This post has nothing to do with Toyota's current issues of floor mats, brakes and gas pedals. This has to do with my little Prius, Adam, and BIG business. :)
About a month ago, Adam's little gauge that tells me how many miles per gallon he is getting started dropping. We also noticed that we were putting in more gas than we had been. Irv said that with the cold weather, warming Adam up some mornings and running the heat could all lower his gas mileage, but the gauge kept dropping and we kept filling up the tank. I had been getting 49.5 MPG and now Adam's little gauge said 45.3. We decided to check the mileage ourselves and were shocked when our calculations showed that Adam was only getting 37.8 MPG!
Oh no.......was my darling little Adam sick?
We stopped at the Toyota dealer so Irv could run in and talk to someone in the Maintenance Department. I waited in the car and after about 10 minutes Irv came out.
Adam wasn't sick. The drop in miles per gallon is normal for a Prius during the really cold weather. The gauge takes a long time to come down to the mileage you are really getting. Blah, blah, blah....it has something to do with the cold and a bladder in the gas tank and blah, blah, blah. I don't get all the technical automotive lingo.
First of all, shame on me and Irv for not doing our homework so we knew that fact before we purchased Adam. We would have still bought him, but it would have been nice to know that. I am not complaining over 37.8 MPG. Here is the kicker though.....
The guy told Irv that he had probably had 50 Prius owners in over the past couple of weeks with the same concern.
What ?!?!?!
I said to Irv....if this is something that causes that kind of negative response every winter, why on earth wouldn't they just tell people about that when they are looking at the car and talking about the gas mileage? "Just so you know, the gas mileage on the Prius does drop a bit during the really cold winter months." That's all they would have to say. If the person asks how much it drops....tell them it varies. If they press, then tell them whatever the average is for goodness sake. It isn't that big of a deal!! It's still great gas mileage!!!
Irv said, "They aren't going to tell people that because then someone might not buy the car."
Good point....in this world of BIG business, I guess it is better to sell 50 cars and then have 50 upset customers than it is to risk a couple less sales.
Not the way I would do business, but then I am not a car dealership in a slumping economy either.
About a month ago, Adam's little gauge that tells me how many miles per gallon he is getting started dropping. We also noticed that we were putting in more gas than we had been. Irv said that with the cold weather, warming Adam up some mornings and running the heat could all lower his gas mileage, but the gauge kept dropping and we kept filling up the tank. I had been getting 49.5 MPG and now Adam's little gauge said 45.3. We decided to check the mileage ourselves and were shocked when our calculations showed that Adam was only getting 37.8 MPG!
Oh no.......was my darling little Adam sick?
We stopped at the Toyota dealer so Irv could run in and talk to someone in the Maintenance Department. I waited in the car and after about 10 minutes Irv came out.
Adam wasn't sick. The drop in miles per gallon is normal for a Prius during the really cold weather. The gauge takes a long time to come down to the mileage you are really getting. Blah, blah, blah....it has something to do with the cold and a bladder in the gas tank and blah, blah, blah. I don't get all the technical automotive lingo.
First of all, shame on me and Irv for not doing our homework so we knew that fact before we purchased Adam. We would have still bought him, but it would have been nice to know that. I am not complaining over 37.8 MPG. Here is the kicker though.....
The guy told Irv that he had probably had 50 Prius owners in over the past couple of weeks with the same concern.
What ?!?!?!
I said to Irv....if this is something that causes that kind of negative response every winter, why on earth wouldn't they just tell people about that when they are looking at the car and talking about the gas mileage? "Just so you know, the gas mileage on the Prius does drop a bit during the really cold winter months." That's all they would have to say. If the person asks how much it drops....tell them it varies. If they press, then tell them whatever the average is for goodness sake. It isn't that big of a deal!! It's still great gas mileage!!!
Irv said, "They aren't going to tell people that because then someone might not buy the car."
Good point....in this world of BIG business, I guess it is better to sell 50 cars and then have 50 upset customers than it is to risk a couple less sales.
Not the way I would do business, but then I am not a car dealership in a slumping economy either.
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