Why Don't I Get The EPA Mileage?

[ssnab]

Hello ksstathead and Tideland Prius,

I thank the both of you for your replies.

As for trips in the different cars, just my wife and me, carried about the same amount of luggage. One trip to Wash. D.C (in the '05 Prius) and a trip to Williamsburg, Va. in the '06 Prius. The '05 trip in April/May, the '06 trip in Sept/Oct.. Use of A/C was probably equal.

Gas purchased on both trips would have been the same (Cheap). Tire air pressure the same on both trips. Tire pressure checked prior to any long trip.

Oil changed at reco'd intervals. In fact, changed oil on the road on both cars.

Trip conditions were more severe in the '05. One full day of strong headwind and averaged only 42.5 MPG for 400 miles. Also on another leg, high speeds (80-90 MPH) for approximately 250 miles yielded only 43.2 MPG. Seems everyone driving south from Atlanta, Ga. on I-85 thinks they are a nascar driver. At 90 MPH, I was just staying even. At 80 MPH, I was a danger to traffic for going too slow.

Trip conditions for the '06 were near perfect. No wind, rain, etc.

If not for those two legs of the D.C. trip, we would have averaged better than 50 MPG ('05 Prius).

Most (98%) of the highway miles on both trips were on the Interstate system, with cruse set at 70-71 MPH.

Mileage for both cars was near 20K, when the trips were taken.

The '06 is not a touring model. Has #3 package. Pretty much bare bones, same as '05.

Don't know what ebh is. Sorry

I think the thing that has me upset more than anything, is that Toyota has run two scans, and according to them nothing is wrong with the car.

But they can't explain the 40 MPG and they aren't planning on doing anything about it. It almost seems they have no way of doing anything about it even if they wanted to.

Pardon my rant, but frustranion is turning to anger and I don't like to be angry about anything.

I would like to trade for a new car soon, but I'm afraid of getting another '06 Prius.

Best

ssnab

[ksstathead]

Originally Posted by ssnab

Seems everyone driving south from Atlanta, Ga. on I-85 thinks they are a nascar driver. At 90 MPH, I was just staying even. At 80 MPH, I was a danger to traffic for going too slow.

Having driven a little in every part of the lower 48, I share your assessment (any direction from ATL is amateur NASCARville).

Originally Posted by ssnab

Don't know what ebh is. Sorry

Engine block heater for faster warm-up. You would know if either car had one, so no difference there. Not a factor on long trip anyway.

If you can hook up with a prius user group & find one of the mechanically inclined members, then maybe some hope for the situation. Since its not obvious, some knowledgeable person has to really study it.

No uneven wear on the brakes?

Perhaps someone else here has more ideas...

[tkil]

Originally Posted by ssnab

Also on another leg, high speeds (80-90 MPH) for approximately 250 miles yielded only 43.2 MPG.

That's actually really good milage for those speeds.

Remember that the old EPA estimates (up to 2007) were based on 1970s driving style complete with gradual acceleration and 55mph speed limits. The 2008 estimates are much more realistic -- and note that the Prius went from 60/51/55 to 48/45/46:

Compare Old and New MPG Estimates

My 2005 got 51mpg at 65mph on my old 25-mile commute in SoCal. I get between 48 and 54mpg in mixed city driving here in Albuquerque (big dependence on temperature, obviously). But just yesterday, I drove down from Denver at 80mph into a headwind ... and didn't break 40mpg. (Amazing to see the bars go back up when I had to slow down through urban areas!)

So I don't think there's anything wrong with your car. If you don't have the option of going slower, then you'll just have to live with the lower mpg.

[Tideland Prius]

Originally Posted by ssnab

Hello ksstathead and Tideland Prius,

I thank the both of you for your replies.

As for trips in the different cars, just my wife and me, carried about the same amount of luggage. One trip to Wash. D.C (in the '05 Prius) and a trip to Williamsburg, Va. in the '06 Prius. The '05 trip in April/May, the '06 trip in Sept/Oct.. Use of A/C was probably equal.

Gas purchased on both trips would have been the same (Cheap). Tire air pressure the same on both trips. Tire pressure checked prior to any long trip.

Oil changed at reco'd intervals. In fact, changed oil on the road on both cars.

Trip conditions were more severe in the '05. One full day of strong headwind and averaged only 42.5 MPG for 400 miles. Also on another leg, high speeds (80-90 MPH) for approximately 250 miles yielded only 43.2 MPG. Seems everyone driving south from Atlanta, Ga. on I-85 thinks they are a nascar driver. At 90 MPH, I was just staying even. At 80 MPH, I was a danger to traffic for going too slow.

Trip conditions for the '06 were near perfect. No wind, rain, etc.

If not for those two legs of the D.C. trip, we would have averaged better than 50 MPG ('05 Prius).

Most (98%) of the highway miles on both trips were on the Interstate system, with cruse set at 70-71 MPH.

Mileage for both cars was near 20K, when the trips were taken.

The '06 is not a touring model. Has #3 package. Pretty much bare bones, same as '05.

Don't know what ebh is. Sorry

I think the thing that has me upset more than anything, is that Toyota has run two scans, and according to them nothing is wrong with the car.

