My 2005 Prii has 4600 miles. Two days ago I went to put gas in the car after about 500 or so miles on the tank. I was at "two bars". I had driven about six miles from my house to the gas station on the way to work. I was standing there pumping gas when the auto-shutoff clicked when the amount was only four gallons. I found that odd so I tried to put more in... click... couldn't add any. Got in the car and the gas gauge registered a 1/2 tank. Can anyone explain this? I'll try again tomorrow and it may be fine. However, it's odd that this happened in the first place.
It could be that the person before you overfilled their tank and the vacuum recover system on the pump was filled with gasoline. Next time if that happens try pulling the nozzle out about 2 or 3 inches and give it another try, or hold the rubber boot on the vacuum recovery back so it does not touch the filler neck.
I just got gas yesterday and did not have the same problem. Hopefully it wasn't the car - just the pump.
