I just thought I'd share this to save others from my misery. I'm quite the expert with the Gen-1 and Gen-2 Prius, but I recently got a Leaf and my wife got a Gen-3 prius. I haven't driven the Gen-3 but just a handful of times. Well, my wife told me her Prius has been getting really bad fuel economy, in the 20's or 30's. So when we went out yesterday, I drove the car and thought I'd see how much I could get out of it since I drive much slower and calmer than her. So I reset the trip and after about 5 miles I'm reading 29 mpg. We came back home and had the same figure. I'm scratching my head because I figure anything that could mess with the fuel economy that much would have set an engine code. I checked all of the usual things and found nothing. After all, when somebody on this or another forum asks for help with fuel economy problems on a Prius I'm usually the one to help them out. And here I was stumped as could be. I was checking tire pressure, hooked up my scangauge to check for codes and battery levels, checked if any of the tires were not freely spinning or had some resistance to them, etc. After scratching my head for an entire day I took it to the store but this time I got out on the highway. Suddenly my fuel ecnomy jumped way up. After a few miles I realized my stupidity. I was looking at the "average mph" and not the "average mpg" readout. My wife had first pointed out the number on the dash with her finger so I never questioned that it was the correct readout. I don't really even recall my Gen-1 or Gen-2 even having a readout for average speed. Anyway. that was a relief. Turns out the car is getting 45 mpg, which isn't bad considering it is 104 degrees outside and the A/C is running full blast.
Gen 1s and 2s didn't provide the average speed. Funny story. I know the feeling, though, when you fixate on something and can't see the truth right in front of you.
Well. I'm not entirely sure what she has. We bought it used and there was nothing to really indicate which model it was. It didn't even come with a users manual. But it has pretty much every available option you could imagine on the car including sunroof, solar panel, navigation, bluetooth, cruise, etc.. How can I determine which model it is?
If it has the solar roof option it can only be a III or IV. Does it have leather seats? If so, it's a IV; cloth seats would mean a III.
