miles and had to use the SIGG bottle.

Ran out in the '06 once. Did not make it to a gas station and had no SIGG bottle of spare gas: ran out of battery in 1.2 miles couldn't leave the car on the busy off-ramp and walk to the station (1/2 mile away) :angry: but Toyota service dispathced a guy with some gas for us.

The '01 has a real nice spot for the bottle: it's a good snug fit in the styrofoam insert on the bottom right. The '05 & '06 doesn't have a good place for it, so I don't usually carry spare gas.

I guess I'll get that scan-view thing and find a different-shaped SIGG bottle, so I can go back to my usual "driving style"... :lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Presto @ Jun 15 2007, 05:06 PM) [snapback]462609[/snapback]</div>

I haven't run out of gas yet, but I always wait until the last pip has been blinking for a while (25-30 mi). Since I'm hovering around 50 to 52 mpg, I can't imagine filling up before 500 miles. The last tank fill-up was 10.5.

Once, I ran out of gas in a Chrysler minivan ... and it REALLY cost me a bundle. The fuel pump is submersible, and it had to be replaced! Ouch!

Doggeroo

 

Sadly, I had to vote yes.

I turned it on to go to work. It beeped... Add Fuel. I decided I would do it at lunch. I was about 2/3 the way to work when the engine turned off and a bunch of lights came on up on the dash. I love the pop up on the screen "Problem." I had about three bars on the battery. A small hill ahead had me concerned. I hit the top going about 25mph with one bar left. I started downhill and hit the light where I turn right. Now also going downhill, I continued to go slow and charge up. All the while calling my coworker to see if I could get picked up after running out of power. It was 5:45am and I'm holding my cell to my head while it's ringing out of the speaker!!! I continue downhill and almost decided to leave the car at Colorado Mills Mall when I got gutsy and headed to the left lane. By the time I got to the main street, I had three bars again. Gotta love regen!!! I took a left and dipped into the gas station about a block down. Fortunately, I had read about people running out of gas in the Prius, so I put $20 in to be safe.

Never again.

 

I've never seen the flashing pip, I fill up at one pip. Yesterday I filled up with 8.50 gallons of Shell regular for $2.99/gal here in Washington State. I do want to buy a gallon of gas and drive around with the flashing pip to see how far I can go, but it's probably a bad idea based on what I've read on this site about running out of gas in a prius.

 

Wife and Son set out on a trip and were warned that the '05 Prius needed gas (1pip). Yup the ran out. They drove to 100 yards of a gas station and pushed the rest of the way. They thought they saw a Hummer owner taking a picture. Prius re started after a couple of tries. Check engine and Triangle of doom went out after 3 restarts.

Rich Byrne

 

I've only ran out of gas twice with my Prius. (But I've only had it for 5 months now!) But both times it was actually fun. I just drove to the closest gas station and filled it up. So it never really felt like I'd actually ran out at all....

 

I'll proudly confess to running out of gas in my Prius. I don't know what the big deal about it is anyway.

I must've had mine for a few months when it happened. My previous car could go around 20 miles or so on the last bar so I figured the same for the Prius. Plus, at my previous fill-up I actually did go around 20 miles or so in the Prius on the last bar so figured I was safe. Anyway, was going to work, and had just started out of my complex, when the engine shut off and lights all over the place. I freaked but kept cool because there was a gas station about a mile and half from where I was and I had 6 bars of energy left. I drove as slow as possible and coasted when I could. By the time I had gotten to the top of the last hill I was down to only 1 bar of energy but the trip downhill was enough to get me into the gas station.

Now that's driving on fumes.

 

I don't want to start a mpg flame war, but how can you get 55mpg? Our Prius has about 5k miles and the best I have seen is 51mpg in careful driving on NY thuway. Going to work around town I get about 43mpg. I can't understand how to get 55.

 

I've taken to refilling whenever I hit 400 miles on a tank. Usually one pip left. Haven't run out yet.