Hello! I'm live in San Diego and commuted to LA 2-3x a week. The mileage on my car is now at 90k. I have had an average of 40 mpg since new, but suddenly it began to drop. We took it to our local Toyota dealer and was told it was most likely a cable that needed to be cleaned. That was $160. It didn't work. Today I noticed that my mpg has dropped even more - down to 29mpg! I poked around a little and realized I am actually getting better performance with the ECO setting turned off! I purchased the extended warranty, and plan on bringing it back in to Toyota, but wanted to get your opinions first. It has been exceedingly hot here for the last month so it's not the cold weather. I have new tires and checked the pressure Friday. I only use regular gas. Any thoughts? Thank you!!!
welcome to priuschat! 'a cable that needed to be cleaned', i would demand my money back. there are many many possibilities, from bad 12 volt battery to tyres, to battery cooling fan, to throttle body, to hybrid battery and on and on. never heard o f a dirty cable before tho. i would start with a health check on the 12 volt. all the best!
Thank you for the welcome! I thought it was odd too. Def check the 12v! Wanted to add...... I just looked at the worksheet from the service, and it said we paid for a "throttle body cleaning service" @ $165. My husband said cable... He's not very mechanically inclined. Lol The service did nothing and its getting worse.
how's the air filter? has it been changed? you can check this yourself since it's a simple process of undoing the latches pulling the filter out and having a look. Just put it back in the the same direction it was facing.
Find cwerdna's mpg checklist thread. It is stickied in the fuel economy forum, and completing it will help folks here narrow down what has changed. You mentioned tires, but not which, or when. You are nearing time for new plugs; perhaps a problem there. Bad 12V's have been an issue. If yours is original, then it is about time for it to die.
Fuel economy complaints/queries? Please copy, paste & answer these questions, esp. if you're new | PriusChat Would help us in helping you.
Here you go: hot weather = more AC use new tires = increased rolling resistance, especially if not LRR ones And most important part: slow down!
