Sort of new Prius C owner

The battery isn't supposed to be fully charged. It leaves itself some overhead, sounds like it's operating at normal. It's possible to get it to "full" bars, but that's not normal operating conditions.

My car barks when I lock it. Have you checked the manual to see what it says? I have a 4 so all my horn options are on the touch display thing, do not know how you adjust it on the other models.

Since you don't feel your dealer did a proper PDI, you may check to see if they put the plugs in that are around the rocker panels. Now it's been a year since I checked where those plugs are, but hopefully someone can chime in and correct me. They cover some screw holes but would be a good thing to keep covered to keep stuff out.

And yeah, the rear wiper (teehee!) is useless.

 

The non smart key Prius c does not honk when locked. I sure wish it did though.

 

That is not a screw cover on the driver side of the dash. That is a solar sensor that is part of the HVAC system and there is only one of them on the top of the dash. As noted by others above, the battery SOC gauge typically does not read "full".

 

Yeah, there are several misunderstandings you have of the Prius c. It doesn't sound like there's anything wrong with your car. In fact, if you're averaging 48 mpg driving 70 mph on the freeway AND driving in the snow, your car is doing pretty damned good.

 

I don't have a Prius c, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express once! We've owned a couple of Prii since 2005 and bought our second one in February 2012. As my signature mentions, I would like to add a c for myself, since my wife drives our current Prius most of the time. I really like the c.

Detroit Winter weather will have a big effect on your mileage, and you will see an improvement as the cold weather eases off.

There are a few things you can do to improve a hybrid's Winter MPG figures and most of them are easy to do. Make sure that your tires are at recommended pressure. The colder it gets outside, the lower you tire pressure gets by 1 psi every 10 degrees worth of cooling. Might want to remember that tire pressure goes up by 1 psi as you go up the temperature scale every 10 degrees.

Heater use. It doesn't matter what type of car you have. If you turn on the heat right away, it will take the engine longer to come up to heat. Until your engine comes up to full operating temperature, it will burn gasoline less efficiently.

Let the car come up to temperature as you drive. Usually takes around 5 miles or a little more, depending on how cold it is outside. At that point, go ahead and turn the heat up to a comfortable level. I wear a coat and gloves in the colder months so I don't suffer while the car warms up.

If you blast the heat a max temp, max fan and run the defrosters, you will eat up a lot of energy. I'm not in any way suggesting not to use these features, just try not to max them out. If your car's passenger cabin gives a sauna a run for its money once it's warmed up, you will be using way more fuel than you really need to. I keep the heat between 65 and 69 degrees in the car during the Winter months depending on sunshine and how I'm dressed. Dress for the weather and you'll save significant fuel in the long run.

Take only the things you actually need to take with you in the car. I see plenty of people lugging heavy items that seem to just be stored in the car day to day for no apparent reason. Anything you take in the car, will cost you gasoline to move.


I understand that we are all in a terrible hurry every day to get to work or play or whatever. Leave 5 minutes earlier. Try this a couple of times. You can take your time and if traffic gets really bad, you'll have a built in cushion to still get there on time. Slow it down a little, 5 mph or so. That little factor will save you some fuel.

For the speeds you mentioned in you post that you drive in traffic, your Prius c is returning great MPGs. The c is way more efficient at moderate speeds, between 35 to 50 mph under most circumstances. When you move closer to work, you should do the 11 miles to work on back roads, taking it easy, and you'll end up getting 50 to 60 MPG regularly.

My commute is 12 miles one way on rural roads. When I get to drive our Prius hatchback, I average 56 MPG going to work and 53 MPG on the return trip in the Summer and it drops about 3-4 mpg in Winter traveling at speed limits that vary from 35 to 50 MPH. Drive slower when you get the chance to do it safely. That will bring that MPG indicator up in a hurry.

On a couple of the longer test drives I've had in a Prius c, I got into the upper 50s and lower 60s after pretty good cycles that included interstate and city stop and go. The c is capable of extremely good fuel mileage.

Don't worry about your battery indicator. I have hardly ever seen all the battery bars lit up to the top in the 8 years that we have driven Prius.

Talk to your dealership's service manager about doing a second PDI for you. Tell him how you feel about it, and he may agree to have it done for you. Can't hurt. You want to try to develop good relationship with your service department. Some dealers are a lot better than others on that end. So good luck with that.