Help I'm new!

Why take any chances? Fill up now and after a couple of tanks you will get a better feeling for how many miles you can actually drive. Then you can decide what to trust.

 

One bar means it's time to get gas. One bar flashing means get gas NOW.

Keep it simple.

 

Do a search, this has been said many many times. 0 miles remaining is "usually" when the car beeps and drops to a single flashing bar, but not always. When you see 0 miles remaining, the car is telling you that you have ~1.5 gallons of fuel left. Knowing your MPGs for your current trip (hopefully) you can go a little ways before filling up. It does not mean get gas NOW as previously stated, but be aware that your fuel pump is cooled by fuel in the tank. You should never let that get below .5 gallons as it is at that point that the car loses its adequate cooling capabilities. Personally, I have gone 72 miles after the 0 before.

 

ztanos...you are wrong advising a "new" Prius owner/driver not to get gas now when there is a single pip flashing. They come here looking for the wisdom of our collected experience. The only reason not to fill up when the "car tells you to" is gaming/bragging rights some owners play to see who can make it to the 500, 600, 700 or 800 miles per tank competition.

Amacattack13...you do not want to run out of gas because someone on a car forums says you have approximately x.x miles left after the car says feed me.

..........my advise stands.

 

Actually I was giving her FACTS, not bragging rights... FACTS! But she can get gas whenever she wants. I never said she shouldn't get gas and if you go back and re-read you'll see that I only said she doesn't absolutely have to right at the second it turns 0 and starts flashing. I was actually giving her the information that is relevant to the car and not trying to scare her, just showing her where her comfort level could be based on her own experience. She can extrapolate the information however she pleases.

I never told her however many miles she absolutely has, just gave her a measuring point and told her that as long as she knows what her MPGs were at that point, she should know how far she CAN go, not SHOULD go. You seem to have an issue with comprehending phrasing.

PS:
Advice, not advise.

 

........my advice stands.

 

As does mine.

 

Typically, neither is truly correct, both have some built in safety margin. But that margin is variable from car to car, and even time to time.

Don't push it on the first tank, fill up now. See how much gas it takes, it should be a gallon or two or three less than the claimed tank capacity. Then use that difference as a guide for the future.

But remember that gauging varies, and fuel consumption is highly variable depending on conditions, so you'll never know with any accuracy how far the car can really go without running dry. So don't ever push it close in situations where you can't or don't want to walk to the nearest open gas station.

The very first car I owned for myself, ran dry on the first tank with the fuel needle still slightly above 'E'. While that is unusual in today's cars, a very few Prius owners (mostly Gen2s) have run dry surprisingly early.

 

This is great advice. The Gen 2s had the bladders which was mostly the reason for their inconsistency. The bladder could cause an empty tank situation even when the car was showing 1/4 left. Was very frustrating, I'm sure.