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Hybrid Gas Mileage Good? Bad? As Expected?
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Comments
Since I only got around 60 (so disappointed) going that same stretch in the opposite direction, I'll assume that it was due to altitude (slight decline the whole way) differences.
However, given that my old Pathfinder got around 20 MPG on that same stretch, I'll pocket the difference!!
City gas mileage has been disappointing. But since we drive around 800 miles a week, we're more than making up the difference in $$.
Best purchase we EVER made!!!!!!!!!!!!
Around town, it's about 42 MPG.
I use A/C and don't notice any change in mileage (OK, maybe down to 49.8 MPG).
When I do stop & go, low-speed driving, I get about 55 MPG. The "B" shifter doesn't create any mileage benefit, it just slows you down quicker. Sometimes I baby the throttle (lots of good info on the motor/engine display screen) to get electric-only at almost any speed, and often push the throttle right to the floor for passing. This is really a lot of fun -- a massive boost comes from the torque on the motor, not from the horsepower in the engine. It's instantaneous. I take advantage of upcoming slowdowns and red lights by refusing to tailgate (I seem to be a bit of a loner here in Detroit) that lets me get some free power instead of wearing out brake shoes and trashing gas.
I got 90,000 miles out of the front shoes on my '96 Geo Prizm (Toyota Corolla lookalike), and 70,000 out of the tires (30 MPG in winter, 33-35 MPG in summer). Easy starts, gradual stops, drive gently. Don't get me wrong -- some people can't do this. My better half seems to be completely incapable of even understanding how to drive as gently as I do, or believing that roaring out of the driveway (cold engine) and stomping on the brakes at the last minute is not a good plan. I refer to this as, "driving like a teenager." For her, new brakes, tires and engine repairs are commonplace. What a shock.
Bottom line: If you need a sports car to make your life seem complete, then get one. If you want to get outrageous mileage (and produce one-tenth of the greenhouse gases of a regular car) and you're willing to drive safely and efficiently, get a Prius. If you get a Prius and drive it like a teenager, you will get less mileage than I do. But, if you check around, you'll find that nearly everyone is getting right around 50 MPG.
By the way, the only thing I don't like is the fuel filler. To lower emissions even more, Toyota put a balloon bladder in the fuel tank. There's no air sitting on top of the fuel, so no vapor leaks out. When you gas up, the expanding bladder fools you into thinking the tank is full, but it's not. Wait a moment, and it accepts more gas. Do that a few more times, and you get about a pint of gas spit back out at you as the bladder rocks around. Fill it up? No problem. Fill it right to the tippy-top with that last nickel's worth (which we're not supposed to do anyway) and you'll only do that once. Winter temperatures make it even less flexible. So, a single tank can't accurately be topped off to give exact mileage numbers. Better to average over a number of tanks. John1701a keeps ridiculously accurate records for many 10,000's of miles, and he's found that the mileage meter on the display is accurate within 1 or 2 MPG -- that's good enough for me. And, considering that the emissions are
absurdlyridiculouslyunbelievably low, I'll quit bellyaching about the bladder and just put in gas and drive. All in all, I'm just pleased as punch with the engineering decisions Toyota made. When I'm done with this one, I'll want another just like it.I had 2 tanks which averaged about 40 and 43 MPG on a long highway trip at "keeping up with traffic" speeds and with the A/C on full blast. Those have brought my overall average down some, as I've averaged 53.4 MPG without those tanks.
Gas consumption is still about 50 MPG at 70 MPH, but drops off pretty sharply above that speed.
I'm definitely pleased with the Prius so far!
"Electric Motor
The 13-horsepower, 144-volt ultra thin DC brushless electric motor's function is to boost the output of the ultra efficient gasoline engine in order to provide powerful acceleration. The electric motor does not provide primary motivation, and in fact, the Civic Hybrid will continue to operate with reasonably good performance on the gasoline engine alone."
66.34 calculated MPG.
Dash said 62.4.
2004 HCH CVT
If she traded in a 2004 Toyota or Honda van-and she owned it outright-she could be saying just what she means.If not,then her husband is incorrect.Charlie PS some states have tax breaks also-change thing a few hundred dollars.
If that is the case, they could have traded the minivan in on a rather nice Corolla in which case the Corolla would 'pay for itself' the second it was driven off the lot..... :P
First of all, my post was meant entirely tongue-in-cheek.
Second, I know a Corolla doesn't have the content of a Prius. But to get a Corolla up to the $19k level, one would have load the car up car with leather and a sunroof, factory features not found on a Prius; so I supposes one could say a Prius doesn't have the content of a Corolla. At the same time a Prius doesn't have the content (literally) of a minivan. My point was that if someone were to trade-in a minivan because they no longer need the people/cargo carrying capacity and were just looking at economics (gas savings), perhaps just perhaps the purchase of a Corolla or similar small car would have made more economic sense.
However, I could not find another small car that could easily seat four real adults, carry their luggage, had stability control, traction control, curtain and side airbags, anti-loack brakes, automatic A/C, xenon headlights, and a nav system without spending a lot more money. The fact that the car gives outstanding mpg with reasonable freeway perfomance is a bonus.
Other way around - some driving a Chevy truck shouldn't consider a Mercedes sedan to save money...but that was probably obvious to everyone else.
I love my Prius
The vehicle it replaced did 16-17MPG.
My hybrid cost about $18,500 and is pushing upward of almost 70MPG.
I plan to keep it 10 years which will bring about 350K miles driven.
In my case, this was a very wise purchase.
I agree, with 35K miles driven per year, a hybrid is probably a very wise choice as a commuter car.
Your view is that if you want high mileage you were better off with an earlier Toyota or Honda cars, than the current built hybrid versions. Many people have used their cars for 350k miles. If the hybrids are not good for the long haul they are a failure for the consumer. Only the manufacturers win.
