Wow, you have to be kidding me!

Hi ElleMarie. Without guaranteeing it, I promise you'll see improvements . As stated in the other thread, be patient as u inflated to higher psi, mileage improved & so it will after u get the car back w/ the alignment done. It will keep happening in increments as u fix the problems(that's keeping your mileage down). Did you ask the dealer if they would replace to an oem spec. LRR tire? Doesn't hurt as all they can say is no. And as for the comment of your salesman(women) saying 38-42 is normal. Don't worry, they will say most anything especially after the sales final.

 

^^^
If they're willing to replace the tires, one can look at Tire Information for the Prius: LRR and Tire Tests | PriusChat for good choices.

 

MPG varies enormously with conditions, and this is certainly within the range that some customers will reasonably experience even with the car in perfect running shape. As I learned on a previous car, the dealership doesn't have the time or expertise to identify customer situations that will inherently produce low MPG, or customer driving style issues, or teach them how to do better. So they just call it 'normal', which will be true at least part of the time.

I had to learn elsewhere how to get good mpg from that car, despite long having excellent results from the previous car. Thanks to CleanMPG.com, it now does great, though still far short of the Prius.

Have you checked the 12V battery yet? There is a chance it was wounded before you bought the car. Again, don't trust regular shop tests. We have found far too many pass the common test for non-hybrids, especially right after the car has been run, yet still be bad enough to hurt MPG or cause other weird problems. Voltage needs to be checked after sitting overnight, and before it goes 'Ready'. It can be measured with a common digital voltmeter at the battery under the trunk, or at the jump point under the hood, or at the 12V accessory outlet on the console while the car is in Accessory mode (but not Ready).

As others have mentioned, the new tires on your car mean it cannot match the loaner car. But they cannot account for the full difference you are seeing, so keep working on it.

 

Oh my god, if I were you I would feel frustated as well. You are experiencing a really bad mileage man, I've never heard of a so few fuel economy from anyone. Just consider that if you take very short commutes your mileage can get worse, but I don't think it's your case. I usually perform some common hypermiling techniques, getting something like 70-75 mpg in urban driving. I get something like 55-60 mpg in highway driving. I would suggest you to reset trip B after a 10 mins driving, switch off AC and have a urban driving. Let me know how your FE will be, ok? Looking forward to hear good news. Greets from Venice, Italy

 

The main difference I see between people getting 43mpg and those getting 53 mpg is simple.

Those getting 43mpg are not watching the HSI display, they are driving with traffic and maintain steady pressure on the accelerator pedal which keeps the ICE running all the time. Thus, 43 mpg is accurate for a 1.8L engine in a car of this weight.

Those getting 53mpg are watching the HSI display, and remembering to let off the accelerator every chance possible and depressing it again slowly with just enough throttle to maintain speed. The ICE will have plenty of chances to shut itself off, and save fuel.

The claims that "these cars are made to get 50 mpg without any special driving techniques" are a bit off. The driver must pay attention to the information displays and or be listening for the engine to turn off while driving to maximize economy without hypermiling.

Hypermilers do not see 43mpg tanks, as they are consciously driving to save the most fuel possible, realizing that the car isn't going to do all the work for you.

 

tires and 12v, worth a look.

 

I disagree, Bret. Many people get 50+ just driving the car without ever thinking about being in a hybrid. A co-worker just rented a GenII Prius for a road trip with her family and she got 47mpg over 1,600 miles or so. Personally I think those who get less than 45mpg are like you mentioned above but also those with short trips or they speed around aggressively. There is no need to glide or watch the HSI to get upper 40s or higher.

 

I agree with you that it really comes down to peoples heavy foot, it's hard to break old habits. I'm going to have to tell my buddy with the GII that someone who rented one got 47 avg because he is constantly in the low 40's on flat 50mph roads. He must really be goosing it to get such low numbers, but he also does have 130,000 miles so I'm not sure at what point his HV battery is at in terms of effective / useful life.

 

Send him to this forum. lol

I sold my GenII with 158,000 and I could still get 55-57mpg tanks with a little effort. I Could get 50mpg without really trying. If I ran around like an nice person and had the A/C on it was more like 45mpg or so. Even at 80-85mph I could pull off 42mpg on the 300+ mile trip to LA.

We can help your friend!

 

I have to hypermile to get 50+

When I had my 2011, the best I got with normal driving not hypermiling was 47.7 mpg with an average of 46.9 which was my first few tanks.
That was the summer though and you have to use AC. Maybe in perfect conditions with no AC and high tire pressure I might be able to hit 50.

 

(a) check the oil level make sure it is under the top line.
(b) over inflate the tires (check the max psi on the tire first, but get them up to at least 40 psi)
(c) check the 12V battery.. and old one can make the first 5 mins of driving always get 25mpg
(d) ask the dealer to run the HV battery balancing. (if they will do it for free) It force charges the battery up past 80% SOC (i believe closer to 100%) and then you run it down to 70% SOC again. I believe you will get better mpg if you get the battery using a larger SOC swing when driving. If you drove for a year with a heavy foot on the pedal, the ICE was on most of the time and the SOC never varied more than 1% and as such has a slight memory effect.

Just a simple act of driving around at 25 mph and keeping it in EV only until you get the lowest bars you can, then fully charging the HV battery again will mean you can get more EV driving without the ICE kicking in.

 

I really, really, really, really wish my Subaru had that. It would help hypermiling substantially, and be less painful on the outings where it is still a better fit than this Prius.

And what is the downside of that gearing, for those who hate downshifting? Nothing worse than picking a lower gear than runs that same wasteful 3000 RPM that it must run now with short gearing.

 

Yep. And none of the Cruzes or Cruze Ecos w/an automatic even achieves a 40 mpg EPA highway rating (Compare Side-by-Side). One could go w/a manual, but then again, there are many reports of cruzetalk.com of people w/what seems like prematurely worn/fast wearing clutches, including from people who claim they've driven stick for ages. Going thru clutches helps negate any cost savings.

And from http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/07/ford-focus-sfe-chevrolet-cruze-eco-and-honda-civic-hf-review/index.htm?loginMethod=auto, as I posted in post #10, the Cruze Eco automatic got only 27 mpg overall in CR's tests. A Corolla scored 32 mpg overall.

That automatic Cruze Eco (27 mpg overall in CR tests, 31 mpg combined on EPA tests) has an MSRP of $21,215...

 

Switch cars with your friends for a few weeks.

 

i know this sounds a bit strange but we get these low mileage posts all the time and EVERYONE mentions the normal stuff, so i will skip all that, soooo....

what kind of oil are you using right now?
who put it in?
is it filled to the correct level?

if you dont know the answer to those questions; have the dealer change it for you. the wrong answers will take another 2-3 mpg

 

The EPA states that 50 mpg average in the 2010-2012 Prius. Why would you
expect less, with conservative driving.

When we purchased our 2010 Prius in May 2009 if I was only getting in the 30's
for MPG I would camp out in front of the dealership until they repaired or
replaced my Prius. As it was from day one we averaged in the 50 mpg range
so that was not an issue.

 

Any type of driving in the dead of winter will signficantly impact MPG, with any type of vehicle.

Note that the EPA does not actually state 50 MPG either. They provide a range, which dips well below that big number. Read the detail on the window-sticker...

 

wow! can you give us the before and after specs on the alignment? i've never seen a noticeable difference in mpg's by adjusting tire pressure, but perhaps with your tire brand it was more than usual.