2005 Corolla S - Fuel Efficiency

[jpulli2]

I bought my Corolla S automatic new last year August and was surprised by Toyota's claims at 38-40MPG. I was breaking it in, driving very carefully, going no faster than 60mph, and not accelerating too fast. Yet I was only getting 27-28MPG. At about 8,000 miles, I took a 600 mile road trip, cruise control the entire way at 55-65mph and only got 290 miles before the gas light came on. No A/C, no windows open, all regular checkups and changes. Is this a common issue? What can I do to fix it?

[Raddman]

Originally Posted by jpulli2

I bought my Corolla S automatic new last year August and was surprised by Toyota's claims at 38-40MPG. I was breaking it in, driving very carefully, going no faster than 60mph, and not accelerating too fast. Yet I was only getting 27-28MPG. At about 8,000 miles, I took a 600 mile road trip, cruise control the entire way at 55-65mph and only got 290 miles before the gas light came on. No A/C, no windows open, all regular checkups and changes. Is this a common issue? What can I do to fix it?

That's not normal, I would have it checked out...I have a 03S and on trips have gotten around 40+mpg...city is about 32-34mpg but winter driving only gets me around 30mpg, my first summer just regular driving I always got in the upper 30's then it dropped...Using air continuously I lose up to 4 mpg seems like I can almost see the gas gauge go down .....Good Luck...~Radd Guy~

[Mins]

several people seem to complain about thier gas mileage, and i understand your case. I dont know why some ppl are getting such horrible gas mileage- especailly the '05s. I get around 26mpg, which seems close to yours. I never got an answer with this gas consumption thing so far.

[Sz28r]

I have an '05 CE, 5 speed with about 6500 miles on it.
- daily commuter, 90% highway @ 75 mph.

I'm getting approx. 38 mpg every tank.

[Flashmn]

My corolla consumes everything I put in the tank

[mds911]

I have a 2005 LE, same engine but a manual tranny with 6k miles. With 75% highway commuting miles to work, I consistently get 39 mpg. On long drives on highways, around 41 mpg. I hope those who are in the 20's can get this resolved as that kind of mileage almost defeats the purpose of buying a Corolla to begin with. The fuel mileage is to me the #1 reason to own this car. There are many other choices of cars with 20 something mpg.

[jjsagain]

I have a 05 s type with 7500 miles and get real close to what the window sticker claims. I have no complaints on the car at all. I will keep my fingers crossed. I did hear that people using ethanol blended gas are getting about 10% less mileage on all makes of cars.

[Indigo_I_Rolla]

I have an 05 S, manual, and I get roughly 32 in city and 40 on highway. I put an SRI in and my average MPT (miles per tank) went up dramatically. I'm not saying that this will neccisarily help you, but it did for me. I used to get arround 300 MPT, and now I'm getting arround 350-70 MPT.

I've only noticed the drop in gas milage in the automatics, and not so much the manuals. Most likely, it has to do with controlling your RPMs, which you can't do in an auto.

[andrew7459]

I have a 2006 Corolla LE Automatic. I get < 23mpg, "city" driving (30 minute/12.5 mile commute to/from work on suburban roads). Got the car January 2006, been logging every tank/gas purchase since March, 2006.

I do not see much variation in my mpg from Winter, Spring, or Summer. The gas around here had mtbe in winter, 10% ethanol in summer. A/C, no A/C doesn't make a difference.

I have taken my car to the dealer 3 times for this and all they are willing to do is check for codes.

[majortom1981]

I am in NY and we have ethanol in our gas. I know a couple of states just recently started putting it in there gas just like NY.

If your gas has ethanol in it it will drop the mpg drastically.

[daniel2002p]

I have a 05 S and since they started adding ethanol in the gas I get about 35 mpg which is still better than you do, may wanna have the dealer take a look at it.

[majortom1981]

daniel what kind of driving is that 35mpg. I get about 23-25 mpg Mostly lights

[daniel2002p]

I drive mostly highway, about 70 highway and 30% city or so...... 23-25??? That is low for a corolla, even when I was really rough with my car and drive 85 to 90 on the freeway and very fast acceleration I got 28 mpg never went as low as 25.... but I keep my car up to shape, only top tier rated detergent gasonline, change the air filter every 5000 miles with the oil change and all the regular maint.... you should get better than 25 no matter what on the 9th generation corollas

D

[majortom1981]

Where I live its considered city driving. I am stopped at lights a lot of the time.

I get 31 - 35 mpg when I do highway driving.


So I am doing complete city driving with a lot of idling. Plus the ethanol in the gas.

[PhantomS]

Originally Posted by Flashmn

My corolla consumes everything I put in the tank

Ha...yeah, mine too
Seriously, though, our '05 S automatic gets fairly consistently around 33 - 34 mpg....best gas mileage we've ever gotten was approx 38.5 mpg on a long, long hwy trip. I'm satisfied with the efficiency vs performance. I'd be disappointed if getting mileage like the original poster is getting...unless, perhaps, they live in a very mountainous region...mountains kill mpg, especially for cars with smaller, less torquey engines.