Prius (2004-09) :: MPG Has Been Dropping Steadily
Apr 4, 2013
My 2007 Prius (72k miles) has been dropping in MPG steadily for the last 6-8 months. Where we would get a strong 42 mpg, we are now experiencing 34-36 mpg. After a 400 mile trip to the coast, we just experienced a 34 mpg average. 1 year ago, we would have seen 42-45 mpg on the same trip.
I had the dealership check it out, only to tell me the computer says nothing was wrong. This is the 2nd time I've voiced this concern about the car in 12 months. They told me to replace the tires. We did. No change.
I checked the 12v battery through system check on the display screen (method I found on this website). It was showing 12.4v for an unloaded battery. When i put a load on it, it dropped to 11.7v. Once I had it charging, it raised to 14.0v.
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Gas mileage as stated by Suburu for the 2015 Outback (2.5 engine) is 25-33 with a combined of 28. Mine has never attained that and it has been steadily dropping. Now it is displays as 19 mpg. It is new and has just under 500 miles on it, and I read that the break-in is 1000 miles. That being said, shouldn't I be seeing better MPG than that?
BTW - I am hoping that I am just not being fair (to the car and to Suburu) and that I'll be up in the advertised MPG's soon after I hit 1000 miles.
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06' prius that I believe to be abnormal behavior. Just took the car on a 360 mile round trip. After about an hour of driving (Interstate 78mph) I happened to notice on the Energy screen that the car started to use the electric motor steadily for about 5 minutes of driving on flat terrain (Kansas). I watched as the SOC went from 5-6 bars down to 1-2 (purple). At which time the car started experiencing bouts of high rpm on level terrain/small hills. It stayed in this state for over 20 minutes or so of driving. It acted like it knew it needed to charge the hybrid battery, however the level never increased until such time as I exited the interstate and started braking. I am assuming that the HV battery should rarely discharge that much traveling at highway speeds on flat terrain.
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Grill blocked today for the first time and have a couple questions.
Temps have been dropping more these last 3-4 days and have noticed my MPG dropping as well so I thought I'd try grill blocking.
Tempts have been and will be high 30s-low 40s in the morning and upper 50s to mid 60s for the high.
At first I just wedged the pipe insulation and drove one trip. I didn't feel comfortable that it would hold for the long haul so I added zip ties.
I used two pieces of pipe insulation 1/2 inch copper / 3/8 inch iron. Up close it looks like 2/3 or 3/4 of the grill is covered.
My two questions:
For fWT, at what temperature should it not exceed?
At what outside temperature should I remove the pipe insulation? In the Phoenix area, temperatures rise in March and sometimes we will have a short period of warmer than normal temps in February. I just want to make sure I do not cause overheating.
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=this is my first summer to own a prius, and I noticed this last week that my fuel economy seems to be slipping. I am averaging around 42 MPG instead of my usual 49. Only reason this worries me is I've noticed the car is charging the battery a LOT, and it's not uncommon to have my MPG drop down to the low 20's on a flat road if I am lightly accelerating.
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I am having an issue with my 2006 Toyota Prius. The battery seems to be fine, but when I turn on the headlights the battery suddenly starts dropping sharply and the lights quickly dim. I turn them back off and it starts charging properly again. It only does it when I turn on the headlights. Weird part is if I hit a bump just right sometimes it goes back to normal for a while, but then starts discharging again.
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Up until my last oil change at 105,000 miles, I didn't notice any oil usage. When draining my oil, it didn't look like it was quite 4 quarts. After the oil change, I ensured that I had the engine exactly topped off to the upper mark on the dipstick. Around 600 miles later, I parked in the same location and have noticed that the oil level has dropped enough to notice. I am guessing that I will lose well over a quart between oil changes. Before I resign to the normal mechanical reasons (rings, cylinder wear, etc.)
The loss doesn't seem to be gradual which has me looking for other explanations. I also had a Toyota mechanic go over the car and replace the other fluids and filters at 100,000 miles (coincidence I think ).
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Just noticed my level is about an inch below the full mark, it was fine at the last oil change, no leaks that I can see....nothing on the ground.
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I have a 2008 Prius with 83,000 miles. My battery has died twice; once because I left an interior light on and a jump start fixed the situation. Next time, about 1 month later, nothing was left on, and on start up all the indicator lights came on and I couldn't get my key out. A second jump start solved the problem. My concerns: I had the battery tested at the dealer and they told me it was fine. I have a warranty on the battery to 100K. Interestingly, my MPG have been steadily declining from a high of 48 on purchase to 43 currently. My driving has no changed. The MPG have gone as low as 40 recently. I am wondering if I am not getting a straight answer from the dealer about the battery? Anything else that might affect my MPG?
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I think I'm getting the hang of this car after 3 months. My mileage has been steadily increasing as the weather has gotten warmer and as I've adjusted my driving a bit. If I drive fairly normally i get about 55 mpg (HSI, ~52 mpg actual). If I'm more careful I get closer to 60 mpg HSI. If I'm really careful I get over 60. My last tank was 61.8 (HSI), and 59.6 mpg from the fillup (see attached). I put 10.13 gallons in the car for 604 miles. I call that 60 mpg, and I'm pretty pleased. This is for a week of normal commuting which includes lots of hills, about 1/3 surface streets, 1/3 state highway, and 1/3 interstates with occasional stop-and-go. It is pretty hot here these days so the AC runs constantly. I have only seen my mileage get better with time so I haven't seen it roll over as the weather has gotten really hot, but that may be that any affect is counteracted by my learning to drive this car.
