oh boy. here we go again.

I just drove to Ontario, California from San Diego and back.

Most of the tank was spent on the freeway but there were a few miles either end that were city.

My mileage so far this tank?

55.2 mpg.

It's all in HOW you drive.

*I've* got no complaints.

This was written by the same guy who wrote the article about the prius crashing into a tow truck.

Anyone can find this guy's email address?

I think we should all email him (politely!) explaining our numbers and providing true information about "real life" driving of hybrids.

We should also show him discrepancies in non-hybrid EPA numbers.

Lets collect some good detail for him!

Winternet.com has no Prius information that I can find.

Randy's site goes back to March 31, 2003. If you read the paragraph at the end of his page, I think we'd all agree that Randy is /very/ unhappy with his Prius fuel consumtion.

RJF is averages 49.21, which is just under 90% of the EPA rating. That's hardly a bad thing.

I don't know a lot about consumeraffairs.com, but I've seen a few articles they've written. I don't necessarily think they're anti-Toyota (I assume they write all their articles the same), but they sure are into yellow journalism. "In the name of our protection", of course.

They could just say many owners don't get EPA numbers. We know that, regardless of the reason. This is actually true on most vehicles, just more noticable on the Prius because we get big numbers. Instead they act like they are tying to sell newspapers by 'embellishing' the problem significantly. "plunk down big bucks", "pricey acquisitions", "nagging indications", "have a little fiction mixed in with all of the facts". And that just the second paragraph!

Well, I saved a ton because I didn't buy the $45,000 SUV I was contemplating, that only got 18 MPG and used Premium fuel. I could be getting 10 MPG with the Prius, and I would have still made out like a bandit!

Hey, at least they are getting well paid by all the ads they serve up when we go look to see what they're saying. The more controversial their wording the more hits, right?

omg...this has just become the MOST irresponsible bit of journalism i have ever read

if you want to know how I feel about these people I'd get kicked off this board. I mean any as****e can do a web search and find out what the average Joe gets for mileage and if you can't be bothered to do that screw you. There isn't a car or pickup that can consistently year in year out beat the EPA/TC ratings which have NO bearing on reality. I work with a person who drives a Golf TDI when I asked her what kind of mileage it got she qouted the Transport Canada results. I laughed and she gave me a twisted look and said yup that's what I get. I challenged her to keep records for 3 months. 44.7 miles to the gallon Imperial. I thought they were supposed to get 55 mpg. Oh well another mileage claim busted. The Prius is no different. There are people who due to terrain location temps etc. can get almost the rated mileage. Year in year out? maybe. If you can't or won't learn how to drive a hybrid then you get what you deserve. Sorry but I suffer fools badly. If you don't like the car, sell it there's someone out there with the smarts to learn how to drive it.

well lets face it, the lady failed math and is not woman to admit it so the Toyota dealership gave in rather than call her a liar. people like that have other issues. i be willing to bet that she wasnt happy with any car that is if she really existed. as it is, its pretty obvious that she didnt even know how to get to the consumption screen

I just finished a long trip... nearly all highway miles, 430 miles (Add Fuel light is now on)... MFD says 52.7 MPG. Considering that's all highway miles, I'd say I did swimmingly...

It all depends on how you drive and what conditions you're in.

Since taking delivery in early June, our mpg, from our log, pump-to-pump fill-ups, has averaged 52.9 over 6700 effortless miles. End of story for us.

Another thing that got to bothering me was how much time they spent on the accuracy of the MPG estimate by the computer. It seems they were saying (based on a complaining sample of 1 person) that the accuracy was off by more than 10 miles per gallon. We had a poll here that said something like 95% were getting accuracy of 5 MPG or better, with something like 75% getting 3 MPG accuracy or better. Sorry, it is just not responsible to say the meter is dishonest based on a sample of 1 person.

http://priuschat.com/index.php?&act=ST&f=1...7&mode=show&st=

Another thing that I picked up reading that article...

The woman mentioned that her highway mileage was better than her in town mileage... That's entirely possible based on a number of factors... if she's got a short, 1 mile commute, then it's entirely possible to get in town mileage of ~30... the system simply doesn't have time to warm up.

Also, aggressive driving in town will hurt mileage more than aggressive driving at highway speeds.

She just needs to know how to drive her car... or figure out what about where she lives is so bad for the mileage.

Send that woman to ride with me. My three previous tanks (10.0 gal each) earned 60 mpg. Weather has turned cool and I'm now at 57.5 mpg. It is how you drive.

You can substitute oil for knowledge or you can become "one with Prius" and let the car teach you.

Consider the source:

These are ambulance chasers soliciting business. These are the guys who give the rest of us in the legal profession a bad name.

Not totally shocking in this day and age, but definitely something I will remember in the future about consumeraffairs.com...

Thanks, IsrAmeriPrius!

Hey, watch it! As one of my sister's colleagues once said, "If I don't get there before the ambulance, I'm not doing my job." <_<

(Sister is now in-house with a large charitable non-profit.)

P.S. The most dishonest thing about that lead is the "while most hybrid owners at least claim to be happy with their pricey acquisitions..." The wholly unsupported suggestion that many of us are lying is yellow journalism of a truly "Do you still beat your wife?" level.

Okay, I almost didn't read it. But I was once involved in "journalism," so my curiousity got the better of me.

Yep, this is hype. Completely unbalanced. Sure, it mentions some Prius owners are happy. Sure, it quotes a Toyota spokesperson. But the "article" reads more like an op-ed piece. Notice paragraph #3:

The use of "of course" is a classic journalistic blunder. It's a "wink-wink, nudge-nudge" phrase that suggests Toyota is doing something wrong, but that Consumer Affairs knows better and is exposing "the truth." And that's just one of many biased remarks I noticed throughout the thing. (Pricey acquisition? Give me a fracking break! And did they actually confirm Sandra's conversations with her dealership, or did they just take her word for it?)

One more point: Paragraph #2 mentions "Toyota's gas mileage claims." The article later refers to the EPA numbers. Yet no where does it state the information on the car's sticker, which on my Prius very clearly stated that actual numbers varied depending on conditions and driving habits. The sticker even gave the numbers 51-69 city and 43-59 hwy.

I knew when I bought my car that I wouldn't get the EPA numbers, simply because of what I do with the car. I guessed I'd get 40-45 MPG. I'm thrilled to report that I'm getting almost 50 so far!!! And I'm still learning the car.....

Maybe someone should send the 1,400-mile marathon article to these dimwits.

:angry: