I have had my 06.5 xB since June and I have 14,700 miles on it. I have averaged 30 - 35 MPG on every tank. I mostly drive 65 - 70 on the highway....and that's 90% of the time, the rest of the time is sitting in traffic or running errands. My commute is 30 miles one way to work. I have a lead foot and I take off from the red lights pretty quick. I have an automatic and all I have is a K&N Air Filter. I did buy some new rims a few weeks ago and they are lighter than my stock ones, so I have noticed my mileage has improved about 1MPG.

 

You got worries.. I bought my xB (new, 2006, stock, automatic) some 3 week or so ago. I've put 2 tanks into it, and one as I drove off the lot. So yesterday I hit 512 miles with half a tank. Thats 2 1/2 tanks for 512 miles, which gives me like 17 miles to gallon! So I'm really interested in seeing what kind of results you get.

I'm a conservative driver. All in town driving, usually 5 miles or less a trip (I drive between school & city buildings all day). My commute to the office is 1/4 mile.

So I'm freaking out a bit.... But here is my wife's thought (she's the car person, I'm the techie).

Being "winter" here in New England, I'm running the car cold a lot, it's sucking gas getting warm.

Anyone have any thoughts?

I'm thinking of swapping cars with her for a few days, as she does outside sales and drives a ton a day, and see what she gets for milage.

 

I've gotten as low as 20 MPG in my manual xB this winter. I drive all city and during rush hours. My round trip to work can be as short as 4 miles. Most of my other town trips are typically less than 5 miles. Sounds like you have similar driving so it's reasonable that you've gotten 17 MPG with an automatic when it's cold. Wait until it gets warmer and you'll probably see mid 20's.

Also remember your engine is still breaking in and winter blend gas will give lower mileage. Maybe you're also running the defroster which turns on the A/C compressor. If I were you, I'd take some longer trips to break the engine in (first 500 to 1000 miles) at normal operating temperature instead of a bunch of short, cold start trips.

 

She's right; a cold engine is an inefficient engine. If you warm it up while standing still you are getting 0mpg. The you do 5 miles of local driving. This is the worst possible scenario for good gas mileage.

Also, you need to base your calculations on actual numbers, not "tanks." How many gallons of gas, precisely, did it take to go how many miles? Set a trip odo when you fill up, and the next time you fill up divide the miles shown on that trip by the number of gallons it took to fill it back up.

R

 

Well, one of the things is I have not "warmed the car up" in the driveway in the morning, or at other stops. So since I take such short hops, they are mostly while the engine is cold, being inefficient.

I only got a good calculation as you suggest for my 2nd tank. I tried my first, but I had to return to the dealership on that tank for the alarm install, and lost my trip odom reading with a power disconnect. I calculated about 16-17 on my 2nd tank, and at half my third wanted to see if any improvement....

 

i drive my car hard. every day i drive it i run it up past 6 grand.

i still get just over 32mpg and i have an exhaust, stock (most likely clogged) air filter and i drive about 100+ miles a day, just running people around. and going to work and such

 

I contacted Scion again (about 10 minutes ago) and talked to the guy who was "handling" my claim. He said he contacted the stealership and talked to the service manager and is trying to arrange the consumption test. The service manager called my cell at 6:30 on friday evening, but I was in a restuarant, by the time I noticed, it was like 7:30, and the manager was gone for the day. I called the service dept, on saturday morning (when she was there) and left a message on her voicemail to call me back. Still no reply as of 3:15 today.

I asked what a consumption test will do if they don't guarantee mileage, and if they can't find a problem with the ECU. He sidestepped around that question, and pretty much said that I would be screwed.

I'm just so ____ed off that they are doing practically nothing for me.

 

Well, I guess, first things first right. Perhaps they will find an issue. I would assume the test will give a highly accurate accounting of mileage. At least then you'll have something to compare too. Granted mileage isn't guaranteed, but in my eyes, and the spirit of lemon laws, it should be 'reasonably' close to the advertised mileage.

 

Aren't lemon laws about mechanical problems? If they say that there isn't a mechanical problem, then technically they will just say that its the way I drive. All I gotta say, is that when I go to the dealership to pick up my car after this test is done, and they say the problem is because of the way I drive, I'm going to raise Hell.

 

Under those conditions, 17 mpg is understandable.

 

If it's running that rich (mpgs in the teens) then it IS a mechanical or electrical problem. My bet is either maf sensor, O2 sensor or ECU.

 

Ah, Good Point.

 

I drive 80+ mph to and from work (freeway) I shift at 4000 - 4500, and I get 30 - 32mpg, the higher Rpms you shift at in the standard the better the mileage

 

What is the snorkel thing on the air box? is that the little plastic intake tube that pops off the air box?

 

Yep!

 

Ok, Had to drop off a new camry from work, and decided to stop by the service department since they refuse to return phone calls. Talk to the Service manager and she tried to explain to me the "break in" period of the engine. She said she drives a 07 Ford Mustang and shes getting bad gas mileage

Me: What kind of car do you drive?
Moron: Ford Mustang
Me: What kind of mileage do you get?
Moron: 18-19 MPG
Me: V8?
Moron: Yes.
Me: How do you think its ok for a V8 Mustang to get 18-19 MPG, and a 4 cylinder xB gets only 20-21 MPG?
Moron: Depends on how you drive.

Long story short, consumption test will be done Monday 3-26-07.

Oh yeah, She said if there was a problem with the o2 sensor or maf, that it would throw a CEL. Couldn't there be a problem and the misfunctioning part not communicate right with the ECU?

 

its possible, could be a bad ecu as well

 

Higher RPMs for better mileage? Really?

I don't think so. Higher RPMs require that you press the accelerator harder which uses MORE gas than a lighter press of the accelerator.

If you're accelerating briskly, you need higher RPMs before going into the next gear, to avoid "lugging" the engine, but for best mileage, it's better to accelerate more gently and shift at lower RPMs, pressing the accelerator more lightly in the next gear.

 

I call all of the stealer____s BS, I know how you feel bro.

Nothing to do with a scion but my girlfriends 2006 Honda civic sedan, automatic is doing about 225miles on a full tank, when it says it does 30/40. She basiclly drives like a granny doing 35-40 city driving, and she never does any highway driving.

they did all kinds of test on it and it never got fixed, basiclly they told me to call their corporate office but i have never gotten around to do it.

if you find a problem let me know i will try the same with her car.

 

I found this to not be true. I have a ScanGauge II and can monitor my MPG by the second. I've noticed that when I drop down to around 2000 RPM's it is harder for my car to maintain that speed and requires me to push the pedal in farther. If I keep my car in the 3500 range it takes less to maintain that speed and I've noticed my MPG has improved by 4-5 MPG by doing this.