PRIUS GAS MILEAGE SUCKS

westex39 · 08-19-2007, 06:39 PM

Just filled up today. Gas mileage was 38.7 mpg. No where near the 60 mpg Toyota said I was suppose to get. I live in West Texas where it is flat. I drive like you would expect a 68 year old would drive. I don't poke around and I keep up with traffic. If I had known that the gas mileage was going to be this bad I would have kept my pick up.
My Prius has 1716 miles on it. Does anybody think the mileage will get any better with time and mileage?
I notice the new gas mileage figures for 2008 are 48 city and 45 highway. This is still more than I'm getting.
If I had it to do over I wouldn't buy a Prius.
What are some of the forum members getting for city gas mileage?

IsrAmeriPrius · 08-19-2007, 06:45 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(westex39 @ Aug 19 2007, 03:39 PM) [snapback]498829[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

If I had known that the gas mileage was going to be this bad I would have kept my pick up.[/b]

I am confident that if you drove your pick up truck in the same manner that you drive your Prius your mileage figures were in single digits.

westex39 · 08-19-2007, 06:48 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Aug 19 2007, 05:45 PM) [snapback]498830[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

I am confident that if you drove your pick up truck in the same manner that you drive your Prius your mileage figures were in single digits.

[/b]

The gas mileage for the 2007 Chevrolet 1/2 ton were about 16 miles per gallon. This was with a 4.8L engine with 3.23. gears in a 2 wheel drive.

F8L · 08-19-2007, 06:51 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(westex39 @ Aug 19 2007, 03:39 PM) [snapback]498829[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

Just filled up today. Gas mileage was 38.7 mpg. No where near the 60 mpg Toyota said I was suppose to get. I live in West Texas where it is flat. I drive like you would expect a 68 year old would drive. I don't poke around and I keep up with traffic. If I had known that the gas mileage was going to be this bad I would have kept my pick up.
My Prius has 1716 miles on it. Does anyboody think the mileage will get any better with time and mileage?
I notice the new gas mileage figures for 2008 are 48 city and 45 highway. This is still more than I'm getting.
If I had it to do over I wouldn't buy a Prius.
[/b]

It's your driving habit most likely.....

My car averages 46-47mpg under my normal driving style yet my buddy can borrow my car and drop the milage to 38-40mpg in no time at all. He also drives his truck and race cars very erratically so if he is driving my car like he does his cars then I can see why. So IMO you may need to rexamine your driving style and entertain the idea of changing it up a little bit. I've driven race cars on the street for 13yrs and I've been able to adapt and I feel much better for it.

You might want to do the math on the gas milage difference between your truck and the Prius and then calculate the actual money spent on gas. You will quickly find that higher mpg numbers can take a big hit but the actual money spent on gas doesn't flucuate nearly as much as it does with vehicles that attain poor mpg numbers like most trucks tend to do when driven the same way.

IE a 1mpg difference (15-16mpg) on a 2007 Dodge Ram truck is similar to a 7mpg difference (46-53mpg) on a 2007 Prius. Make sense? The numbers are not exact but I've done the calcs a bunch of times and the idea is sound.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(westex39 @ Aug 19 2007, 03:48 PM) [snapback]498832[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

The gas mileage for the 2007 Chevrolet 1/2 ton were about 16 miles per gallon. This was with a 4.8L engine with 3.23. gears in a 2 wheel drive.
[/b]

That is about what my 2002 Chevy 1/2ton 2wd std.cab got if I wasn't doing burnouts and drifting corners. So that statement is accurate IMO.

seasalsa · 08-19-2007, 06:57 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(westex39 @ Aug 19 2007, 03:39 PM) [snapback]498829[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

What are some of the forum members getting for city gas mileage?
[/b]

It depends on the length of the trips, temperature, tire pressure and load. With a 35 mile commute, temps in the 70's, Tires at 42 front 40 rear and not hauling a lot of junk, I average 48-52 with no problem.

Malarkey · 08-19-2007, 06:58 PM

I do mostly highway driving but occasionally I'll do 20ish miles straight of nearly all city and I keep an eye on it when doing this, to see how it does.

In all cases I'm able to get greater than 50MPG without doing anything special and while at least keeping up (or leading) traffic.

The one thing I don't do is frequent short tips. Those really kill your MPG - if you're doing less than 5 minute trips on a regular basis that might be the problem.

I have about 1300 miles on mine and my first tank was around 55MPG, second was about 51, this tank is about 52 so far - again, that's probably 80% highway.

cwerdna · 08-19-2007, 07:01 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(westex39 @ Aug 19 2007, 03:39 PM) [snapback]498829[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

Just filled up today. Gas mileage was 38.7 mpg. No where near the 60 mpg Toyota said I was suppose to get. I live in West Texas where it is flat. I drive like you would expect a 68 year old would drive. I don't poke around and I keep up with traffic. If I had known that the gas mileage was going to be this bad I would have kept my pick up.
My Prius has 1716 miles on it. Does anybody think the mileage will get any better with time and mileage?
I notice the new gas mileage figures for 2008 are 48 city and 45 highway. This is still more than I'm getting.
If I had it to do over I wouldn't buy a Prius.
What are some of the forum members getting for city gas mileage?
[/b]

Start here http://priuschat.com/New-owner-Want-MPG-he...rst-t15311.html and http://priuschat.com/index.php?autocom=art...rticle&id=3.

