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My check engine light came on once in February and thats when I took it in but they said it was because I needed an oil change and change filters and they reset it.
The check engine light isn't going to come on just because it's due for an oil change. A service reminder light, perhaps, but not a check engine light.
If you're uncertain about which light is which, look in the owner's manual. It's not just there to occupy space in the glove box, but it's chock full of useful information too.
Do make a habit of KNOWING when your car needs service, not second guessing from a sticker. A little extra attention paid now is much cheaper than major attention needed later.
The first thing that I ask when someone complain about gas mileage is driving habit. I agree with most replies that there needs to be a number that represents practical MPG. Driving a car within short distances between two points will also lend to low gas mileage; especially in the winter. When you mentioned "10 mile radius", is that driving distance or straight-line distance ? 10 miles are considered short commute and for most cars/drivers, the engine is likely below optimum operating temperature. Even if the engine could, the majority of the drive was done on cold engine with closed-loop mode. Bad for the engine, bad for gas mileage.
Another thing is driving habit. This encompasses a range so large, it's impossible to troubleshoot over a thread. I can make my Z06 do nearly 30 mpg or I can make it consume fuel 10x as worse at 3 mpg when racing. How heavy is your right foot ? Do you coast down ? Do you plan your stops ? How often do you use brakes ? Counter-intuitively, the less you use your brakes, the better your gas mileage is.
The ten miles isn't a straight line, its going between two or threeother neighborhoods. It is stop and go traffic (lots of lights and slow construction zones) so I brake often and very rarely put the pedal to the floor. I just filled up my gas tank today and noted the miles so I am going to get a better picture of my fuel economy probably within two weeks.
The check engine light isn't going to come on just because it's due for an oil change. A service reminder light, perhaps, but not a check engine light.
If you're uncertain about which light is which, look in the owner's manual. It's not just there to occupy space in the glove box, but it's chock full of useful information too.
Do make a habit of KNOWING when your car needs service, not second guessing from a sticker. A little extra attention paid now is much cheaper than major attention needed later.
I never noticed a service light but I will read the manual to see if I have one. The dealership told me the check engine light meant it was just time for my oil change, and they also changed the filters too.
I still get mine changed religously every 3k miles (not 10 haha) because my papa always said, if I dont do anything else for my car, just get the oil changed on time and I wont have major problems and I can keep it running long for a while. He had his buick since I was a toddler and it ran fine up til he died!
Running errands 2-3 times a week within a 10 mile radius doesn't really give anyone information to tell you that it's normal or abnormal. Do you run one errand 3 times a week 1 mile from home, or do you drive 100 miles during your 2-3 errand days? If you aren't on the highway, you aren't going to get great mileage, especially with a V6 engine (if you have one).
Unless you calculate the miles per gallon that you are presently getting, it won't be easy for anyone to tell you if it's normal. It probably is normal.
Why am I the first one to note that if the OP is driving the car mostly on short in-town trips, yeah, that will lead to much worse MPG than freeway cruising. Vett touches on this but I think this is your main issue.
If you use the car only for "grandma" type trips like this, not only will your MPG be poor, but this tends to cause sludge build up in at least some recent Toy engines. Sad to say the people who drive like this tend to not pay that much attention to what kind of oil the engine is getting, in terms of viscosity and quality, and tend towards who ever will do the oil change cheap - chain garages and quicky lube parlors - compounding the problem.
A co-worker has been working niteshift for the last few month's and driving his wifes 07 4cyl Camry and leaving his f150 at home to save on gas, his wifes a food broker and puts 200+ miles a day on the car he commutes 80 miles each way so the car has been running 350+ miles a day, he drives 85 to 90 mph she also runs hard. The main complaint about the car is the 140,000+ miles they've put on the car in 2 years.
In otherwords don't worry everythangs O.K. just learn to check your real gas mileage then post that, other than that change the oil and keep the tires pressured up.
A co-worker has been working niteshift for the last few month's and driving his wifes 07 4cyl Camry and leaving his f150 at home to save on gas, his wifes a food broker and puts 200+ miles a day on the car he commutes 80 miles each way so the car has been running 350+ miles a day, he drives 85 to 90 mph she also runs hard. The main complaint about the car is the 140,000+ miles they've put on the car in 2 years.
In otherwords don't worry everythangs O.K. just learn to check your real gas mileage then post that, other than that change the oil and keep the tires pressured up.
Ironically this guy who is driving the car hard is probably keeping his in much better condition than the OP's. OP is seldom getting more than 10 miles away from home, so the car is not really warming up fully, particularly the oil.
I have a 2007 toyota camry 4cyl it gets terrible mileage. 13mpg!! Anybody have the true remedy? I was an Automotive tech for 21 years then retired. I had an '06 it only got 19mpg. This one is worse. Its something with the engine. Plugged in my Autoenginuity and running lean long term. How about people? Anybody up to my speed?
My car is an 07 Camry with the 4 cylinder.When I was working(I am retired) I was driving 48 miles each way rounds trip of 96 miles a day and getting just around 400 + miles a fill up.Once I have retired I do alot of short trips around town and it's been cut in half but a tank last me three to four weeks.This Camry just turned 150,000. Three years ago I trade in my 03 Camry to buy my wife a Hyundai Santa Fe the 03 had 247,000 on it and the check engine light was on and the satellite radio was broken and I still got 2500 for it.
The newer Camry's are supposed to get great gas mileage but if I can go through a quarter of a tank of gas running errands within a 10 mile radius 2-3 times a week. Any ideas what is wrong?
I bought it brand new in 2006, it never got good mileage, I never really noticed how bad it was until this year.....
Fuel consumption often depends on your driving habits. For example, the more you use the car's brakes, the more fuel it will consume. For example, if you press the gas pedal to the metal when the light turns green, and then press the brakes hard as the next light turns red. On short drives there are lots of acceleration and brake use, which in turn increases fuel consumption
Also, ambient temperature affects fuel consumption. On cold days your car uses more fuel when driving, and also because more idling takes place when waiting for the motor to warm. It gets very cold where I live (-20 degrees right now), so my Corolla uses about twice as much fuel during the winter months than it does during the summer.
That aside, maybe your car has a problem that you need to diagnose.
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