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I just drove the GLI from pa to myrtle beach for vacation. On the way back I noticed the temp was steadily rising while idling at a red light then at a gas station. Coolant level is fine. Thermostat, water pump, thermostat, and both temp sensors were recently replaced in the last two months.
So I know none of those things are a variable. Both fans never come on. I tried turning on the ac to get them to come on. But nothing. I read as much as I could on forums to find a solution but none applied to my specific problem.
Car is completely stock besides p flow intake. Has 153000 miles I'm pretty sure everything involving fan is original.
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I have noticed over the past few months that my gas mileage is dropping (from about 29 to 24) on the highway and I seem to have lost some power. I know the car is getting older, but where do you think I can get some of it back? The plugs are only 20K old and the air filter is new.
It is a 2004 1.8t with 109k on it.
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I have a 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe 2WD with the 5.3L V8. Tahoe has 134K. At about 125K miles, I replaced air filter with a K&N, new OEM spark plugs and spark plug wires. The Tahoe has been running great and was getting normal mpg until recently. 15mpg in town and 17mpg on the road is what I normally get. The last 3 fill ups my mpg has been below 13.5mpg. Car still runs great but at 13mpg it's starting to hurt a little financially. Weather here in NC has been normal, my driving conditions or habits have not changed, etc. What could be causing my mpg to drop by so much while the suv still rides smooth and straight?
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I just bought a 2010 salvage Prius. I have another 2010 I have been driving for 3 years so I am pretty used to the mileage I can expect under different conditions.
When the car is totally warm and I measure the mileage for 15 miles or so I get normal readings of mpg. But with a lot of 2-3 mile trips during the week I am getting about 10mpg less than usual compared to my other 2010.
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2007 model Prius with 74k miles.
I was getting 45.6 mpg on the trip computer. MPG dropped a couple of tenths pretty quickly. Got fuel and put in some Techron fuel treatment. Checked 12v battery, was a bit on the weak side, so I replaced it . Checked voltage and everything was good.
While I had the battery out I let the car sit for 10 minutes to reset the ecu. Now after 40 miles I'm getting 35 mpg on the trip computer, and the ICE kicks on any time I press the accelerator pedal, even if I'm going down hill from a stop.
There is no difference in driving style, tire pressures (40 front, 39 rear), I bought the fuel at a place I normally get fuel.
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I am very disappointed with my Toyota Plug-in because I have only had it 2 months and have 1400 miles on car. When I first charged it up with the 110 volt charger supplied with the car, I got 13.5 miles to use up before the car went off battery. Then on recharges, every two or three times when the battery recharged the usable mileage dropped by a 1/10 a point. I now have only 9.5 miles to use before I go off battery. When I first got the car I could go to work and have 3 miles extra to go home on. Now I cannot get all the way to work. I wonder how low it is going to go? I took it into Gladstone Toyota and had the service department look at it. They said after they recharged it and found it to be only 9.5 and that there is nothing they can do unless the red warning light comes on saying that the battery is defective. I asked them how low the battery would go and still considered normal, and they said they did not know. So I guess I will keep loosing free electric miles.
My getting progressive lower usable mileage has nothing to do with my driving habits as they have been the same since I started driving the car.
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So, I got stuck in standstill traffic for about an hour due to bad weather and wreck up ahead, and barely inching along the highway, I was surprised how fast the battery was dropping and having to turn on the engine to recharge it, killing the MPG; normal drive home I get around 50 MPG, it dropped to 38 due to all the idling. In such situations, just place the Prius in "Park" in order to shut down the electric motor (I'm assuming that's what park does) so it doesn't idle to conserve power? Would probably be an annoying way to drive regularly, but if you know you're gonna get stuck for awhile, I may try it next time...
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I am the owner of a new 2014 Prius Two as of three months ago. I have really been enjoying the car, and it is certainly more friendly at the pump than my old Chevy Tahoe. I have a question as to why my mpg has been getting worse of late.
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So I bought a used 2010 Gen 3 with ~26,000 miles on it in July 2013. I started out getting 48-52mpg depending on where I was driving. I live in Raleigh, NC and I did notice a drop in drop in MPG over the winter ranging between 44-48mpg but the mpg never rose again as the months warmed and I averaged 44-46mpg for most of the summer. After changing my tires a few weeks ago I've dropped to about 40mpg regardless of where or how I drive. I bought Pirelli P4 Four Seasons 195 65R15 91T and have them inflated to the levels recommended by Toyota. 35/32 or something like that. Is it the tires or is there some other possible issue?
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My rear air suspension keeps dropping. Sometimes my suspension goes down all the way when parked, but not all the time. When I start the car it goes back up. It's a 2003 GX470.
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Winter temps are dropping my mpgs from 51-53 mpg to the 44-47 mpg range. Snow, rain, slush puts drag on the car, as well as temps in the 20-40s causing the ICE to run more during warmup and during the 15 mile trip I make daily. Also mpgs in town on 1-3 mile trips are dropping into 29-33 mpg range. I guess the Prius isn't made to thrive in cold temps. I don't know if there is much I can do about it. I did remember to raise the pressures in my tires which has dropped also.
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