2001 - June Prius 16500 miles I have a 7 mile (no highways) drive to and from work in Orange county California. (No hills all flat) my average mileage is 38.046 (life time) with my last tank only getting 40.36 aver. it has been dropping over the last 5 or so tanks. I have never averaged higher then 41.3 per-single tank. I use premium gas. I have noticed that the car seems to be "holding back" at times, that is to say at speeds and conditions were it use to jump into hybrid mode (50MPG or higher on the display screen) it doesn't any more and stays in the high 30s. If it were a regular automatic car I would say that it is not shifting correctly. Does anyone have any advise on what might be wrong? Yearjoy

I have a 2002 with 5200 miles. here are my figures, all using regular 87 gasoline -- mpg at fillups: 38.0 37.8 33.8 33.5 42.4 45.7 33.9 37.4 29.0 39.4 49.9 39.6 33.1 32.5 33.2 Lifetime mpg=37.3 The highest 49.9 was a trip. No matter how hard I try, I cannot get 50 mpg out of the vehicle. I can creep out of a stop and get it to about 30 mph on battery only, but it drops the charge to 50% in a quarter mile, and the engine seems to want to recharge it soon afterward.

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This is all very nice of you to keep track of miles, usage, etc. I have 2ooo model with about 20000 miles and just drive it. I do not worry how many miles I get. I just drive it like any other car. I KNOW I am doing the best I can. I KNOW I get good milage ( 45 miles/gallon ? ) I KNOW I am helping the environment. I KNOW I have the right car for me. I did not buy my car to test it agains others. I like my car. It is small enough to fit in parking places, it is large enough to fit me in it in comfort. I do not analyze the car to death, I just drive it. It is a nice car and everybody I talk to is smiling when I let them drive it. I reset the display every time I get gas and so far I have an average ( in my memory, because I do not write it down ) of about 45 to 48 miles per gallon. Good enough for me. Like they say: " Just drive it ! " Hans

Well, 49.9 is close. However you need to keep squarely in mind that you are producing far lower tailpipe_emissions_ than a conventional vehicle, and ... THAT IS WHAT THE PRIUS IS *_DESIGNED_* TO DO. Repeat 50 times: Prius is a Low Emissions vehicle. Higher MPG, when it happens, is just a happy by-product. It is only loosely tied to the emissions issue. Relax. Enjoy the ride and pat yourself on the back for the Mother Earth friendlier choice you made in purchasing your Prius.

Our 02 Prius had 9,200 miles on it - we put our first 148 miles on it today and with cruise control on and 40psi in all four stock tires, we got 48.1 mpg.

What has to be kept squarely in mind is that Prius combines great gas mileage with great design and as an added benefit greatly reduces emissions: That is what will sell the hybrid technology, and eventually win out over gas guzzling SUV's and Pickups. I bought my 03 Prius a week ago because of the engineering/MPG/design and was very happy about the low emissions too. Any quick reading of the Prius owners websites will reveal an overiding concern with MPG, reliability, and a nicely made car; the emissions from what i've seen come in after those factors. That's not to say that low emissions are not important, it's just that it is not the primary reason to buy a Prius. sandssik@...

> What has to be kept squarely in mind is that Prius combines great > gas mileage with great design and as an added benefit greatly > reduces emissions Actually, the added benefit is great gas mileage. The primary goal of Prius is greatly reduced emissions. Just drive it around for awhile. You'll notice how it sacrifices gas for the sake of keeping the catalytic-converter hot. Without that heat, the chemical reaction needed to cleanse the emissions wouldn't be possible. SULEV capable, gotta love it. JOHN http://john1701a.com

Close, but no cigar .... More accurately: "Prius combines" _reduced_emissions_ "with great design and as an added benefit" gets "great gas mileage." A "quick reading of the Prius owners websites" and Prius-related Yahoo Groups does, admittedly, show that many folks chose the vehicle due to the perception that it is a high-MPG vehicle. A more careful reading of them elicits that "quick reading" by many of the owners missed the abundant information that the vehicle is low emissions oriented first and foremost, and gets good/reduced fuel consumptions as a happy side benefit (in most instances). A more careful reading also discovers that this misperception has been pointed out over and over and over... Whatever.... It is a very good vehicle, and the more of them (or vehicles like it) that are out on the road in place of "conventional" non-(S)ULEV gas-gulpers, the better we and the environment will be. Kudos to all who chose a Prius (or HCH or Insight), and best wishes to all for a Happy New Year.

Hi: Just looked at your message and it appears you may have a transmission problem or a problem with the software for the car's shifting mechanism. It doesn't sound right as far as the mileage is concerned. Take the car back to the dealer. Call the district manager and "complain, complain, complain" because your car is not getting the mileage it is supposed to obtain. I had a problem with my car and it was fixed "gratis". Of course, I was never told what the problem was exactly until they ran a diagnostic test on it. My car was "holding back" too...mostly in hot weather. Now, there's not a problem since they dropped a new electronic ignition card in the gizmo on the car engine. Hope this helps.

At 11:25 PM +0000

Reading eramirez91's posting causes me to recall that I have also had occasional problems with "holding back" probably also in hot weather because my current (winter) recollection is a little "fuzzy" Could someone (hopefully eramirez91) provide additional details or (at least) a reference to a thread on this "problem"