my mother has a 2002 Toyata Rav4, these last 2 weeks, it has been giving her really shitty gas mileage, she tells me that she filled up the tank 2 days ago and now she has a bit less than half a tank.... maybe you guys could point me in the right direction as to what might be going wrong in her car....also...she has only driving, home, work, home, work, its not far at all inbeetween.

-jon

 

Check the air filter.

 

she just bought it like 2 months ago, do you think that might need changing already?

-jon

 

Try switching to plus gas. It may make a difference.

 

she uses the highest rating, against my telling her it really doesnt matter.

jon

 

check the tire air pressure.

 

tire pressure and maybe driving habits. Is she doing a lot of in town driving now?

 

id definatly tell her to save her money... that car isnt built to take advantage of 'good gas'

 

she really doesnt do that much driving intown, ever once in a wile to a areobic excersise walk program, like once a week or something, what should her tire pressure be for good gas mileage, the tires havent been messed with since she bought the car.


jon

 

I just find that funny, she drives to a place to go walk.

even if the tires haven't been messed with, they can loose pressure. buy a pressure guage, keep it in the glove box, and check the air pressure at least once a month. believe me it does make a difference in fuel economy and tire wear. no idea what it shoudl be set at but it should be in both the owners manual and on a sticker on the drivers door jamb.

other thing that could cause poor fuel mileage is a bad O2 sensor. probably not, and it would most likely throw a check engine light, but don't rule it out...the car should still be under warranty so it's worth taking back to the dealer for a checkup

 

will do...

jon

 

if its a 4wd, maybe she's left that mode on. 4wd = suckie suckie gas mileage...

 

my mom got this same car for christmas...its nice...much better than the older ones...but the downfall is the MPG..its horrible!