Yes I do hope and expect it to go that far. Probably a belt along the way as others have mentioned. 350K miles is not unobtainable, especially the way I drive
Your MPG so far indicates you are not a hard charger. I would think the car should last you 10 years and 350k miles. With as many miles as you drive you will save thousands if nothing unforeseen happens.
Now, 350K and relatively trouble-free? That's a rare bird.
You obviously only read what you want to see on the forum. Many people expect 350k miles and more from their vehicles. Especially diesel powered cars & trucks. They are the true "green" conservationists.
I went to a for sale site that trades cars.
I'd probably be violating Edmunds rules posting a link but these kinds of searches are not hard to do.
I did a search for used Hondas, any type and any distance. I scrolled to the bottom of the page and clicked Mileage, it listed highest mileage cars first.
Highest Honda mileage is a Civic LX with +300K miles,
Most of the 1st page are cars above 200K,
17 Pages of Honda cars over 100K miles.
How about Toyota longevity?
1 car well over 400K miles.
Most of the 1st page are cars above 200K,
18 Pages of Toyotas over 100K miles
How about the fabled long lasting VW?
One car over 300K miles,
Zero cars between 300-200,
2-1/2 Pages of cars over 100K.
A search on used Dodge's showed:
1 Car over 550K miles.
A few cars over 300K.
Most of the first page over 200K
19+ Pages of cars over 100K.
These are drive able cars that people hope to sell.
Yes, hoping for 350K miles is reasonable.
Personally, I like to see how long some of my things can last.....hair brush/since 5th grade(51yrs) ...motorcycle gloves(27 yrs)
Of course its hard not to wish "we'd" kept some of our favorite cars...Think of the $$$$ they'd be worth today.
My '55 Chevy
My '63 SS Impala
My '73 Dodge Charger
My '76 Monte Carlo
Memories......
Railroadjames (want world peace...try using your turn signal)
I am concened that we will be doing battery replacements every five years or so to the tune of about $2500 a pop (I overheard the Honda dealer quoting an insight owner the price of a battery pack replacement), which would make my hybrid about a break-even deal over my previous 35mpg highway car.
That wouldn't be enough for me to not buy a hybrid however as I prefer to pay up front instead of paying at the pump.
Also I believe gas prices will continue to trend upwards for many years and thus owning a hybrid is a nice hedge bet against it. Higher gas prices translate to more savings for us hybrid owners.
Also, to remain on topic for this discussion, I am getting about 43 mpg overall, but have learned some of the "secrets" of driving for high mileage and have gotten 55 mpg on my commute if I drive carefully. I haven't yet decided if I am going to drive that way all the time as it requires patience but it is nice to know it is possible.
My original goal when I bought the car was to achieve 50+ mpg on the highway and that is already happening so I am happy.
In post #322 you wrote "I went to a for sale site that trades cars...
I did a search for used (fill in the brand name), any type and any distance. I scrolled to the bottom of the page and clicked Mileage, it listed highest mileage cars first."
Of the four brands that you researched, only about a half dozen vehicles had gone over 300,000 miles. Of course, we have no idea what kind of condition they were in (probably not in such condition that anyone here would put their money on the table to purchase one). That was after your reviewing about 120 pages on the website.
There is a strong message here. It is only the tiniest minority of diehards who accumulate such mileage. The VAST majority of drivers would never consider that option.
"There is a strong message here. It is only the tiniest minority of diehards who accumulate such mileage. The VAST majority of drivers would never consider that option."
.....Sorry blane but somehow you missed the first sentence of my post:
"Most people don't go 350K miles or 10 years...they trade up or sell before then."
The message I was pointing out is yes, automobiles can and do exceed 300K miles. Not if All or MOST will, but if I personally have a good shot at it.
I'd say the answer is yes, and I'll be driving for 7 years without car payments.
new to the discussions. Wow people seem to be very defensive about their hybrids, and Insights. I think they are all great. As a new owner looking at both it wasn't much of a decision. Prius seemed like better car overall. Also the room in the prius was a necessity for me. I sold a Land Rover and bought a prius and the gas savings alone pay for my car payment.
Also I had a friend that owned an Insight for 4 months. When the battery went dead Honda wouldn't replace it even though it was under warranty. Hondas reason was this . Because Insight is not dependant on the electric engine, it can still drive without the batteries and therefor they will not pay for the replacement. This is merely a cost savings tactic by Honda and it costs less for them to refuse and deal with some lawsuits rather than pay for the repairs on the Insights that died. My friend sued and won getting Honda to buy it back at full price. Also I have had friends with so many Honda problems I wouldn't buy one anyways. But independant of that I just liked the Prius far more. They are both great, love the savings in gas.
Thanks
Huh? If you are referring to the main battery, the traction battery, it is covered by a longer warranty, and should certainly be repaired by the dealer. Did your friend by a used Insight? In any case, take it to Honda corporate and complain. That warranty is a legal contract.
Glad your friend got out of the problem.
The way over I was in a hurry, I was in third gear some of the way, and most of the way in fourth in leadfoot mode. At the top of the hill I saw 36 mpg, it was back up to 45 by the bottom of the hill.
I also had the battery pack fill up on the way down the hill. The computer stops doing regenerative braking when this happens. It was weird, I downshifted to third gear at 60 mph to try to get some engine braking but wasn't getting much. Had to use the brakes to keep speed down. The HCH closes off the cylinder valves to reduce engine weight and it really makes a difference.
I was worried it would be real hard to get good mileage in this car without driving it super easy, my fears were unfounded.
My first tank is still going and I got 47 mpg average so far, up from about 43 at the beginning.