Terrible mileage on brand new Prius

congrats and welcome!

none of those excuses are valid. the first thing you need to do is give us more information so we can try to help you.

since you haven't completed 3 tanks yet, please tell us how many miles you drove on the second tank, and how many gallons to refill.

next, let's go over some basics: please check and record your tyres pressure. the engine oil level.

the next will be a bit more difficult, but someone needs to test the health of your 12 volt starter battery.

it might be worthwhile to check the engine air filter and housing to make sure everything is connected properly.

lastly, if you go to the forum page, under the gen II prius fuel economy section, you'll see a survey at the bottom of the top section about poor fuel economy by member 'cwerdna' that you can fill out that will help us to diagnose. all the best!

 

The fact that you can get 42mpg on the 2nd tank means there's nothing wrong with the car. It's the way you drive it.

Most people would average no more than 45 mpg on this car if they just drove it normally. There's a driving method called "pulse and glide" that some use and that will bring their mpg average above 50mpg. Here's a video on it

 

I may be projecting, but it does not sound like you are driving it very far. How often do you drive it and how far is a normal trip?
Like any gas powered car, the Prius has to warm up. Five to 15 miles of early driving each trip will be at much lower MPG than the next 400 miles of the trip. I would not have recommended a Prius (except the PHEV) for a very short commute.

1) I would say YOU need to break in, but some of it is the tires breaking in as everyone gets a dip in MPG when they buy new tires.
2) There is 3% less energy in E10 gas than E0 gas. It takes dedicated measuring to notice 3%.
3) The Prius has a very efficient A/C compared to other cars. Also it is cooling your Hybrid battery, so do not skimp on A/C.
4) It won't.
5) if you are driving at a constant speed on a level road with no wind:
To get your MPG you must either be slowing down and speeding up a lot or going over 80 MPH a lot. (or driving with the engine 'cold')
Drive normally in traffic, weird hypermileing tricks can gain 10%, but as you say at the cost of annoying fellow drivers.
6) There are very few diagnostic messages that do not turn on the Check Engine Light.

I worry you have been sold the wrong car, as I am not getting the feeling you drive very far. (an electric or Plug In Hybrid would be better for those with short commutes, as they do not need to 'warm up' to reduce emissions.)

There are some tricks you can do with a short drive. 1) drive the longest leg first to get it warm and make all your stops on the way back. and 2) combine drives: shop on the way home from work, or go out to dinner on the way home from work. One longer drive is more fuel efficient than two short drives.

Best wishes and I hope we treat you better than the dealer!

(I may be in Bowling Green KY in the next two months escorting my wife to a USDA construction site, if you are not doing better, I could run to Owensboro in the morning to check out your Prius. Her meetings are usually 8 AM to Noon New poultry litter application method holds promise in corn | UK College of Agriculture News)

 

next time buy a used one, even my 10 year old beaters get 42 to 46 mpg with the ac on all day in the florida heat

 

Even if it is just being driven 3 miles a day it still getting better fuel economy than any other gas powered car would under the same conditions.

How full was the full tank from the dealer? Unless you tried to fill up at the gas station next door nobody knows. Even 1/10 of a gallon can reduce the tank's average by more than 0.5mpg.

Is the parking brake dragging? Does the car accelerate going downhill with the foot off the gas?

There are a lot of things that make a little difference, .5mpg here, 1mpg there but there probably isn't going to be 1 thing that will make an 8mpg difference.

Did you submit the customer satisfaction survey? Never be in a hurry to do so.

We'll do what we can to help you get the most you can out of the car.

 

I would ask for a 24 hour test drive of another Prius on their lot, reset the average mpg and drive it for a day. I've never had a new Prius but I do know that isn't normal. Best of luck

 

Our Canadian Touring has the 17" tires, which will reduce mpg a bit. Anyway, here's our first few tanks, then our latest tanks:



Lotta factors at play. Primarily, the learning curve. Also, avoiding short trips, abiding by speed limits, and just generally driving strategically. Set your dash display to show the Hybrid System Indicator, looks like this:



Once the car's warmed, when you can: lift off the gas, then reapply, being careful to keep the bar graph to the LEFT of center, in the yellow zone, and your engine WILL stay off. Watch the state of charge while doing this, and back off on this once it gets down to about half.

You can tell if the engine's running by sound, and by keeping an eye on this:



Keep an eye on your tire pressures, too. Bump them a few pounds higher than the pressures shown in the door jamb decal. No need to go overboard tho, just a few pounds extra is enough. Check the temp spare while you're at it: almost guaranteed the dealership missed it, should be 60 psi.

