New owner? Want MPG help? Read this first.

Even without the 60PSI tire pressure (unbeliebable) how in the world do you get 56mpg at 70mph and AC running?

I just purchased an 04, have a 2.3 mile drive to work and will gladly accept mid 40's mpg for that daily trip as opposed to the mid 20's i got in my eclipse!

Hi
I have prius 2007 T4 its been really fine until last month i have always achieve 53mpg in and around London but suddenly it started running sluggish, i took it to Toyota and they recommended service which i did at the cost of 249 pound but this did not resolve problem engine was still rough and mpg dropped to 38mpg. Even i added fuel cleaner as well but no luck, now thats where the fun start one morning it refuses to start like no lights on dash i called AA all they did was checked battery and jump started car as per AA battery had 12.01 V and its fine but as per my research 12v battery must have minimum 12.8v to run prius at optimum. I replaced the battery just standard bosh s4 155 type cost 46 pound and waoo its like brand new car all sluggish gone and my 53mpg has came back and actually i see more time to time, so 12v battery plays very important role in mpg if your is 4 year old just dump it its a DIY job

HI all you lucky Prius owners: I clicked on the article only to find it's GONE

After hours & hours of checking out so. fl prius for sale 'deals', from "T" dealerships--I keep finding in the SMALL PRINT="AS IS."

Somebody have anything positive to offer PLEASE ?? THANKS...

link for the article can be found here:

Why Don't I Get The EPA Mileage? | PriusChat

Hi, i drive my prius hard with mainly city driving and I average (based on the screen) 43mpg. I am not complaining just stating on what I get. (btw I love this car and on my trip around the U.S. 17,345 miles later I averaged 48mpg) This is the best car for the money x100 =) cheap and reliable

We only had our 2006 Prius for about two months and it was our first Prius. It had close to 160,000 miles on it so we got it for a good price. I kept the tires inflated to 44psi, which was the maximum stated on the side of the tire. It never occurred to me to over-inflate them as some are recommending.

Anyway, on my regular city wide daily commute, about 25 miles, I was easily averaging a bit over 50 MPG, but I was also doing pulse and glide whenever I could and keeping my speed around 55 on the highway.

The poorest mileage I ever got was 39MPG when I had to take the entire family on a 450 mile round trip over Thanksgiving day. Extra people in the car and cruising at 65 made a significant difference.

About three weeks ago, another driver, not paying attention, failed to yield on their left turn in an oncoming lane, turned right in front of us and we t-boned them. Though I was barely doing 20 at the time, it STILL totaled the Prius. Fortunately, the other drivers insurance accepted full liability and the amount we received exceeded our payoff on the car by more than we expected.

Because our 2006 was what I believe would have been a V (blue tooth, leather seats, sound system, alarm, alloy wheels, nav, fog lamps & etc…) we wanted our replacement to be similar. Last Friday we purchase our replacement, a 2009 touring with all the same features but significantly less miles on it.

Before we purchased it, I took it to the local Toyota technician and had it thoroughly examined. Other than a handful of items that have been recalled that needed to be addressed, he found nothing wrong & gave it a clean bill of health. This guy is thorough, too.

What I don't understand, though, is the pretty dramatic difference in mileage we are getting with the 2009. The same trips with the exact same driving habits over the same terrain that would have resulted in the computer on our 2006 saying our mileage was over 50 MPG is giving us readings barely over 43 MPG on our 2009.

Unfortunately, because the 2009 spent a month or more sitting in a used car lot with only a couple of gallons of fuel in it, the screwy bladder tank shriveled to the point where I could barely force six gallons of gas in it. Since the tank is currently in a state of flux, I can't check my true mileage at the gas pump, so I'm only relying on the computer.

I've heard that the computers on these cars will adapt themselves to the driving styles of the owners, could that be part of my issue? On my 2006, when I would reset the computer on every fill-up, for the first 10 - 20 miles the average MPG would swing widely before settling down usually a little above 50. On this 2009, when I reset it, the averages do not swing much at all before settling in around 41MPG. Also, when coasting and driving in EV mode with the display saying I'm getting 99MPG or over, the average rises very slowly, but if I give it much gas at all, I can lose and entire MPG in a few seconds.

I haven't checked the tire pressure yet, but even when I drove the 2006 with low tire pressure, the difference in mileage was only a couple of MPG at most.

Would resetting the computer help? If so, is there a way to do this without disconnecting the battery (i.e., an easter egg)?

Aardman,
There can be so many reasons for this. Things to check are, tires (are they different than the 06?), pressure (of course), weather (rain, snow), wind conditions, tire diameter/size etc.

I really don't know what could be the main cause but it could also be a combination of things. Did you get the "touring" model on the 09?

As far as the tank is concerned, there is no way the bladder would shrink to 6 gallons. These guages are not very accurate. Try this with your next tank.

