1997 4cyl Camry fuel mileage

[Doity]

I hate to waste everyone's time with another gas mileage thread, but I just filled my tank and calculated the mileage to be at 20.5 miles per gallon. It has 67,000 miles and an automatic transmission. I just gave it new plugs and wires and an air filter. The plugs looked normal enough. Before I got it, the oil was changed meticulously every three thousand miles. And as it sits the oil may need changed again, but it does not look sludgy at all. It idles nicely and accelerates without a hitch. My revolutions per minute rarely touch three thousand.

I bought this to replace my 1989 Mazda B2200 pickup as my daily commuter. However, right now the truck is outshining the Camry, which really disappoints me. I was hoping the Camry would get at least 25 miles to the gallon. I have read just about every posting regarding the gas mileage of this car that is on this site. If any of you could do me a great favor by offering advice i would be very grateful.

Thank you for your time and help.

Also, this posting was created twice, I am not sure why. Perhaps a moderator could delete one of these.

[hill8570]

What's your driving mix? 20-ish is at the low end -- it's what I'd expect for lots of very short trips (not much warm-up time) or completely stop-and-go (stoplights every block or two). OTOH, you can get mid-thirties doing conservative (55 or under) highway miles.

[Doity]

I have some cityish driving. It's not really that horrible because it is not that busy of a city. The rest is freeway driving. Fifteen miles on the freeway to school and fifteen miles back. I go 60 miles per hour and it sits at about 2200 rpms. Five or so miles to work through city traffic. I also give it about five minutes to warm up before I drive it anywhere. Most of my driving is done while the engine is at operating temperature.

If there is any information that I can provide about the car that may help, please ask. I will do my best to answer them. I have had this car for only three weeks