car question :P

[smiles4c]

repost of my question from MUA, maybe someone here will know...


Like most of you know, I just got a new car...I have a concern that I thought I'd throw out there, in case someone knows the answer...I haven't been getting anywhere near the mpg I'm supposed to be getting - I'm getting almost ten mpg below what it's supposed to be. Since I got it I've driven 175 miles and I'm almost on empty (they filled it up when I got it)...that's about 15-16 mpg considering that I have a 12 gallon tank. I'm supposed to be getting 26 in the city alone, and I've done both city and highway driving since I got it, so it should be in between that and the 34 I'm supposed to get on the highway. I can't think of any reason it should be so low - I realize that AC sucks up gas, but not *that* drastically...and I haven't even been using it full-blast. I haven't been revving it really high or anything, I've been watching the RPMs. Oh and it's an automatic, if that makes any difference. Anyone have any opinions? I'm really worried that I got a bad car or something!

 

[Cedar]

Check to make sure your gas tank doesn't leak. I *think* by law all cars are supposed to be able to get 200 miles on any given tank of gas. You may also be burning gas inefficiently. Get that car to an auto mechanic sooner rather than later.

 

[Lo-Fi_Thriller]

well that dosent sound that bad but if its bothering you call your dealer.. these are the only things i can think of that might be doing it... is this car a v4. v6. or v8? the higher the V the more gas you are going to burn also it depends if your car is a manual or automatic, automatics take more gas because it takes more mechanisims to shift the car automatically, and manual is shifted by you so it doesn't take extra steps. also it depends on the size of your car, is it compact, sedan, coupe, suv, luxury or a 2 seater? the best catagory to get good milage is a sedan or coupe (nissan ultima, honda accord, toyota celica), some 2 seaters ( like the Toyota mr2 and the Honda s2000 gets great milage ) the best brand of cars to get gas are Honda, Toyota and Acura - Lincoln, Cadillac, and Hummer are the worst (even their small cars get shitty mpg)

me and my mom have 6 cars between us and each car guzzles gas differentley - we might in the next year trade in the Lexus rx300 for the new Hybrid rx400 to see how good a hybrid car gets gas.. i will post the precentages of my cars gas useage, im not sure what my mums cars get. she dosent let me drive them *pouts* all i know is her cadillac suv gets horrible gas, i mean 15/20 - how bad can you get?! she wont get rid if it because my dad bought it before he passed away

my cars and City/Highway gas usesage precentage
Toyota Mr2 Spyder - 12.7 gallon tank - v4 - manual - 35/45mpg
Honda Accord - 17.1 gallon tank- v6 - automatic -25/35mpg
Lexus rx 330 - 24.3 gallon tank - v6 - automatic - 18/24mpg

so do alittle bit of snooping about your car, or tell me what year, brand and style it is i can look up stuff for you

i love cars

 

[jasper17]

Did the dealership tell you when you should change the oil? After I bought mine, they said to drive it for (if I remember correctly) 500 miles and then change the oil. If the car sat on the lot for any length of time, the oil might have gotten stale, which can lead to reduced gas efficiency. I know with mine, if I wait too long, I get as much as 75 miles per tank less. Good luck - hopefully it's something simple.

 

[niecypiecy]

My dealer told me that for the first 10000 kms (don't know what that is in miles) that you will see more fluctuation in the MPG with a brand new car - I have also found by buying a better oil and air filter it helps as the factory ones are shitty and if you put the money into good ones you will see better overall performance of your car.

 

[Janice]

Since it's a brand new car, your engine has a short "break in" period. This can cause the varience in MPG. As Jasper17 commented you should change your oil @ 500 miles, then every 3000. I wouldn't worry about it honestly, your engine just hasn't "broken in" all the seals and gaskets yet.

HTH

 

[Shawna]

What Janice said. My dad is a heavy duty mechanic and he told me the exact same thing. It takes a few weeks for the car to find its own rhythm so to speak. HTH.

 

[mac_obsession]

there is a HUGE difference between city and highway miles...If you are talking city/town miles you will get way less mpg than if you do only drive highway miles. Generally car dealers tell you the highway mpg, as it is the more milage per gallon.

There is no rule or law that states all cars must get 200mpg or anything even close. Hummers obviously get WAY less than a little car like a honda. I have a seabring and it gets better gas mileage than an acura I had, highway miles and about 30 city miles which was much smaller and a coup. I also had a neon that got like 40+ miles to a tank It depends on many factors, emissions, gas burange, gas tank size etc. There probably is no problem, but I would consult a mechanic if you feel its dramatically different than you thought.