My 2007 Camry Hybrid used to regularly get no less than 36 mpg. In the last couple of months, it has gone down to less than 32. No change in weather, fuel, or driving type. Followed the suggested maintainence schedule. any ideas out there??
Perhaps you are using your airconditioner now that summer is approaching. Other possibilities, carrying additional weight in the car, last oil change used a heavier weight oil, tire pressure low, hotter weather means less dense air and less oxygen, or a combination of similar things.
thanks! the AC we’ve used for 2 summers, so that wouldn’t account for it. Will check on the oil, since otherwise, none of these things are diffent…do appreciate your comment
New tires? Have you checked tire pressure recently?
my tires are pretty new…one was repaired fairly recently. since then they were rotated as part of regular maintainence…do you think getting NEW tires could account for this? I can’t say for sure if that’s when this problem started, but it’s possible
The rolling resistance of tires does tend to vary quite a bit from brand to brand, and model to model. While auto manufacturers usually don’t care very much about the handling qualities of the tires that they put on new cars, they do care very much about two qualities for their original equipment tires, namely–low rolling resistance and good ride qualities.
Since customers will complain more readily about those two factors than about poor handling or hydroplaning or poor winter traction, you can usually be assured that the tires that came on your new car will provide good gas mileage and a good ride.
When it comes time for new tires, it is not unusual for car owners to find that the new tires don’t yield gas mileage quite as good as the original tires–particularly if they didn’t check the tire ratings in Consumer Reports, which includes rolling resistance in their ratings.
Next time that you need tires, be sure to check CR’s ratings before you buy your tires.