I just bought a new Prius 2 days ago & have driven about 85 miles so far. I'm averaging about 41 MPG and it seemed to be a struggle to get it there compared to previous rental experiences. I'm a bit concerned because when I rented 2 different Prius's for weekend trips, using basically the same driving techniques, yet with more load, I seemed to do at least 4 to 8 MPG better under similar driving conditions. Obviously each rental had a few thousand miles already on them. Is this possibly due to break-in or could it be something else. I used similar amounts of A/C & tire pressure levels (35F, 33R) in the last rental Prius with a trip from the Bay Area to Anaheim & averaged 48.5 mph. In some ways I felt I drove that last rental with much less concern for getting the best mileage as I have with my new Prius. Now it seems with the same light touch it's much harder to get the same numbers. I have not checked for oil overfill yet & admittedly I've taken a lot of short trips the first 30 miles. Am I being overly concerned here or should I just mellow out & drive a few more thousand miles before worrying if there's something wrong with "my" Prius?
Overly concerned, I'd say. But understandable, since you have previous experiences to compare to. Being brand new, I think your car simply needs to be driven and broken in. The mechanicals are tigher now than they will ever be and everthing just needs some time loosen up. So, enjoy it and congratulations on getting the best car available today!
5 points to the Noob. Welcome! 85 miles... heh heh... I had logged 250 miles before I went to sleep the first night, and 4,100 miles before I pulled into my garage. You can look it up. G-Man speaks the truth. So do that and call back at 6,000 miles - after you've put Mobile 1 or your favorite synthetic oil in your new baby.
I can tell you that I had the exact same experience -- got better mileage from my rental than when my own Prius arrived. Luckily, I'd been reading PriusChat (for months -- long wait for the car!), and wasn't overly concerned. Now I'm getting just as good (or better) mileage than I had when I rented. Reasons I attributed to the discrepency: Driving was different. On the rental, I had been driving ~30 to/from work every day. When I bought the Prius, I did a lot of shorter trips, and didn't drive to work. Short Trips Kill MPG. I rented in September, but got my car in November. Colder weather = poorer mileage (particulalry if you're setting the heat on for the cabin.) There is supposed to be a break-in period. Give it a little time.
From previous posts it seems 2,000 mi. seems to be th number where you get better mileage. I'll let you know because that's one thing I'll be looking at when my 05 Prius comes in and I'll compare it to my 04.
