MPG on my new Prius' first tank of gas!

Hi! First - let me tell you that all of you were incredibly valuable over the last few weeks as we ordered our new Prius - reading your thoughts, suggestions, and advice to each other really helped us in our purchase. So thank you!

We got our Prius last Friday. After one week of driving, we are thrilled! It's a wonderful car. And today, we filled at the gas station for the first time with this car. Our MPG on this tank was 51.7!!!!! Yipeeeee!!! And that's under less-than-ideal conditions - it's still quite chilly here in Fargo, ND! (Daily highs in the 40s, lows in the 20s/30s.)

Another thrilled Prius owner...
Julie

 

Calculated!

 

You know, we were wondering about putting on a block heater...and then our Toyota dealer told us we could put in an auto start instead. After reading all the stuff on here, I decided against it - too many questions in my mind about how it might affect the car. In the end, we didn't order either...and then the car showed up with a block heater installed, so we got it "free". I guess someone else had specifically ordered this car, and then decided not to follow through on the purchase. To our benefit, I guess!

We haven't used the block heater at all yet, but likely will next winter when the temps drops below zero again...

Oh - the MFD - it showed somewhere along the lines of 42 mpg. It was a bit odd. When we first got the car, our first miles had an average mpg of 31. Over the course of this last week, it steadily climbed up to 42. We filled the tank before it was too close to empty - I think we still had about 1/3 of a tank left. I suspect the MFD would have aligned better with the actual if we'd driven it longer before filling - but we saw a good gas price, and decided to just fill. Now, 75 miles into the new tank, it's showing an average mpg of 55.4.

Julie