Is that why Consumerreports.org voted the Toyota Prius the best hybrid. You are a koolaid drinker. It was one class-action lawsuit because that is what a class-action lawsuit is, this was Hondas way to scapegoat out cheap. If you don't like the MPG of our overpriced POS hybrid we will give you a rebate for another Honda, but not a Hybrid, we don't want you to realize they are still POS with poor MPG for over 50% of their owners.

 

You all need to calm down.

Vegas you are free to complain about your car all you like but you must do so without being rude to other members. I'm sorry you don't care for your car.

Keep in mind that none of us goes out and buys hundreds of cars and tests them all, not even the magazines. We generally purchase only a single car. If that car is a lemon we tend to have negative feelings towards the automaker. The reverse is also true. If we get lucky with our single test sample we tend to have positive feelings.

The truth is every car maker has a some lemons and some less than perfect dealerships and it sucks when anyone gets stuck with a lemon. Cars are typically one of the most expensive things we buy next to houses. Getting stuck with a lemon is a big blow so it is perfectly understandable that lemon owners would be upset.

 

Man what a debbie downer lol, good luck finding a car and sorry yours didnt work out. Lovin mine so far.

 

(I've never owned a Honda and some here can attest to me being not a fan of Honda IMA based hybrids but...)
Why is it supposed to get 40/45 mpg? These are just results on an EPA test which doesn't even involve driving on a real road (they drive it on a dyno aka rollers) nor measuring actual fuel consumption. Did you know the average speed for their highway test is only 48.4 mph and starts with a warm engine? Did you know that their city test is 31.2 minutes long?

If your driving habits, conditions and trip lengths aren't ideal, getting less than an EPA rating isn't surprising. If you have short drives, esp. ones in city traffic w/cold weather, that'll kill your mileage.

I believe the 40/45 is done after adjustment via formula from the pre-2008 model year numbers of 49 city/51 highway. Did you know that the raw EPA dyno numbers, before the required fudging downwards and before adjustment by formula to the newer method were 54.6 city/65 highway? Download the 2007 datafile from http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/download.shtml to see for yourself.

Please read the links I posted at http://priuschat.com/forums/other-ca...estimates.html for more details about the EPA test cycle.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/c...709_mpg_ov.htm and http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fuelec...2/article.html might be interesting too.

Even the EPA says at http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/why_differ.shtml "Your MPG Will Vary". http://web.archive.org/web/200806181...-206/index.htm is what Consumer Reports got on the HCH and Priuses of the time, in their testing. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/c...-206/index.htm is the current table.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/c...el-economy.htm and
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/c...ighway-mpg.htm might be of interest too.

I got so tired of people complaining about their Prius' mileage (e.g. "I'm getting 35 mpg, it sucks") then I and others jumping in asking usually the same questions (sometimes to not have the complainer never return, after their initial post) that I wrote up http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-p...youre-new.html.

If you owned a 2nd gen Prius (04 to 09), didn't drive it "right" and had commute that were very short drives (say <5 minutes), you'd see mileage in the mid 30s. You'd be moaning and groaning too that it was well short of the EPA's 48 mpg city. (Again their test is on a dyno and the city test is 31.2 minutes long.)

FWIW, a set of hypermilers acheived 68.54 mpg in an HCH that went thru 48 states in not the best weather conditions either. See http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17869.

OP: If you truly want mileage help or validation whether your figures are typical for your trip lengths and driving conditions, I believe that answering my questions is a good starting point. You complaining of your mileage and someone else saying they get 51 mpg gives us nothing to go on. It's likely that drives have nothing in common. For all we know, the previous owner may have replaced the tires w/something w/higher rolling resistance than the stock ones. That's happened a # of times on Priuschat.

 

I bought my new CVT HCH in 2004.
I began hypermiling training right away and achieved the efficency posted in my signature, averaging +60 MPG driving in some radically strange ways in the middle of the night on vacant roads.

I've been driving pretty much opposite now for the past couple years. I try to maintain around 80MPH in the left lanes and drive it pretty hard. I'm obviously not driving for efficiency and my dash is set to odometer not mileage. Last time I checked it said 43MPG so in reality I guess probably 40-41 actual.

My 1s set of tires wore out at 80,000. My 2nd set at 150,000. It still has original brake pads which I'm told have "plenty" left on them. I've had the main clutch replaced at 130,000 miles. The CVT tends to slip with moderate acceleration but hasn't been a major problem. Honda has offered to pay half of the CVT repair even at 170,000 miles.

This is my 1st Honda car (I've owned 19 cars in my life) and I've been more than satisfied with its performance, reliability, cost and MFG support.

It replaced a 1994 Dodge Spirit which was ready for the junk heap at only 117,000 miles. It was my former commuter car which only obtained around 17MPG. We also have a Dodge Grand Caravan with about the same mileage and is falling apart, nickel and diming us to death.

My experience with the HCH has only been a very positive one and our next car will very likely be another Honda.

 

Why did you change your driving style Steve? That puzzles me! H

 

I'm so sorry that you are not happy with your civic hybrid but mine so far I've no problem. Maybe we have our own preferences and it so happens that your experienced isn't good. Hopefully you can do it fix your problem.

 

Steve, at least with the second gen Civic Hybrid, the in-dash display of mileage tends to be a bit pessismistic, ie: your 43mpg might in fact be higher.

Per Harold, I'm a little puzzled re "left lane", "pedal to the metal" stuff too. My preference is right lane, tucked in behind some truck. Not to draft, just to have an excuse not to speed, get hassled.

 

Hello Harold and Mendel.

"Why did you change your driving style Steve?"

I think there are a few reasons. When I first got the HCH 1 I was really so amazed at the MPG potential that I spent the next 4 or so years driving in a time of day completely conductive for efficiency. I started my working shift at 6PM in the city 50 miles away, commuting home at 2-3:30AM.

When I crossed the 75MPG/1000 mile goal I set I kinda felt like it was finished and backed off a little.

I really began loosing interest when my shift changed from 6PM to 12PM, making the traffic unsafe for a lot of techniques I was using. (Pulse n glide, engine off etc) The final nail was hammered when I was switched from 12PM to 9AM which made me part of the daily 12-15 mile freeway morning backup into Atlanta,
More, my shift changed from 8hrs/day to 10/day + 2-3hr driving both ways so I make the trip as quickly as possible.

Hypermiling is truly a skill one can develop and if gas spikes upward again I feel equipped to handle it.

 

Yes ,I guess that makes sense? Anyway it sounds like your FE is still nothing to complain about. Those are crazy speeds to travel in order to stay safe! H