Toyota never said you were supposed to get 60 mpg city. They can only legally report the EPA mileage ratings. See http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml and http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml for details on the tests. For the 08 model year and beyond, they added additional tests, hence the new ratings for all vehicles.

As for "The gas mileage for the 2007 Chevrolet 1/2 ton were about 16 miles per gallon. This was with a 4.8L engine with 3.23. gears in a 2 wheel drive." are you stating EPA numbers or what you actually got under similar driving condtions and habits?

BTW, have you looked at http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/bu...s-206/index.htm? One more thing, I have no idea what truck you're talking about, but as a point of comparison, when Consumer Reports reviewed an 07 Silverado 1500 LT 4WD w/5.3L V8, and 4 speed auto, they got 10 city/20 highway, 14 overall (EPA ratings were 16/20) vs. 35 city/50 highway and 44 overall for the Prius.

FWIW, my lifetime mileage so far is ~45.8 mpg.

NYPrius1 · 08-19-2007, 07:01 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(westex39 @ Aug 19 2007, 06:39 PM) [snapback]498829[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

Just filled up today. Gas mileage was 38.7 mpg. No where near the 60 mpg Toyota said I was suppose to get. I live in West Texas where it is flat. I drive like you would expect a 68 year old would drive. I don't poke around and I keep up with traffic. If I had known that the gas mileage was going to be this bad I would have kept my pick up.
My Prius has 1716 miles on it. Does anybody think the mileage will get any better with time and mileage?
I notice the new gas mileage figures for 2008 are 48 city and 45 highway. This is still more than I'm getting.
If I had it to do over I wouldn't buy a Prius.
What are some of the forum members getting for city gas mileage?
[/b]

I have my car since last month....... I got 50 MPG From The Dealer to my house on the first day. :P
The trip was about 35 miles, 25 HWY 10 City.

Since than I have been in the mid 50's....

My best tank so far a bit over 56 MPG.

I don't know how you are driving to get in the mid 30's.

I still have not even tried the ideas here to get better MPG????

F8L · 08-19-2007, 07:01 PM

Ok, so your truck:

15,000 miles annually / 16mpg x $3.00 per gallon = $2812.50 annual gas bill

Your Prius:

15,000 miles annually /38mpg x $3.00 per gallon = $1184.21 annual gas bill

This is not even taking into consideration how much you save on maintanence for brakes, oil etc. The emissions should be important to you as well but not everyone cares beyond their own personal bubble so I cannot expect anyone to see that as a benefit to the Prius.

If you could somehow pull off the low EPA rating of 46mpg then you would spend $978.26 on your annual fuel bill.

Godiva · 08-19-2007, 07:08 PM

I'm thinking driving habits too.

My guess is the AC is being used liberally as well.

Try gliding to stops, easing on the starts and raising your tire pressure a bit. Take all of the extra stuff out of the car you're carrying around "just in case". It's all dead weight. Practice up on the pulse and glide and you could raise it even more.

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08-19-2007, 06:39 PM	#1
westex39 Member Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 60 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	Just filled up today. Gas mileage was 38.7 mpg. No where near the 60 mpg Toyota said I was suppose to get. I live in West Texas where it is flat. I drive like you would expect a 68 year old would drive. I don't poke around and I keep up with traffic. If I had known that the gas mileage was going to be this bad I would have kept my pick up. My Prius has 1716 miles on it. Does anybody think the mileage will get any better with time and mileage? I notice the new gas mileage figures for 2008 are 48 city and 45 highway. This is still more than I'm getting. If I had it to do over I wouldn't buy a Prius. What are some of the forum members getting for city gas mileage?

08-19-2007, 06:58 PM	#6
Malarkey Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Connecticut, USA Posts: 119 My Car: 2007 Prius Package: #6 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	I do mostly highway driving but occasionally I'll do 20ish miles straight of nearly all city and I keep an eye on it when doing this, to see how it does. In all cases I'm able to get greater than 50MPG without doing anything special and while at least keeping up (or leading) traffic. The one thing I don't do is frequent short tips. Those really kill your MPG - if you're doing less than 5 minute trips on a regular basis that might be the problem. I have about 1300 miles on mine and my first tank was around 55MPG, second was about 51, this tank is about 52 so far - again, that's probably 80% highway.

08-19-2007, 07:01 PM	#9
F8L Collecting Data on Nature Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Sacramento, CA. Posts: 3,989 My Car: 2005 Prius Package: #4 Nominated 1 Time in 1 Post TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 15	Ok, so your truck: 15,000 miles annually / 16mpg x $3.00 per gallon = $2812.50 annual gas bill Your Prius: 15,000 miles annually /38mpg x $3.00 per gallon = $1184.21 annual gas bill This is not even taking into consideration how much you save on maintanence for brakes, oil etc. The emissions should be important to you as well but not everyone cares beyond their own personal bubble so I cannot expect anyone to see that as a benefit to the Prius. If you could somehow pull off the low EPA rating of 46mpg then you would spend $978.26 on your annual fuel bill.

08-19-2007, 07:08 PM	#10
Godiva AmeriKan Citizen Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 10,022 My Car: 2005 Prius Package: #1 Nominated 3 Times in 2 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 6	I'm thinking driving habits too. My guess is the AC is being used liberally as well. Try gliding to stops, easing on the starts and raising your tire pressure a bit. Take all of the extra stuff out of the car you're carrying around "just in case". It's all dead weight. Practice up on the pulse and glide and you could raise it even more.