1) Fill it up
2) Reset the trip meter or MFD
3) Drive it for 400 miles (regardless of what the gas gauge says)
4) Disconnect the 12V negative lead for 30 seconds or more
5) Fill it up again and report the results to us.

This should allow for 40 mpgs over 10 gallons (easy to achieve) and should allow at least 1.5 gallons left in the tank (maybe less but maybe more). If you get 45 mpgs its not even 9 gallons burned.

Although I don't think its necessary, you might want to carry about 2-3 gallons of gas with you once the gauge gets down to 2 blips (just to be safe).

I guarantee you that you will be able to fit more than 6 gallons in the tank. If you're nervous about doing it the way I laid out, you can take a more cautious approach and drive it for 280 miles b4 filling it up (7 gals for 40 mpg's)
then go for 320, then 360 and so on. I am confident you will be able to hit 400 miles.

Well, I can't physically compare the tires to those on the 06 as that vehicle been taken by the insurance company for salvage, but the tires I have were given a thumbs up by the toyota tech, who said I wouldn't need to worry about replacements for some time. What the actual pressure is on them I don't know because the vehicle's out right now with the wife, I'll check that later.

Weather conditions are really not that much unlike what it was like towards the end of the sad, short time we had the 2006. We are driving more at night after dark than we did before, but the low mileage calculations happen in the daytime as well. We are running the climate the same as we used to. Really, for all intents & purposes our driving habits have not changed. The only thing that has changed is the year (& technically the model) of the Prius we're driving, and yes, it is the Touring model, but as far as all the obvious things are concerned, the only difference we can detect between this car and our 2006 is the color and the mileage. I'm unable to compare the wheels side-by-side, but our 2006 had every feature this 2009 has and I'm pretty sure it had the same size alloy wheels as well.

When I drove off the lot with the 2009 car, it had two bars remaining on the gas gauge. When it went to one, I decided to fill up. My jaw dropped when the pump shut off at 5.5 gallons and I had to really force it to take another 1/2 gallon in to get six gallons. I assumed the problem was with the gas gauge, but at that time I'd not really done much research so didn't know there was a bladder tank or the issues involved with it.

I'll try these suggestions. What have I got to lose? But I will carry some extra gas just in case. I hate to say it though, but if I'm not going to be able to push the mileage on this car back to comparable with what I was getting with our 2006, I'll be disappointed. I would have expected the mileage to be at the least close to what I was getting before, if not better.

The Touring model has 17" wheels and the stock 06 would have had 15" wheels. Those 2" will make a significant differences in mpgs (significant on a Prius). Additionally, what kind of tires are on it? Where are you located? If you have high performance all season radials (not low rolling resistance) tires, they tend to be sticky (higher resistance). I just about guarantee you that there is no more than 35 psi in the tires. Air 'em up to max sidewall psi and that will help.

The only way to know for sure is to make all the comparisons but, the most likely cause of your mpg drop is wheel size, tire differences (LRR vs non LRR) and psi. If you really want to achieve close to what you got in your 06, get some stock rims (15"), some LRR tires and air them up to max sidewall. If that doesn't fix it, nothing will.

As far as the bladder tank is concerned, there really aren't "issues" involved with it. Whoever told you it shrank is wrong. They will hold less in the winter but the difference isn't significant. In reality this is not an issue (I know it seems like it is now but, its not). If you do like I said, you will realize there is way more capacity than your currently seeing and things will iron themselves out over time. I don't have enough data to claim it as a fact but, I believe this is due to people filling the tank up too quickly and never letting it run down.

If you're at one bar and you've only traveled 240 miles or less, you shouldn't need to carry gas until the bar starts blinking. Keep driving as long as you can stand it (I know its hard) but not more than 400 miles.

After putting a measly 120 miles on from my initial fill-up, the guess-gauge says I have half a tank left.

It doesn't really make sense that only six gallons will go in my tank so a little more than three remain, regardless of what the instrument panel is telling me, so I plan on socking a spare gallon in the back, just to be safe, and driving until I reach 400 miles, or I run out, whichever comes first. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Frankly, I would think I could go more like 450 miles, but I'll hold off on that until later.

I did manage through really diligent pulse-glide & slow highway speeds to get it up to 45 mpg, but it took real effort. Before I leave today I'm going to check the tires (so glad I have an air compressor) and top them off. I'll see if that helps. I've heard of people deliberately over-inflating their tires, but the idea makes me a little nervous, plus, we get snow here sometimes and I've heard these aren't the best cars in the snow anyway, so overinflated tires is just asking for more problems.

Since the tires on the car look really new, I'll probably hold off replacing them as logic dictates it would take a long time for the improved mileage to offset the cost of a new set of rims and tires. However, when they get to the point where they'll need to be replaced, I'll plan on changing the rims at that time too.

Hang in there.

Link is down.

1/22/13

when i clicked on ..... " Why don't I get the EPA Mileage" by EFusco I got the message
"file not found" , so the link everyone is talking about is gone and did me no good whatsoever.

Yet another sour taste in my mouth.

