archtech88

So, I've had my little 2005 Scion xA for a couple years now, and while my mileage was pretty great at first (around 30mpg), it is now getting more along the lines of 23-25mpg. I have no idea as to what might be wrong with it and I am tired of getting sh*t mileage out of what should be a beautiful and effective machine.

Does anyone have any ideas, or should I just take it to the dealership and just say "My car has ____ty mileage, I don't know why, can you make it better?"

I've worked on Cars with my uncle in the past, but the Scion is proving difficult to do as we don't have access to the DIY Repair Manual for it since no one seems to make them for my car.

Does anyone have any advice?

jct

clean your tb, maf, replace your sparkplugs, pcv valve, airfilter... and it's winter gas doesn't help either. run some FI cleaner too

mdhyre

I agree. I had a '05 xA for nine years. I was getting 38-40 mpg using Summer gas and 35-37 with winter gas. Two things I did to mine that seemed to boost fuel economy was I installed a KN air filter and cleaned it once a year. I also used Mobil 1 synthetic oil since it was weaned off break in oil. This oil can be run for 10,000 plus miles between changes. One other thing I did was install a sway bar which let me take corners faster and handle MUCH better. The mpgs were by scan gauge and checked periodically using old school math (miles/gallons). It was checked at each fueling so I know it was pretty accurate.

If you're not getting at least 34 mpg then something is wrong (faulty egr, Cat Conv or dirty air filter).

'but the Scion is proving difficult to do as we don't have access to the DIY Repair Manual for it since no one seems to make them for my car'

I disagree. I have had one for ten years but I hardly ever used it. It's in a PDF on My GDrive. If you give me your e-mail I'll let you download it from there.

Good luck,
M.

gsxrdoug

Make sure your tires are at proper pressure. 34-36 psi depending on what tires. Also what the other guys said. I just got mine and did my first reading and it gets 33mpg with 70k on it. That is half city half high way.

Super-Stormtrooper07

Don't be a lead foot, shift quick thru the gears (if you have a manual that is). Don't stay in 1st 2nd gear that long. In this car, from what I've heard/read, people with manuals get better mpg.

jct

oddly enough ppl with the autos get even better mpgs than the manuels

Super-Stormtrooper07

If you know how to shift a manual fast from 1st into 4th , then manuals can/will do better mpg wise. Driving an auto, the computer auto shifts when it gets to a certain speed / rpm. Manuals also weigh less then autos. ** Strength to weight is key, with any car/ truck , but not everyone thinks that when buying a new car/truck.