1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Gas taken from my Prius.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by keithnteri, Jan 20, 2008.

Page 1 of 2
  1. keithnteri

    keithnteri New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2007
    38
    0
    0
    Location:
    Oxnard, CA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Today I pulled the car out of the garage and it was sitting out for about an hour when the alarm went off. I went out immediately as I have never had the alarm go off on my Prius. I did not notice anything when I went to check the car so I reset the alarm and went back in.

    Two hours later I got in the car to go to a store and the tank is empty (last pip flashing). The car was full the night before and was in the garage all night.

    What's weird is that there is nothing missing in the car except the gas.

    Has anyone else had their car broken into just to steal the gas?^_^
     
    #1 keithnteri, Jan 20, 2008
  2. seasalsa

    seasalsa Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 29, 2004
    1,278
    20
    0
    Location:
    Kent, WA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Are you sure you didn't leave it on all night?

    You did not mention how much gas was in the car the night before.

    On a full tank it would not be down to the last pip even if it did run periodically all night to charge the 12v battery.

    I have never has fuel stolen from my Prius.
     
    #2 seasalsa, Jan 20, 2008
  3. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2004
    45,024
    16,242
    41
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Was the gas cap opened?
     
    #3 Tideland Prius, Jan 20, 2008
  4. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2004
    15,140
    611
    0
    Location:
    South Puget Sound, WA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Nissan LEAF
    Model:
    Persona
    even on a cold night with the heat running, you would only use a couple pips overnight... no where near a full tank.
     
    #4 DaveinOlyWA, Jan 20, 2008
  5. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2005
    10,339
    14
    0
    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Galaxee said you either can't or it is extremely difficult to siphon gas out of a Prius.
     
    #5 Godiva, Jan 20, 2008
  6. Sp33dy_gr33n

    Sp33dy_gr33n New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2008
    31
    0
    0
    Location:
    Midwest
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    I have never heard of people stealing gas in that manner. Very strange....
     
    #6 Sp33dy_gr33n, Jan 20, 2008
  7. Bear68

    Bear68 Member

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2007
    373
    72
    0
    Location:
    West Palm Beach, FLA
    Hmmmm..... Very interesting..... How to siphon a Prius???? The only easy way I know of is to pop the hood and separate the quick disconnect on the fuel line and then activate the fuel pump to pump the fuel right out through the line..... but that requires a scan tool capable of turning the pump on..... or jumping across the terminals for the circuit opening relay, which powers the fuel pump directly. :confused::confused::confused: I suppose it's possible.....
     
    #7 Bear68, Jan 20, 2008
  8. Kevin_in_SB

    Kevin_in_SB Junior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2007
    59
    2
    0
    Location:
    Santa Barbara
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    So did you leave it unlocked? Damn Oxnard is a rough place stealing gas from a Prius I guess they knew it would have gas.:D
     
    #8 Kevin_in_SB, Jan 20, 2008
  9. keithnteri

    keithnteri New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2007
    38
    0
    0
    Location:
    Oxnard, CA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Actually, the gas was not taken after all. What happened was even stranger. I got back into the car after the police came out. Started the car and the last pip was flashing and a low fuel on the screen. Then after putting the car into reverse the guess gage came back up to one pip less then full and checking the consumption screen showed zero miles.

    I have had the car for a year and never experienced anything like this. The only thing I can think now is some sort of weird issue with the computers. I wonder if some sort of static discharge could have caused this. The humidity was very low here today.

    The car is acting fine now.
     
    #9 keithnteri, Jan 21, 2008
  10. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2005
    10,339
    14
    0
    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    You mean you called the police about the siphoned gas? And they came out?
     
    #10 Godiva, Jan 21, 2008
  11. rigormortis

    rigormortis Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2007
    1,340
    26
    0
    Location:
    san jose, ca
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    my only guess at the top of my head is that you parked the car on an incline and that can throw off the float in most cars
     
    #11 rigormortis, Jan 21, 2008
  12. John in LB

    John in LB Life is good

    Joined:
    Aug 5, 2006
    399
    27
    0
    Location:
    Orange County
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    Before the topic moves towards aliens from outer space messing with your Prius (using a low humidity hydrostatic discharge beam...) , lets just be on the safe side of caution, and just blame it on the oil companies.

    First, they steal your money when you fill it up... then, they steal the gas back out of your car....

    :p:eek::rolleyes:
     
    #12 John in LB, Jan 21, 2008
  13. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

    Joined:
    Jul 12, 2007
    10,664
    567
    0
    Location:
    Adelaide South Australia
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    ... and when you call the coppers and it looks like they have met their match so they beamed it right back into the tank again.
    Bloody oil companies!!
     
    #13 patsparks, Jan 21, 2008
  14. Ichabod

    Ichabod Artist In Residence

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2006
    1,794
    19
    0
    Location:
    Newton, MA
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Well, I was curious, so a plotted all the reported alien-gasoline-abductions on google maps and found a very strong correlation:
     

    Attached Files:

    #14 Ichabod, Jan 21, 2008
  15. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    May 11, 2004
    14,816
    2,498
    66
    Location:
    Far-North Chicagoland
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    It's almost eerie. :D
     
    #15 TonyPSchaefer, Jan 21, 2008
  16. John in LB

    John in LB Life is good

    Joined:
    Aug 5, 2006
    399
    27
    0
    Location:
    Orange County
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    I KNEW IT!! They were in Albuquerque, NM....

    Surprising though... I thought Los Angeles would be infested with them.... but nay a sighting.... hmmmmm

    :D
     
    #16 John in LB, Jan 21, 2008
  17. diamondlarry

    diamondlarry EPA MPG #'s killer

    Joined:
    May 20, 2007
    559
    12
    0
    Location:
    Elkhart, IN
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    :DLOL:D
     
    #17 diamondlarry, Jan 21, 2008
  18. Bear68

    Bear68 Member

    Joined:
    Mar 9, 2007
    373
    72
    0
    Location:
    West Palm Beach, FLA
    WOW!! I can't get the cops to come to my neighborhood without firing off a bazooka or two.....
     
    #18 Bear68, Jan 21, 2008
  19. alanh

    alanh Active Member

    Joined:
    May 22, 2007
    1,175
    99
    0
    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Hey, on some vehicles that large of a theft is a felony. :eek:
     
    #19 alanh, Jan 21, 2008
  20. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2004
    14,487
    1,518
    0
    Location:
    Spokane, WA
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    I'm surprised I'm the first one to ask this question: How far had you driven between filling the tank and parking the car in the garage? The gauge takes a couple of minutes to register full after you fill the tank. If you drove only a block between filling and parking, maybe (???) the gauge didn't have time to register full yet. Just a thought.
     
    #20 daniel, Jan 22, 2008
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)
Page 1 of 2