 

My studies show I burn 1/3d of my 10 mile commute in the first 1-1.5 miles, longer in cold weather. So I pay attention to the first mile and the rest is easy. In cold weather, my trick is driving through a 25 mph posted neighborhood instead of driving directly to a 50 mph cross-town street. So let's consider the first mile of your usual commutes.

I noticed there are some hilly areas around Owensboro. There is one particularly difficult route, living or working in a dell or low part and having to accelerate to higher speeds climbing a hill. In these cases, the slowest possible climb helps while the car warms up.

One way to mitigate living in a low spot is to start the car and let it warm-up about 45 seconds, long enough to let the fuel trim kick in. Modern cars like the Prius automatically adjust the mixture once the oxygen sensors warm up, ~45 seconds. Now if you live on a flat or up a hill, you can 'coast' downgrade during the warm-up and save a bit.

Also make sure you're not driving in "B" except when descending a tall hill, ~500 ft or so, one that overlooks a valley where you can see the tops of grain elevators and downtown buildings. Driving in "D" should always be used in ordinary driving.

Another driving tip I use in the fairly flat, Tennessee Valley is driving on cruise control. This keeps me from 'fretting' the accelerator which wastes a lot of gas for little gain. The "ECO" mode desensitizes the accelerator to help minimize 'fretting.' You'll still have full power but this helps to moderate fuel-wasting fretting. The "ECO" mode also tweaks the air conditioner cycles.

Now something I do in North Alabama is park so the car so it will be in the shade when it is time to drive. The shade means the air conditioner does not have to work so hard. Another southern trick is to install 'rain guards' over the windows. This means the windows can be cracked without fear of rain wetting the seats and doors.

Because of the fuel penalty in the first 1-1.5 miles, try to combine trips taking the longest segment first. Once warmed up, the car retains heat for well over an hour, saving fuel on the other segments. Just be aware EPA mileage in the Prius is temperature sensitive:

• >95F - the car can operate in modes that defeat hybrid operation that turns the engine off at every opportunity, look for shady parking
• <50F - the car warm-up gets extended and burns more fuel
• <30F - the cold air increases high-speed drag

Yes, I know, 'what a lot of crap to learn.' Until plug-in cars came along, we had a lot of time to learn how to tickle great mileage from the Prius. But as my driving stunt shows, there is a lot of potential:

Here I applied tricks including making sure each drive was at least 1 hour long on cruise control at 24-25 mph. It was boring.

Bob Wilson

 

Watch this, then watch it again.....

Also pump your tire up to at least 40front, 38rear..

Use ac on auto mode and set it to as high as you can stand so it's not running full blast all the time. Use ECO mode (that's all I ever use as it makes P&G easier and optimizes the ac)

Keep speeds on the highway between 55-65....55 is best for mpg. Pulse and glide as was shown above and in the video I posted.

Don't jack rabbit start and slam brakes before lights....ie. Anticipate lights and stops and use the regen to brake.


Don't feel too bad... My wife is only averaging something like 38mpg lifetime displayed mpg (so like 36mpg calculated in her 2014 v with 2500 miles on it!!) and I've had her watch the video and even pumped the tires up, she loves her ac full blast and doesn't P&G though and her commute is only like 9 miles which doesn't help at all.

I'm actually on par for my best tank in my persona this tank, might actually break 500 miles, although I will have to drive past 0 to do so.... I'm at 48.5 displayed at 400 miles driven on this tank thus far with 75 miles remaining per the mfd.... We shall see

 

Regardless of what the reality turns out to be I agree that you seem to be being treated badly by the dealership.
You don't really need a ride around where some tech parrots back every single possible excuse for poor mileage.

Even if they are right and it's some combination of break in, and lack of familiarity with the vehicle, they should be willing to listen, and not give you the run around. Did they even offer to check your tire pressure?

I would at this point however, possibly NOT panic. Roughly 2 tanks in 2 months? It's still early. I might make a weekend moderate road trip plan if possible. Fill it up (reset) and go on a relatively long drive. (Somewhere you like, you might as well enjoy it) and see how it does on a long drive.

And I hate to say it, but you might want to do exactly what the dealership is recommending. Drive it for another month.
However, if your mileage doesn't improve, I'd definitely take it back in. And document everything.

The Prius mileage can be affected by a lot of things. BUT I've gotten good mileage since I drove mine off the lot. I bought mine in May and weather conditions were just about optimal, but the first month I owned mine, I got 50+ mpg tanks. Overall ownership I see that number go up and down based on weather conditions and also what type of driving I'm doing...short trips...long trips...

If the weather is really hot, and I'm doing a lot of short trips, mileage lower than 45 mpg is possible. Right now a bit of a heat wave and I've been averaging about 41-44 mpg, and I don't think anything is wrong.

