After Service Issue

I'd suspect oil over-fill.

 

They run your car and the AC while servicing it to check for problems. Since this uses gas while getting no miles, your MPG on that tank will be lower. You should also check the air pressure in your tires after servicing as dealers tend to follow general rules about air pressure and lower psi yield lower MPG.

JeffD

 

+1. I took my car in to have the alignment checked just after filling up and resetting the mpg average. The average was 49 mpg when I dropped the car off, when I picked it up it was down to 35 mpg and they only drove it about 7 miles IIRC.

 

+2. What Jeff said - no more complex than that - sitting in the bay running without moving - so the computed MPG drops. Normal.

 

My mpg dropped also to ~46 from ~51 I usually get, and I couldn't get it higher. The next tank I got ~ 48 on the highway at 65mph. I was using the A/C (usually I get about 54 mpg at this speed). It was frustrating. I managed to get 51mpg in the following highway tank, but I feel that this is all lower than what I usually get.

I asked for 3.75 quarts of oil and the tire pressure is fine.

 

Sad fact is that most techs, being on flat rate, do not drive very gently when test driving cars. The quicker they verify the repair and get the car parked, the quicker they can get started on the next job.

 

Ack! My poor baby :/

I'd be heartbroken if my "lifetime average" went down 5-8mpg... since it takes a week or two to get it up by 0.1mpg.

Wonder if I should try making friends with my local hybrid tech and perhaps give them cash over the weekends if they can perform the more-complex maintenance for me.

 

Interesting comment. I was in speaking to a local mechanic yesterday about adding some of the after market stuff for me. Anyhow, here is the point:

He said they have one Prius they do the oil changes on, and can't figure out how to test the oil pressure after the oil change, as it is only running on electric. He said that there are some "secrets" the manufacturers don't let out on new vehicles to keep customers going in to the dealerships for a while!

He also told me to google TSB's (Technical Service Bulletins) online to see what hints and tips are officially out there on a car. And he commented that some stuff, if it did not change in that model year, you have to check the TSB's for the prior years.

 

Getting the engine to turn on (and stay on) is simple.

Step 1) turn off car.
Step 2) Turn on car.
Step 3) As soon as the engine comes on, shift into neutral. Problem solved. The engine will now keep running. Beware of leaving the car running in neutral, as it will be unable to charge the HV battery.
Step 3a) If the engine does not turn on, put foot on brakes (be sure to put enough pressure to hold the car STILL!) Then put another foot on the gas, and push it down to 50%. The engine should now turn on. Shift into neutral.

Problem solved.

 

And again: you check the oil level yourself before leaving the dealer*? You check the tire pressures soon after the service? The dealer swears that they don't leave the car ON for more than a few minutes while they are doing the work (it would be easy for the techs to do this without the service writer knowing it)?

* Everyone should do this after every oil change before driving away, no matter who does the work.

 

Forget about what you asked for - check the dip stick!

... Brad

 

I took my 2004 in a few weeks ago for them to reprogram a new key module. They had the car a whole day and when I picked it up they also said they did some service recalls. When I dropped the car off I had 54.2 mpg on the MFD. When I picked it up I noticed the mpg was 49.3 and the car had been driven 2 miles. The one thing that I did not like seeing was the battery was down to 2 pink bars. I just wonder what in the heck they did to draw the battery down so far?

 

This is why I am looking into the possibility of doing my own oil change, my car is brand new and I have about 3,400 some miles on it since i bought it 3 months ago. I am now a bit concerned with what exactly the techs do with the cars, steep drop in MPG is kind of scary

 

It's not likely that they're actually damaging anything. If the MPG gauge reads a lot lower *at the moment you get the car back*, the simple explanation is that the car was ON while they were working on it or while it was waiting. If the MPGs look normal when you get it but start dropping immediately, check the air in the tires. (You should already have checked the oil level yourself before driving away from the oil change.)

 

Did they check the fuel gauge consumption again? I thought reseting that had fixed it for you. I'm confused about gas too. Some recommend Mobile and others (as another poster did) suggest the Top Tier group of suppliers. I've increased my tire pressure. I live in the south; I can't quit using AC. I just don't know what else to do.