My replacement Yaris gets much worse MPG?

[Amdkt7]

What happens when you drive it a little harder? Does the mileage get worse?

[Shinare]

Well, this seafoam seems to have made my car a little more peppier, or at least it feels that way to me, so I am hitting it pretty hard right now. We'll see after this take goes through.

[Shinare]

Just as a quick update: I'm just about to turn in my worst MPG gas tank yet. If the last couple gallons stay the same, this tank will be in the upper 20's for aMPG. That's probably 70/30 highway/city driving. I'm at my wit's end. I've tried all the suggestions here. I cleaned the TB, the MAF, I've changed the plugs, the belt. I've made sure all the pulleys turn freely. I made sure all my wheels turn freely. I've had it aligned at the dealership. Now I'm wondering if there's a fuel leak somewhere or something. This is ridiculous. I think its time to take it to the dealership as my 1 year warranty is quickly running out.

[Amdkt7]

I think you maybe on to something. I did not think of fuel leaks. One more idea: could anybody be stealing your gas?

[Shinare]

I would say that it is unlikely that someone is stealing my gas. I park in my garage every night, and because this is an "every tank of gas" type of thing, I would think it would be noticed if it was happening at my work as I park in front of the building with offices looking out over the parking lot.

I just gassed up at lunch and officially averaged 27.6 MPG. that sucks.

[Shinare]

If it were a gas leak, would it be something I could smell, like when it is parked in my garage? I don't smell any fuel smell in my garage.

Edit: Also, could it be my oil? I have no idea what kind of oil is in it right now. Thats something I thought about last night. If someone put in the wrong oil would it affect fuel economy so drastically?

[Indianajim]

Howdy, I'm a newbie to this forum, not a newbie to forums in general. I'm active on the Tundra one.

I'm happy with my mpg averages. At $15k less than a Prius, I think these cars are great! Before my Yaris adventure, I was driving a 2002 ECHO for several years and it was also a 1500cc engine with automatic and it also got the almost exact same mpgs.

Then there was my 2008 base 3-door with auto that got a consistent 30~31 mpg (90% highway at 65-70 mph) Dropped to about 28~29 with winter blend fuel. Drove that car to about 40,000 miles, then in October 2010 I sold it to my brother and upgraded to a second-hand 2009 5-door "S" model with auto. Both cars are identical drive-train and got exactly the same mpg numbers.

I keep a log book and write the odo mileage and exact fuel to the tenth of gallon. I have been doing this for four years and the best either car ever did was 33mpg on a long road trip.

It is Indiana flatland driving so no excuses for altitude or hills. But there are days when I am driving many miles directly into strong headwind. Combined total of miles I have driven in both cars is 80,000 miles. Kept the log book from day one.

Not a post from a newbie to start an argument, this is the actual MPG I get.

I refill the car at about 280 to 300 miles, so these are complete tanks of fuel being consumed.

Right now my 2009 has the problem with the two lowest bars on the gauge staying lit so for the past year (since about 70,000 miles) I am driving the car by using the trip odometer to judge when to refill the tank. (And I keep a one liter aluminum fuel bottle and funnel in the back. I have ran out of gas two times. The first time when I found out the gauge was not working properly and the second when I was on a long trip and not paying attention to the trip meter.)

My 2009 S now has 90,000 miles. ZERO problems except for the fuel gauge. Occasionally, I run a can of SEAFOAM through it. Changed the spark plugs at about 65,000 miles. I run MOBIL-1 oil 5W30 and NAPA gold (WIX) filter. Change the oil at 5,000 mile intervals. My tires are 90,000 mile Michelin Harmony P195/60R15 at 34psi.

[Amdkt7]

Originally Posted by Shinare

If it were a gas leak, would it be something I could smell, like when it is parked in my garage? I don't smell any fuel smell in my garage.

Edit: Also, could it be my oil? I have no idea what kind of oil is in it right now. Thats something I thought about last night. If someone put in the wrong oil would it affect fuel economy so drastically?

It perhaps could be a leak only when running. I guess you could leave it idling for a few minutes and sniff around for leaks. I'm puzzled, but I don't remember if you ever had it checked for codes, or had a mechanic look at it.

The wrong oil would not make much difference in the summer, I doubt that that is the issue, although there could be multiple minor reasons adding up. Some tires suck...

Indianjim, that sounds like my former KIA, never could get above 33 with it. Generally, I am getting 48 to 51 mpg for the last five or more fillups. I have hills, and use Pulse an Glide most of the time.

[andulong]

How about tire / wheel sizes? did both cars have the same size? If you change out from stock it can alter your mileage and also throw off the Odometer accuracy? Just a thought.

[SkyYarisInFlight]

This is a fascinating thread. Did you ever figure out the issue?

