Poor mpg 37/38 / Pulls legt when breaking

[billcoo]

Traded a 06 that got good mpg for a 08 while in Fla. Now back home )ny) the dealer blames everything on the aftermarket tires which was on the car when I bought it new....And says to bad. Its after market products. And they are the problem. If I want anything done about it I have to take it back to florida...Is this correct???

[dallas27]

you're posting in the wrong forum location.

[Bohous]

How many miles are on the '08? Maybe its just not broken in. I took a hit when I put on brand new tires but not that much. If it's a brand spankin' new car I would give it a few 1000 miles before panicking.
Also, do you know who and why they put aftermarket tires on a new car? I would imagine you would have to deal directly with the dealer you purchased it from to resolve any issues.

[Devil's Advocate]

Tell the dealer to shove it up his butt, tell the dealer you want to discuss this with the Toyota Zone rep. Now you probably lose about 2 MPG because of the aftermarket tires, and because they are aftermarket you probably have to go and get it aligned from a reputable shop yourself. Armed with the fact that the car is properly aligned, if the problem persists, go back to the dealer. He's just sore you didn't by it from him, but that's retarded since your coming to him for the juicy warranty repairs!

[Codyroo]

Have the alignment checked by a reputable alignment shop. There is a big thread in the fuel economy forum regarding this.

http://priuschat.com/forums/fuel-eco...pg-67-a-3.html

Make sure you read Dogfriend's link/story in case your rear alignment is out of specs.

[ZC1]

If the alignment doesn't correct the pull left problem, have the tire shop swap both front tires (left goes on right, right goes on left)then take a test drive, if it's worse, it's the tires.
A simple X pattern rotation works for this case.

ZC1

[galaxee]

"juicy" and "warranty repairs" don't belong in the same phrase.

could be an issue with the tires- zc1's suggestion is very simple and could answer the question quickly.

[ginostef]

I had a problem with my 04 Prius that was similar. After rotation, the Goodyear Comfortred tires started "humming" at 25mph, vibrating and it actually felt like a bad CV joint used to feel. Dealer checked it out again, and found a tread separation on one of the tires, on the circumference belt. Didn't notice it much before because it was on the rear. Anyway - they couldn't fix it so I bought 4 new tires from TireRack (Kumho's) that are just great. The mileage went back up to 48-52 also. Alignment is super critical on these cars - they want only a very little bit of toe-in, whcih makes them a bit "darty" on the road, but works okay.

Other possibility is the rotational sensors on your brakes. They can become whacky and start braking erratically - I had that happen early in the life of my Prius. They replaced the wheel sensors and it was never a problem again. The pulling totally disappeared.

Good luck!

[Tideland Prius]

*moved to care/maintenance/troubleshooting forum*

[Pjdb987]

I have had my 08 Prius for 2 months now and I get 37-38 mpg on it, every tank of gas. I always assumed it was due to the short city drive i had.