Can I get high MPG with a Pre-owned Prius??

Yes, a typical Gen3 Liftback has that much fuel remaining. Whether or not you want to trust that your car is typical (gauging is variable, and someone has to draw the short straw) and that changing conditions or unexpected circumstances won't leave you stranded, is up to you. But first, read the base post of this thread: [WARNING] Running out of gas (Gen III). Bob had a bit more than 2 gallons available.

Here is another rule, paraphrased from JimboPalmer (very important with the bladder uncertainties of Gen2, but still of value in other cars):
* When driving alone, fill up at 1 pip. No one else needs to know that you ran out of gas.
* With your wife in the car, fill up at 2 pips. She will never let you forget that you ran out of gas.
* With your mother-in-law in the car, fill up at 3 pips. She will never forgive you for stranding her.

Very infrequently, in relatively benign conditions, I push a ways past DTE=0. But I'm also using additional fuel level information from ScanGauge. You will need to gauge your own level of risk.

 

if your dash shows 45mpg you can forget about 500 miles on that tank just fill up and try again !!!

 

I managed to run out of gas with my first prius (a prius Gen II) it was my 2nd tank !!!! and my wife was in the car, we were on Cross Island Parkway, and it was snowing (AND SHE was driving but I told her we have more than enough gas to get home boy I was wrong)

and she NEVER forget to mention this fact in any new company or whenever the prius comes up in a party or otherwise....

so as a new prius owner do not aim for the 500 miles club just yet

 

^^^ I am not alone.

 

I was so excited and I thought after 3 weeks I know all anyone can know read priuschat about how the gas gauge is lying etc ... so I decided to outsmart the computer ... well I was about 7 miles short ... and ended up on a flatbed ... we stopped at the first gas station I fueled up on the flatbad and started up .. I was still not believing that I ran out gas :-(

But then it started...

 

Here is a shorter user guide, by John1701a

John's Stuff - Toyota Prius User-Guide

 

IIRC there's a Blizzard Pearl Prius Club - subgroup here... it's a really popular color..

IMHO The best thing about blizzard pearl white is that it is easy to repaint and touch up ( no metallic particles/glitter in the paint makes blending in the new paint with the old paint more seamless).

 

Yes... but 2 gallons is easier for doing some quick arithmetic in your head.

It's not a good idea to drive past the distance to empty = 0 miles until after you learn how estimate your Prius fuel efficiency based on the road conditions you believe you will be driving in AND until you know how to optimize and achieve persistently good fuel efficiency. The Prius fuel efficiency can vary greatly depending on how it is driven and where and when it is driven. The range estimation formula I provided uses the (-10 mpg) to provide a buffer (a margin of error) in case the Prius' fuel efficiency drops while driving on the last two gallons of gas.

 

Just remember that when you have 2 gallons of gas left, watch what your current MPG is, not what you have done for the first 400 miles.It may be colder, windy, rainy, snow, hotter or using heavy air cond. any thing like that and you may be only getting 35 MPG at this time, thus 35-10= 25
25 x 2= 50 miles to go. Compensate! for current conditions!

 

You will notice that Blizzard pearl on a sunny day at an angle it will look really pearl and not so much white!

 

I ran out of gas on the 1st tank of 'my' first car, with the fuel gauge still slightly above 'E'. It was at a wedding, a friend stole the bride, and I had a car full of other guests to chase. My car wouldn't leave the church parking lot.

But at least this shut up my parents. They had repeatedly ribbed me about being concerned about running out close to 'E' ever since they switched cars on me just minutes before an important high school date. I had prepped their other car, including making sure it was fueled. (This wasn't an occasion where 'accidentally running out of gas' was part of the plan.) Dad promised me that it had plenty of gas, which I soon discovered was wrong, forcing a very inconvenient stop for a few gallons. I complained the next day. They just teased me, and mom rubbed it in by driving most of the coming week without refilling.

So, my parents' cars had many miles of fuel margin after 'E'. My own first car didn't, starving just before showing Empty, but every one since has had 100-ish miles beyond 'E'.

 

I bought my 2010 Prius III used with 21K miles on the odometer. So for I've managed to get 48 MPG average out of my first tank, 52 out of my second and 51 out of the third. Didn't take it over 500 miles though. Definitely possible to get good mileage.

 

As long the previous owner didn't seriously neglect something, and the only thing I can think of is oil changes, I don't think pre-owned makes a bit of difference to the car's mileage potential. And I wouldn't bother with the reset, it'll just mean you have to retrain auto-up/down windows, though that's about it. But it's not going to change the car's personality.

