I filled up my 05 prius, then drove approx 120 miles without one bar changing on my gas indicator. Is there something wrong, or am I really getting this kind of mileage (just bought the car).

Thanks!

Your gauge is propably working. I have the same results, especially since I am trying harder to get higher FE. I have gone almost 200 miles before the first bar drops off. However the next bar ususally drops off in the next 40-50 miles. The 50% point in my case is often around 250-300 miles (depending on my wife driving the car or not).

The guess gauges on most cars are non-linear. They move slower when the tank is almost full, and fast when it is below 1/4 tank. I normally go about 120-150 miles before the first bar drops. At the half-way point I have typically driven about 350 miles. Then, it is down to one or two bars when I hit 500 miles. Non-Linear!

Kirby
http://greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/car/1024.html

Interesting. Mine works the same way...90+ miles or so on the first bar, then drops to no more than half that for each of the rest.

Speaking of...I got down to one bar this afternoon before filling the tank. Even with topping off, the tank only took 8.6 gallons??? So this brings up TWO questions...is the gas gauge so inaccurate as to have around 3 gallons left with zero bars and, just how accurate is the mpg computer?

8.6 gallons for 445 miles on this tank works out to a minimum of 51.7 mpg. However, the mpg computer said I'd managed 47.9 mpg...that's about 8% less than reality. Over the course of the 14,000 miles I've put on the car, I've been feeling that the computer has been shortchanging my mileage...this seems to prove it.

Have others found this???

-sd

Found this elsewhere on the web....interesting -apologies for the colorful post :

The gas-tank warning light flashed after 422 miles. I drove 10 miles to the next gas station and filled up, putting 11.1 gallons into the 11.9-gallon tank. That would indicate 38 mpg, far short of the 51 mpg government rating. The car's trip computer told me it had been getting 51.7 mpg.
Irv Miller, Toyota vice president for corporate communication, says the mileage shortfall probably had to do with speed. "The government test that puts the Prius' highway mileage at 51 mpg is based on ideal driving conditions and going 55 miles per hour," he says. I averaged 72 miles an hour on highways.

The company also says the computer is nearly 100% accurate. But how much gas its flexible bladder takes at the pump varies from less than 10 gallons to the full 11.9 gallons. Toyota said I probably began the trip with less gas than I thought. Toyota spokesman Mike Michels says the gas-tank variability is confusing to owners, and the company is working on a fix.

Possibly reflecting frustration with the problem, Prius owners' biggest complaint was "fuel gauge not working" in the J.D. Power and Associates 2004 Initial Quality Study, which measures problems the first 90 days of ownership.