Howdy. I just stumbled upon this resource, and wish I knew about it longer! I've got 9700 miles on my 2004 Accord, and for the entire time it's gotten between 29 and 32 MPG. For the last two tanks it's dropped to 22 MPG.

The dealer says this is normal because of the cold weather, the change in gas formulation this time of year, and the higher rolling resistance of snow tires. (He checked to see if anything was dragging in the driveline or brakes, and all was OK.)

I'd buy the "they all do it" response if we were talking about 3-4 MPG, but not for that drastic a drop. This is my 49th car, and the first one to lose so much mileage in cold weather.

Should I just bite the bullet here, or can anybody suggest a solution?

Thanks!

David (in Central NY)

 

i would get a second opinion from another dealer. ive never had any of mine drop like that and also never heard of it.

 

Thats not normal.

 

not sure about where you live, but in a lot of states they no longer change gasoline formulation in winter months. its oxygenated year round. you might want to check that out.

cold weather typically makes the engine run a little bit better, not worse.

snow tires shouldn't add that much rolling resistance, but are they the same size as your stock tires? if they aren't, they could be throwing your odometer off. This probably isn't it though. you'd have to have tires waaaayyyy off to make that much differece.

It's not normal for a properly operating car to lose 9 mpg. something is wrong. If the dealership isn't willing to invest the time and effort to troubleshoot this, and keep a customer happy, I'd suggest you find a different one that values your business. most likely culprit is a bad o2 sensor, but that should throw a check engine light.

OT - 49th car you're either a lot older than the typical internet user, or you've been through a lot of cars. either way, welcome

 

Thanks for the replies, and the welcome.

I suspected something was wrong, and thought it might be the o2 sensor, but the dealer didn't find anything wrong with it. The Blizzaks are the same size as the stock tires, and I've used them on other cars for years without any problem. I'm going to monitor the next few tanks to see if this was an anomoly. If the milesage stays in the toilet it's off to Ithaca. What a PITA!

OT: Both. I'm 55, and for a while was seriously nuts about old cars. (I also had three Accords -- all first-generation, bought new -- prior to this one.)

 

keep checking it, and if it gets worse, definately seek another dealer's opinion. by the way, do you have the v6 or the 4? not sure if that matters, but it could. oh, and welcome to honda tech.

 

Thanks; it's the 4.
d

 

I drive another model car and bought a honda as a temporary ride. Coming to this site, I thought all the posters were teen agers. glad to see someone my own age (actually, you are several years younger) on here.

By the way, I had a similar gas mileage problem on my audi. turns out the thermostat was open too much and wouldn't allow the engine to get hot enough. the computer sensed this and kept the mixture too rich, decreasing the gas mileage.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jayshonda &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
By the way, I had a similar gas mileage problem on my audi. turns out the thermostat was open too much and wouldn't allow the engine to get hot enough. the computer sensed this and kept the mixture too rich, decreasing the gas mileage. </TD></TR></TABLE>


hmmmm....thats worth a look. you'd never know it from the temp gauge in the dash, it realy only has 4 positions: cold, normal, hot , and ohshit!

 

The biggest thing to look at when you have such a drematic mileage drop (since it is getting colder) you want to pay attention to warming up the car and your driving habits. I know my mileage drops a couple mpg's because of me letting the car warm up.

I use all season tires so I can't speak for the "added friction" of snow tires but the theory is possible. But something that would cause such a large drop in mpg would be either a clogged cat or a bad o2 sensor(s).

I would go to another dealer and welcome to h-t

 

I have a 98 accord auto 4cyl sedan. How many MPG can I expect or where cna i go to find the spec that will give me the answer.

 

I thought normally gas mileage INCREASES as your car gets older. Mine did. But then again, if you had to switch to snow tires and have to slog through snow, that'll definitely be a factor.

But if none of those conditions exist, then this probably is not normal.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by eladius &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I thought normally gas mileage INCREASES as your car gets older. Mine did. But then again, if you had to switch to snow tires and have to slog through snow, that'll definitely be a factor.

But if none of those conditions exist, then this probably is not normal.</TD></TR></TABLE>

This is not true.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by david515 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> (I also had three Accords -- all first-generation, bought new -- prior to this one.)</TD></TR></TABLE>

awesome