If I started getting tanks routinely below 40 mpg...in nearly any conditions...I'd think something was wrong.

So I'd say you're still in the Don't Panic, but document everything stage.

 

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but the Cruise Control is very good at producing good mpg. Easy to use too.

 

There are two distinct questions here.

1. Is the Prius normal ?
2. If normal, why is your MPG low

Start with 1 by performing a somewhat standardized test:

• Check that the tyres are inflated to 2 less than sidewall rated max in the rear, at sidewall max in front
• Verify that the hand brake is fully released

Then drive for a couple of miles to warm up the engine, then
Drive a 10 mile flat road on a non-windy day at 60 mph. Reset a trip meter to know the MPG for this 10 mile trip

• No brakes
• No AC
• Windows closed, Ventilation on

55 - 60 mpg is expected.

 

marjorieflower
s

 

I grew up about 15 miles from Owensboro and still visit family in that area regularly. Yes, there are hills around Owensboro (except near the river), and some of them are steep, but none are remotely near high enough to justify using "B".

My brother and family live in that area, and have three older Toyotas. As of the last I recall, he had a low opinion of the Owensboro dealer.

 

The easiest way to (relatively) miserable fuel economy is the combination of blasting A/C cooling and short trips.

The antidote:

• Combine trips
• Park in the shade
• Keep the windows cracked open so that the car does not turn into a greenhouse furnace

 

4) get a pip.

 

I just bought a Gen III 2 weeks ago, mainly commute from SF to SJ on 101, which is mostly flat. My calculated average on the first 2 tanks is ~52.5 MPG, display shows ~54.5 MPG. This is with no name gas. I am on a tank of Shell, and MPG seems to be a few MPG better, ~55 MPG calculated. I think the $/mile is about the same, as I pay >$0.20 for the Shell, car runs about the same.

I did rent a Gen III in Seattle last week, the roads are more hilly, and had to really try to get 50 MPG on the display, so the type of roads you drive plays a big part in the MPG, as does the speed. So 48 EPA MPG Hwy seems accurate overall.

The Prius is all about conservation of energy. I take advantage of running in EV mode as much as I can, but also run the ICE to keep the charge up, so I can sit in backups and get ~75MPG, which helps boost my overall MPG.

I find that there are a few "sweet spots" where I get excellent MPG for the speed. Under 35 MPH, my Prius likes the EV mode. 50~55 MPH is another (well know), but you need to mind traffic on the HWY as this is slow. 67 MPH also seems to give ~50 MPG and is a reasonable speed on the HWY.

Interesting note, the dealer had the tires (GY Assurance) set to 30 PSI, I tried 39/37, and the ride was harsh, so I am at 36/34.5 now. I actually still got over 50 MPG with the tires set to 30 PSI, and just a little more now at 36/34.5. So unless you run at the MAX PSI, this did not seem to be as big a factor as claimed, vs. learning the Hybrid system.

It seems if you drive a Prius like a normal car, then your MPG will suffer, and your better off driving a Fit. There is a fine line between being a "Prius driver" and a "normal driver" where you can get 50 MPG. It does require learning to drive a hybrid engine vs. regular ICE car.

My commute in today showed 64.5 MPG on the display, so ~62 MPG calculated over 45 miles. So with an average MPG of ~52, the "low" offset is ~42 MPG, which is close to your MPG. I get the low MPG when I take short drives, as the Prius MPG is terrible until the ICE warms up. And also, once warmed up, if you re-start your car, the start up sequence is a little like warming up and the MPG goes down. Today I left the car "on" while I got a coffee. I could not tell if I locked the car (I have the auto key), maybe not the best practice, but noticeably the car did not try to run the ICE, so this is a good trick.

All this is well documented. I traded my FJ for the Prius. I now fill up once a week vs. 3x, and the fill up is 10 gal vs. 15 gal each time for the FJ. I drive my Prius about the same as the FJ. I miss the FJ, but LOVE the MPG of the Prius. I hear the MPG also goes up once the car is fully broken in, so I can see how other drivers are getting 60 MPG.

I am sold on the hybrid concept, especially for longer commutes.

 

congrats and welcome!

 

Shell gas actually does give better mileage. It's not about the ethanol.

Everything else they told you is bs. But you shouldn't be getting such low mileage. Drive on the highway at a steady speed as others have suggested to test if all is working as it should. If you get 50+ mpg's, your car is fine. You may be getting low mileage if you're heavy on the gas, and heavy on the brakes. If you drive like that, any car will get low mileage. Also check your tire pressure.

How are you measuring mileage?

What was your previous car, and what was your mileage?