35 mpg Prius blues.

Prius owners have reported a much greater impact and I've seen statements that Toyota has noted it as well.

Besides on other vehicles I've owned I've noted a larger impact as well when I ran 10% ethanol. It's been a few years since I last tested it. There is more effective loss than just the energy density effect. Oxygenates in gasoline have always been a bad idea.

 

We just bought a 2009 #6 yesterday and have driven it 100 miles. Our average so far is 48 MPG. This despite finding out this morning that our tire pressures are low (31/29) and our oil is overfilled above the high mark by 1/3 to 1/2 inch. Ours is a touring with the wider tires to boot which already has us at a disadvantage.

I'll be sucking out 1/2 qt today with my marine pump and raising pressures to 40/42.

Sorry, meant 42/40. Ended up with 41/39. Took 1/2 qt out which got me to just below the full mark.

 

At this pointit ight be good for izza to get with someone to drive the car and see if it is any different. Anyone near Orlando?

 

I understand Izza's frustration. I have 20K on my 2007 & the best tank I ever got was 45mpg. Most times I'm in the 39-43 range. My tires are set to 42/40, and I've checked my oil level after each change. My usually drive is 30 miles each way to & from work. The first 7 miles is at 50-60 mph, then usually 70mph in the HOV lane for 22 miles, then 1 mile on local streets. I'll admit I don't pulse & glide or any of the other gas saving measures, so I'm not looking for 55+mpg. But after reading this, I wonder if I did get a lemon.

I'm going to be taking my car in for oil change this weekend. I'm wondering if I should talk to the service manager, and iif so - what should I tell him?

 

Would you please let us know the model year and engine/transmission type?
What kind of EPA mileage does the Lancer have?
My feeling is it looks very strange you got almost same mileage on either short or long trip.

Ken@Japan

 

Conrgats, Osama loves you. You keep his cave warm and well stocked with your generous donations.

 

They probably won't be too sympathetic since you are getting about 90% of the EPA mixed average estimate. You don't have your location listed, are you using the A/C all the time? People who get over 50 mpg are rarely going over 60 mph. Slow down in advance whenever you can, don't tailgate (people who jump in front in your lane usually jump back out again). Other than that, I can't offer too much help.

Who was this intended for? Everybody in this thread is legitimately trying to increase their mileage.

 

Read the first page of replies and I can't believe no one suggested he go to his dealer and call the Toyota customer care line.
If the car is under warranty and is performing significantly out of spec - which 36 mpg for a car that should be getting 46 definitely is - then he really needs to address this right away and make sure Toyota and his dealer know about it.
I have a brand new 2009 Prius package 2 and it's getting 48.8 mpg after only 130 miles! If I was getting 36 I'd be very angry and definitely wouldn't hesitate to start a complaint ticket.

 

Folks suggested he check a few things on his end first then go to the dealer about specifics.

You can get 0 mpg in a Prius quite easily. (Don't drive it anywhere, turn it on and eat lunch in it every day.) That wouldn't mean there was a problem with it so rushing to file a complaint ticket wouldn't be helpful. But as was pointed out, we weren't getting any feedback about specific questions to know whether or not the vehicle was exhibiting abnormal mileage for specific driving conditions.

And if you will notice, when he drove to/from the dealer his mileage was not nearly so low. This still doesn't rule out problems with the car, but it means any problems weren't nearly as severe as the headline mileage had suggested.

If folks responded to every message with "file a complaint ticket" rather than trying to get details and rule out problems then the site wouldn't be very useful now would it?

 

Fair enough but nowhere on the first page did anyone even suggest he should call the customer care line. Some people were saying 'it's OK, at least you're doing better than a normal car', and suggesting it might be his fault for the way he drove it. I was just pointing out that this laissez faire attitude won't suit him so well if he let's the time period for his warranty or his state's lemon laws, etc lapse before filing a ticket.
I definitely appreciate all of the info and replies... I love this board. I just wanted to make sure people knew that calling the customer care line and going to the dealer are musts if you have a problem of this scale, just for the fact that it will start a paperwork trail if nothing else.

By the way, I noticed a lot of people saying that A/C can take a toll on the mileage. Obviously it will affect mpg, but I don't see how it could come close to bringing someone 10 mpg below estimates as I live in Phoenix and it's over 100 degrees daily and I always have the A/C on (even at night) - yet I'm still getting over the estimated mpg.

 

I don't believe I've ever said I thought it was one thing giving him troubles. As for AC, I've spent enough time in both West Texas and along the Gulf Coast and Southeast to appreciate the difference humidity makes. I expect a far higher cooling load in humid conditions than in dry--condensing the water is a killer. Haven't lived in Phoenix or Orlando, but I would bet on Orlando as being the tougher cooling load in summer than Phoenix even with the ~10 F ave. temp. difference.

 

While that is better, it is still well below the EPA.
I would suggest taking it back to the dealer and getting it checked out. Or, see if they will give you a 3 day loan of another Prius and see if you get the same kind of mileage while they try to figure out what is going on with yours.

 

Thats David Maus Toyota. and the tire pressures really should be 2 psi more in front than the rear. I would recc 42 in front and 40 in the rear. It does make a difference.

At 5k miles you will begin to see it get better. I bet a lot of it is the way you drive. Even my wife gets 49 to 50 mpg only driving 15 minutes to work in slower city driving.

if you are keeping up with traffic then you are driving too hard. When the light goes green everybody passes me and Im fine with that. They race to every gas station in town! On I-4 they all want to do 70+ and I am quite happy at 50-55. Again they buy lots of gas and I do not!

 

Don't turn off the A/C. The traction battery system depends on cabin air for its cooling, and if it gets too hot it will throttle itself.

 

Beauty!

Truly, the fuel economy will improve with higher tire pressures. But what ever works for you is good.

 

I can fully understand the 35MPG as I have tested driving my 2008 package 6 touring around town on my normal short trips which range from 1-10 miles. I don't drive the prius to work anymore which is a very short 1 mile from my house. I bike or use my other car on days I need to run errands. Driving the Prius to and from work and doing any of the short errands would give me around 35MPG. As long as I just use the car for my longer highway (55 speed highway) trips I get around 48 in the summer. In the 8000 miles I've driven the car I've maybe had one 50+ tank. It's the short trips that kill you and if you can't get around them then you get to just live with it and find whatever tricks you can to help out.

I do agree that your highway milage figures sound awfully low.