EPA fuel economy change from 2009 to 2010

[kettledrum]

I did some searching but didn't find anything on this topic.

I'm currently shopping for a Corolla and both 2009 and 2010s are available in my area. I've noticed from the stickers that the EPA fuel economy numbers went down from 27/35 in the 2009 model to 26/34 in the 2010 model. Does anyone know why? I didn't see that Toyota changed anything that would have affected fuel economy.

[Exit9]

I have read elsewhere in the threads that the 09 was origionially optimizied for maximum fuel economy. Some of the 09s were showing up with oil consumption between oil changes so the factory put in a fix by reprogramming something. This dropped the fuel economy a little and this fix was continued into the 010 models. Someone else may have a better explanation.

[kettledrum]

Thanks for the info. I'll have to read up on the oil consumption issue.

Do you think that any 09s left on the lots would have the reprogramming applied or not?

[FirstXrs]

ECU reflash on remaining '09s? No doubt. As far as fuel economy goes, I have no idea. It could be the reflash, could be new testing requirements.

i.e. the 1GR-FE droping from 240hp to 230hp and 16/21 to 15/19 MPGs in 2006.

Leanburn would probably know the most about this.

[Exit9]

I have got an March 08 vintage 09 and I haven't had any oil loss so far in over !0,000 miles. Oil burning may not depend on early-versus-late year production but maybe something like production tolerance stackup which could vary from unit to unit. Those who experienced oil loss would need to chime in so we could see the pattern if there is one. Maybe it depends which plant it was produced in.

[buddy97]

i also believe the reprogrammed ecu has something to do with it.

however, the manual transmission stayed the same at 26 city/35 highway for the 2010 model, so it makes me wonder if it is possible they did not need to reprogram the ecu's of the 5 speed or that the reprogramming has nothing at all to do with the drop in mileage for the auto????

[LeanBurn]

I emailed Toyota Canada Customer Service concerning the change in EPA ratings over a montha ago...of course no reply.....

IMO there could be a number of reasons why the ratings decreased. Perhaps as someone mentioned...they retested and obtained different results. Maybe its marketing. The numbers are just a rating after all, and can vary from vehicle to vehicle, according to driver habits and weather conditions. You can take any car/driver combination, and with a few simple tweaks get more than what they are currently getting.

As far as I remember there was no stipulation regarding the TSB flash with respect to manufacture dates or manual/auto transmission, it merely states engine size and models affected. We need to monitor and see if anyone with a 2010 exhibits the oil consumption issue, still to early to tell. If the issues still exists in 2010s, the ECU flash isn't a fix.

One sure test would be to have someone who knows of a dealership that readily performs these ECU flashes, and has a good relationship with them and ask if the 2010s have the issue do they also need to be done. If they perform the flash then Toyota hasn't changed the ECU code from factory for any models yet and they are still doing it as a per vehicle basis. I think this is still the way Toyota USA/Canada is handling it, of course the rest of the world has never heard of the issue....

[Jeff Lange]

Only models up until August (I think) 2008 apply for the reflash, 2009 models made since then and all 2010 models have the updated code.

Jeff

[goodman]

Keep an eye on it. My car showed the symptom at 16,000KM. It was just fine before 12,5000

[Cooper S]

I got an May 08 build and 11k....no issues so far and I am using 0w-20 oil

[corollasport09]

I , also have the march 08 corolla 09 sport with 28000 kms (about 20,000 miles) with no oil loss issues and my avg gas consumption is 33 MPG 50% City/50% Hwy

[LeanBurn]

Finally, a response from Toyota:

Thank you for your recent email.

Please be advised that although the vehicle itself hasn't changed, the test method used to measure fuel consumption was changed slightly which resulted in the different rating.

Thank you again for writing.

Sincerely,

Alice McNamee
Customer Interaction Centre
Toyota Canada Inc.

[buddy97]

Originally Posted by LeanBurn

Finally, a response from Toyota:

Thank you for your recent email.

Please be advised that although the vehicle itself hasn't changed, the test method used to measure fuel consumption was changed slightly which resulted in the different rating.

Thank you again for writing.

Sincerely,

Alice McNamee
Customer Interaction Centre
Toyota Canada Inc.

then i find it odd that the 5 speed highway rating did not drop, while the auto did. oh well. i havent had a tank below 40 mpg since april (without hypermiling, just reasonable driving), and as most of us know we should be able to blow away those epa numbers without too much effort. i liked the old epa (pre 2008) numbers because they reflected what you could get with a little effort.

[kettledrum]

Originally Posted by LeanBurn

Finally, a response from Toyota:

Thank you for your recent email.

Please be advised that although the vehicle itself hasn't changed, the test method used to measure fuel consumption was changed slightly which resulted in the different rating.

Thank you again for writing.

Sincerely,

Alice McNamee
Customer Interaction Centre
Toyota Canada Inc.

That could explain a change in the ratings for cars sold in Canada, but in the US, the testing methods changed back in fall of 2007 for 2008 model year vehicles. This would have no bearing on the change between 2009 and 2010 models.

http://www.epa.gov/fueleconomy/420f06009.htm

[buddy97]

Originally Posted by kettledrum

That could explain a change in the ratings for cars sold in Canada, but in the US, the testing methods changed back in fall of 2007 for 2008 model year vehicles. This would have no bearing on the change between 2009 and 2010 models.

http://www.epa.gov/fueleconomy/420f06009.htm

you are correct, sir. the epa didnt change any testing methods on '09-'10. toyota's response, i think, refers to changes that ocurred due to the 2008 method change, which was already reflectd in the 2009 models.