I currently has a love/frightened of relationship with my Prius. I could have only seven gallons of gas, the tank shows full ... so I think I can drive further than I really would be able to. I cannot rely on my gas tank, I have to take unsafe steps to fill it up completely, I have a gas guage that is basically useless and need to guess when I have to fill up!
I am writing to express my concern over my 2008 Toyota Prius that I purchased new in January of 2008. I recently returned from a 2300 mile road trip that began in Woodland Washington (20 miles north of Portland Oregon).

During this trip, we stopped in Ashland Oregon to fill up the gas tank on our way to Reno Nevada. The attendant filled the tank (Oregon requires that an attendant do this) and off we went ... next gas fill up was to have been Reno! We headed east, turned off Interstate 5 and onto Highway 89 and switched drivers. After ONLY 83 miles ... the gas tank showed that there was less than 1/2 a tank ... luckily we had not missed McCloud California ... last stop for gas for MANY miles!

When we filled up in Reno, the gas pump shut off WAY TOO soon ... we certainly were not getting over 60mpg! Understanding this, we pulled the gas nozzle WAY out and EXTREMELY slowly managed to fill up the gas tank. During this SLOW process, air and gas would bubble up and at times out of the tank. We repeated this process at EVERY fill up along the trip and since we have gotten home. We can have to add between 3 - 6 gallons of gas after the pump shuts off ... no matter how slowly the gas is automatically pumped in. Temperature, time of day and altitude seem to not have any effect on getting the tank filled ... the pump shut off early at EVERY instance. There are at least two safety issues noted here ... a gas tank you cannot fill up with taking EXTROADINARY measures ... nearly removing the nozzle and having gas spill out as the air and gas fumes escape out of the tank.

Another issue is the fuel gauge. The car would travel 200 miles before even one guage indicator would click off. There are 10 indicators and the tank suposedly holds nealy 12 gallons of gas. I bet that the car does not get 200 miles per gallon!!!

I spoke the owner of a 2005 Prius. He indicated he also has challenges filling his tank. He was told that this has to do with the ambient temperature. I have talked with a Toyota Prius technician. He stated that there are no parts that can fix this issue. He noted that this has been going on since the first Prius, that there is no fix available. He also noted in the winter that at least one Prius owner comes in each and every day with this same gas tank concern. I also did some research on the internet and this appears to be a LONG outstanding safety hazard!