Before I bought my 2013 auto, I was browsing MPG threads to see what people were getting. I definitely noticed a trend; pre-2008 ish models seemed to get 5-10 more MPG than the newer models. This also seems to be confirmed by official EPA numbers (as controversial as those are).

Was there some kind of major change that took place with the Yaris after 2007-2008ish?

[roxy1]

Originally Posted by SkyYarisInFlight

This is a fascinating thread. Did you ever figure out the issue?

Before I bought my 2013 auto, I was browsing MPG threads to see what people were getting. I definitely noticed a trend; pre-2008 ish models seemed to get 5-10 more MPG than the newer models. This also seems to be confirmed by official EPA numbers (as controversial as those are).

Was there some kind of major change that took place with the Yaris after 2007-2008ish?

yeah, there was a change in the formula the EPA dictated be used. the pre 2008 models are not more fuel efficient.

example: the 2007 yaris automatic originally had an epa sticker of 34 city/39 highway. under the newly revised requirements in 2008 that same car gets rated at 29 city/35 highway. same car, same engine, same trans, same body.

so, in fact, the 2012+ yaris is rated higher (30/36 auto and 30/37 manual) than any previous N. American yaris.

[SkyYarisInFlight]

Ah, I see! That clears things up for me. Thanks

[jayeh]

Originally Posted by Indianajim

Howdy, I'm a newbie to this forum, not a newbie to forums in general. I'm active on the Tundra one.

I'm happy with my mpg averages. At $15k less than a Prius, I think these cars are great! Before my Yaris adventure, I was driving a 2002 ECHO for several years and it was also a 1500cc engine with automatic and it also got the almost exact same mpgs.

Then there was my 2008 base 3-door with auto that got a consistent 30~31 mpg (90% highway at 65-70 mph) Dropped to about 28~29 with winter blend fuel. Drove that car to about 40,000 miles, then in October 2010 I sold it to my brother and upgraded to a second-hand 2009 5-door "S" model with auto. Both cars are identical drive-train and got exactly the same mpg numbers.

I keep a log book and write the odo mileage and exact fuel to the tenth of gallon. I have been doing this for four years and the best either car ever did was 33mpg on a long road trip.

It is Indiana flatland driving so no excuses for altitude or hills. But there are days when I am driving many miles directly into strong headwind. Combined total of miles I have driven in both cars is 80,000 miles. Kept the log book from day one.

Not a post from a newbie to start an argument, this is the actual MPG I get.

I refill the car at about 280 to 300 miles, so these are complete tanks of fuel being consumed.

Right now my 2009 has the problem with the two lowest bars on the gauge staying lit so for the past year (since about 70,000 miles) I am driving the car by using the trip odometer to judge when to refill the tank. (And I keep a one liter aluminum fuel bottle and funnel in the back. I have ran out of gas two times. The first time when I found out the gauge was not working properly and the second when I was on a long trip and not paying attention to the trip meter.)

My 2009 S now has 90,000 miles. ZERO problems except for the fuel gauge. Occasionally, I run a can of SEAFOAM through it. Changed the spark plugs at about 65,000 miles. I run MOBIL-1 oil 5W30 and NAPA gold (WIX) filter. Change the oil at 5,000 mile intervals. My tires are 90,000 mile Michelin Harmony P195/60R15 at 34psi.

That sounds pretty low mpg wise. My 90% highway tanks (which are very rare) are 32-36. Road trips are usually 38-40.

[tooter]

Originally Posted by Shinare

I have no idea what kind of oil is in it right now.

Do you have any idea the last time it was changed? Even though this is likely not the cause of your problem, just on general principle I'd change the oil and replace the filter.

Also, do you know how well your car was maintained and how it was driven before you acquired it?

[cali yaris]

I have been doing this for four years and the best either car ever did was 33mpg on a long road trip.

I never got more than that.

[Shinare]

Originally Posted by SkyYarisInFlight

This is a fascinating thread. Did you ever figure out the issue?

...

I never did. I've decided to just accept that this Yaris just does not get as good MPG as my old one.

The last thing I did was to drop a ton of money on some "premium" 10k mile synthetic oil. Was going to flush the auto tranny with some synth oil as well but looking at prices, I already am never going recoup what I have spent so far in gas savings... hehe

[BIGTAZ351]

My 2010 3dr auto gets 35@70ish - 37@60ish in the summer pretty constant..about 20/80-city/hwy and about 30@60 in the winter with Altimax Arctics/long warm ups.. In the summer I'm still running the factory Goodyears... year-round I use mobil 5000 5w-30 Wix filter@5000 miles, and the only thing I have done is change the wix air filter.
I have gotten 41 on a trip....
Is your Trans upshifting properly.. mine under light throttle will shift to OD@35mph or so...Is the converter locked?....also how hard you pushing it?