But they can't explain the 40 MPG and they aren't planning on doing anything about it. It almost seems they have no way of doing anything about it even if they wanted to.

Pardon my rant, but frustranion is turning to anger and I don't like to be angry about anything.

I would like to trade for a new car soon, but I'm afraid of getting another '06 Prius.

Best

ssnab

You said 48mpg on the 05 on that same trip yet you said 42-43mpg in this reply (which is closer to what you experienced in the 06 but in perfect conditions?).

Do you know what the Prius owner did? I mean the 05 seemed to be the car you bought new right?

Could be the tyre brand or the state they're in (how worn they are). The 06 models could've had some undocumented update we don't know about. (There have been several "I traded my old Prius for a new one and it isn't getting the same mileage"). I know it's frustrating cause you know your techniques work cause it worked on the old Prius, why isn't the new one doing the same.

[ssnab]

Hello Tideland Prius, ksstathead, and tkil,

Again, thanks to all,

I apologize for having confused some, hopefully this will help unconfuse.

Tideland Prius: "You said 48mpg on the 05 on that same trip yet you said 42-43mpg in this reply (which is closer to what you experienced in the 06 but in perfect conditions?).

Do you know what the Prius owner did? I mean the 05 seemed to be the car you bought new right? "

and tkil: "So I don't think there's anything wrong with your car. If you don't have the option of going slower, then you'll just have to live with the lower mpg. "

a). actually I purchased both of the cars new, from the same dealership.

b). In the '05 Prius we went to DC and averaged 48.5 MPG, inspite of two legs being 42 (wind) and 43 (high speed) MPG. All other fill-ups were 50 to 53 MPG.

c). In the '06 we went to Williamsburg and with near perfect driving conditions only averaged 42 MPG.

ksstathead: "No uneven wear on the brakes"

d). I ran a road test on the brakes for both cars, no difference. That was one of the first things I thought of as possible problems.

To change the subject, how do you put quotes into a reply. Mine are not as yours, but maybe you know what I'm trying to do.

Best to all

Shelby

[ksstathead]

Click 'quote' button at lower right corner of the message you want to quote. That invokes the reply editor with the message which you can edit down to the part you want.

Notice the brackets around the text you are quoting. You can type those tags manually, too.

[Tideland Prius]

click the notepad with + sign (next to quote) allows you to do multi-quotes.


Hmm.... well just like your dealer, we don't (or at least I don't) have an answer for you .

All I can say is just keep tracking the mileage and see if any changes occur.

[tkil]

Originally Posted by ssnab

b). In the '05 Prius we went to DC and averaged 48.5 MPG, inspite of two legs being 42 (wind) and 43 (high speed) MPG. All other fill-ups were 50 to 53 MPG.

c). In the '06 we went to Williamsburg and with near perfect driving conditions only averaged 42 MPG.

Hi there!

Without detailed records from both trips, I'm not sure we can offer much more advice beyond what you've already received. Reviewing the discussion, I have a few last points:

1. You said the '06 averaged 42mpg -- did you notice the distribution per fill?

2. The '05 MFD is known to be rather more "optimistic" than later models; not massively, but 2-3MPG is not unreasonable. (Over 45k miles, my '05 is 1.5mpg optimistic; see last line of this table.)

3. I don't know if I'd equate the two A/C regimes; I've found September to be more brutal than the spring, and Williamsburg is further south than DC.

4. When you say "perfect driving conditions", does that include the lovely 80-90mph segments again?

That last point is important; I don't feel you can use this as a fair comparison, given the different routes, weather conditions, and times of year.

If you can find a local, predictable section of road, do some tests, and show that the '06 is reliably below expected performance, then you might have a case. The current set of data -- as frustrating as it is -- doesn't really hold up.

Good luck.

[Genoz World]

HI people,

well, i'm clearly past my FIRST half-tank full. I have driven 175 miles, and the gauge indicates that it's half full.....(optimist here!)

My energy guage says that i'm constantly getting anywhere between 42-45 mpg.

Is this right? at half a tank, how many gallons are left??

I clearly bought this car for gas, and the temp here in sunny so-cal has been in the 70-80's. I'm NOT gunning the car, matter of fact, i'm driving it like a grandma! (that i'm NOT happy about)

cheers! thanks for the help again

[efusco]

Originally Posted by Genoz World

HI people,

well, i'm clearly past my FIRST half-tank full. I have driven 175 miles, and the gauge indicates that it's half full.....(optimist here!)

My energy guage says that i'm constantly getting anywhere between 42-45 mpg.

Is this right? at half a tank, how many gallons are left??

I clearly bought this car for gas, and the temp here in sunny so-cal has been in the 70-80's. I'm NOT gunning the car, matter of fact, i'm driving it like a grandma! (that i'm NOT happy about)

cheers! thanks for the help again

Did you read the article in the first post of this thread...if you had you'd know that driving like a grandma is not a good idea.
Also, you're very close to the EPA est. MPG...but at half way through your first tank the numbers are meaningless....which is also covered in the article.

Keep driving, come back at around 3000 miles, carefully track your mpg, follow some of the recommendations in the article and I think you'll be pleased with your mpg.