Just drive it, and per other responders, forget about the miles per tank grail, just concentrate on mpg.

 

I bought my 2010 used 3 months ago, and got my first 600 mile tank yesterday, 61.7 indicated mpg, 59 actual. Went 55 miles after the gas gauge started blinking, 35 with DTE=0. Filled up with 10.237 gallons.

The mpg x 10 is a good trick.

There is no need to unhook the battery and "reset" your computer. It erases long term fuel trims (and any stored fault codes) but that's it, and the LTFT's will adjust back up to where they need to be in very short order. It won't affect your mpg's at all. Your right foot controls that.

 

this "calculation" would only work ok if you were continuing to drive the same terrain (i.e. flat, hilly, etc) that gave you the average mileage because if you got your average driving around on flat ground and then tried to go some distance up a mountain your mileage would probably drop in half....keep a close eye on your current usage to figure out how far you have to go AND I don't know what people are talking about the bad effects of running out of gas because I've run out AND ran the electric down to where the car wouldn't move back when I didn't know better (and yes I did that twice) , waited for AAA, got 3 plus gallons, I think, then started the car and went happily and ignorantly on my way (by the by the first run of gas happened when it was 110F, fortunately we ran out right by a large tree....after the second time I stopped doing that and fill up now asap when the last pip has popped

 

Whats the point of running out of gas on purpose?

 

Welcome to the club!

Pretty much everything has been covered but a few suggestions:

• change the transaxle oil - I found an unexpected amount of left-over manufacturing stuff in the oil . . . I had it tested. In a perfect world, you would do the first change (bring a clean, dry water bottle and ask for at least one cup for testing.) You don't have to spend the $20 to have it tested but once you see it, you'll understand why. Now about 25% of dirty oil can not be removed in the first change. Go about 5,000 miles and then have a second change and the transmission oil will be clean enough and ready for years and years of service.
• low rolling resistance tires - there are lots of opinions and I don't have a dog in that fight. However, my local Toyota center uses Sumitomo T4, a low rolling resistance tire that I've been using on our two Prius since 2005 without a problem. They are not considered 'snow' tires but in North Alabama, we just roll-up the streets when it snows.
• running out of gas in a Prius - I've done it over 40 times in our 2003 Prius and 5 times in our 2010 Prius. I started this as part of my gasoline studies knowing the older, 2003 Prius would give me up to a mile on traction battery to find a safe place to park. The last time I ran out of gas in our 2010 Prius was July 21 shortly after this picture was taken:

Because I knew the risk, I was watching the energy flow display and drove another 0.25 miles to a safe place to add a spare gallon. As for the stunt, I had filled the tank holding the nozzle upside down and only had 10.9 gallons. I've got a write-up somewhere around here describing how I did this stunt.

As a rule of thumb, your mileage should run about:

• 30 MPG for the first 1-2 miles (depends on temperature and car maintenance)
• 50-60 MPG for the rest (depends on temperature, speed, and car maintenance)

If you are planning some long trips over reasonably flat terrain, your mileage should be pretty close to:

Colder weather, head-winds, rain-snow, and lower tire pressures will reduce the MPG.

Now a lot of folks have strong opinions about Prius driving style. I agree with John1701a, "Just drive it." But I have some thoughts:

• Avoid, early, high power (i.e., hill climb or heavy accelerations) in the first 1-2 miles - if because of your living situation it can not be avoided, experiment with letting the car warm-up in the driveway for 1-2 minutes while you buckle seat belts, adjust mirrors, wipe fogged up interior glass. When the temperature falls below 50F, I'll cut through the 25 mph neighborhood instead of heading straight to the 50 mph cross street.
• I like cruise control - I've always driven with cruise control because it makes my driving much less complicated. It also avoids 'fretting' the accelerator that I find makes me car sick. I like the precise speed control.
• Sometimes, rarely, I'll shift into "N" to coast to a light or stop sign but ONLY if I know it won't hold up traffic behind me or be a hazard. The transmission is completely computer controlled so even if you are at 60 mph and shift into "R", nothing bad will happen. It is almost impossible to break it.

Don't get too bent out of shape over your mileage or competitive about it versus others. Some people live in Prius-friendly places and others are not so lucky. Your only competition is against your last tank . . . but otherwise . . . enjoy the ride. You're going to get great mileage. <grins>

Bob Wilson