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I’m trying to figure out if my car’s fuel economy is normal for its age. My 2012 sedan is only getting about 23 miles per gallon in mixed driving now, which seems quite a bit lower than when I first bought it. I’m not sure if this is just expected wear on the engine and components or if something specific might be causing the drop.

I had something similar with my 2012 sedan. The mpg slipped into the low 20s after a few years, and I blamed a lot of things at first. Start with the basics: tire pressure, air filter, and a quick spark plug check. I found my tires were a bit underinflated, bumped them up to the door spec, and that helped a touch. Replacing a dirty air filter and a set of plugs around 90k miles also gave me a modest bump.

Driving pattern matters more than you think. If you’re doing mostly city trips or short hops, mpg can sit a lot lower than the highway numbers. Add in winter fuel or cold starts, and a 23 in mixed driving can be totally normal for a high-mileage car. Also watch for sensors dragging performance, like a slow O2 sensor; I had a rough idle once and swapping the sensor helped a couple mpg, not a miracle though.

Not sure if that’s the real problem or just the mix. Have you compared a few tanks on a fairly similar route and temp to see if it’s trending down, or was it just one tank? If you want, I can throw together a simple checklist to run through.

I tried a fuel system cleaner once and felt nothing, then stopped chasing fixes. The things that actually helped were boring: correct tire pressure, clean air intake, good spark plugs, and logging several tanks over a month to see the trend. It’s tempting to chase a cure, but maybe the car is just older and the drivetrain is tired.

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