I just bought(1/17/13) a 2008 prius with94,000 miles on it, from toyota of wallingford and I am getting 25mpg highway no matter how much I glide or speed up and
let the regenerative breaking charge the ni cads. Once your up to 6 bars on the battery pack extra regenerative charging does not really do anything at all.


so im getting 25 mpg on the highway and 38 to 39 city. I am not impressed and in fact
am highly dissapointed that I wasted $14,500.00 on a 2008 prius. I could have bought a 2013 smart
for two for the same price and be getting 40mpg without wierd driving that does not even work
with my prius, although i take it that it does on other people's prius, just not mine.

I made an appointment with toyota service & I hope that they can actually fix the car instead of bs-ing me about driving styles and average readings on that computer screen on the console.

I bought this 08 prius from a toyota of wallingford ct , as did the two previous owners & it was only serviced by toyota of wallingford.

So, I drive the prius home from dealership, get 25 mpg highway. in cT on jan 17 , temp
was 17 deg. prius was warmed up. I drove I 691 --30 miles home. Terraine was rolling hills interspaced some flat areas, so I has some level places and some hills, avaerage ct terrain.

jan 18 ,i drove it back from waterbury to wallingford ,30 miles , as i had to return the dealer plates and get my plates; but this time i did back roads all the way and averaged 36.9 mpg city. temp was 24
I was running heater with fan on lower setting 74 deg on computer, bright lites on , night time driving.

On the way home, i did both highway, I 691 and city and averaged 29.9 mpg My highway instantinious never went much over 25 mpg but city has gotten up to 39.9 mpg average
before I went up southington mountian , which dropped the average down to 29.9 mpg
even with gliding 4 miles down the back side of the mountian into waterbury.

I dont know what tires the dealership put on the car or the tire pressure, except that it felt
like 32-36 psi when i was checking the tire threads. tires look new.

I have a 1998 honda civic hatchback that gets 24 city and 36 highway. The prius can barely manage (and cant manage on short(2 mile) trips to the grocerty store) to get 1 or 2 mpg better than the civic.

I think there is something wrong with the internal combustion engine, but the service dept said if there was, i would be getting idiot lights and i am not.

I told them if they cant get the internal combustion to get 40 mpg on the highway, i give them the car back and ask for a refund so i can get a smart for two.
not happy with prius even though the body looks new, I bought it for gas milage that it dont give me.

I'll check the tire make size & pressure & edit post accoringly tomorrow.

Please let us know exactly what tyres are on the car:- size, make, type, numbers, speed rating letter eg s h t, and load rating eg 87 91, we will then be able to give a good indication of weather this a tyre problem or not.

John (Britprius)

Sounds like a bit of a disappointment on previous post... Hope you can sort the issues.
I bought my Prius a few weeks back as I had a gas guzzling old Jap import that would only do about 23mpg at best. since I have a reasonably hilly, but also fast commute, I had my heart set on a Prius. As i happens I got '06 - also Japanese import, with about 90k km (55k miles) on the clock.
Well, it's doing the business, as I got 850km from my first tank of 43l - the guage had been flashing for the last 30km or so. (My old car would struggle to get 480km on a 50l fill).This is about 52mpg, which for my commute is pretty good. Probably completely pay for itself in four years, at current gas prices. Don't think the price of gas is coming down much any time soon... Tires are not that hard - yet - 38psi all around, but might give it a bit more air to see how much that influences the miles. Bit nervous about compromising wet road performance though... we don't get snow here, only black ice occasionally in the winter - but it's summer at the moment.

Welcome to PC. Please let us know what tyres are on the car at the moment (as much detail as possible), a couple of pounds extra in the front is all you need as it is normal for the Prius to run with the front tyres 2PSI higher than the rears.

You sound to be doing quite well with fuel economy but the details of the tyres will give us the information about there rolling resistance a very important factor with the Prius.

John (Britprius)

I do pizza delivery and have given lots of thought to a prius. I Also drive to the gym few days a week which is about 15 miles takes about 15-20 minutes. Id love to know what you guys think who have had a prius for awhile. My wife wants a toyota sienna and a prius. So long trips with the kids we have lots of room but around town and for my job i have the prius. Right now i average about 20-24 in town.

If your deliveries are frequent (the car does not have chance to cool down between deliveries say 30 minutes) the Prius should double though's numbers to 40+ otherwise you will be looking at 30-35 depending on outside air temperatures.

John (Britprius)

i never get 30 minutes between deliveries. In fact most nights i dont have time to shut off the car i get back to the store go in grab a ne order and check out and back out to the car.
Thanks for the reply. I have been looking at a prius for some time and get some people who had one and hated it and others love them so its an interesting decision.

The other issue i find is i spend allot of time sitting at stop lights and we have a train track i have to cross quite allot and i spend some nights waiting on the train allot. So im thinking the prius would be good for that and doing the pulse and glide should all help over my current car a Nissan Altima.