Mileage?

If a new car totally fails to deliver anywhere near the kind of fuel economy that model is advertised at, are there any options for the owner?? My husband got a new car for work and the km/litre in the ads should mean about 800 km/fill-up and instead he’s getting about 450 km. Our 11 year old Honda Civic gets about 600 kms per fill, now we’re wondering if his employers can do anything about it…the car is almost exclusively highway driven so it’s rather painfully obvious that it’s underperforming.

When a car is tested for mileage, it is tested in optimum conditions.

[quote=“Saffron”]
If a new car totally fails to deliver anywhere near the kind of fuel economy that model is advertised at, are there any options for the owner?? My husband got a new car for work and the km/litre in the ads should mean about 800 km/fill-up and instead he’s getting about 450 km. Our 11 year old Honda Civic gets about 600 kms per fill, now we’re wondering if his employers can do anything about it…the car is almost exclusively highway driven so it’s rather painfully obvious that it’s underperforming.[/quote]

Don’t forget your car’s fuel economy depends on environmental conditions, road conditions and difficulty (curves and hills), and how you control the gas pedal.

My 09 Corolla XRS can theoretically do 531KM city driving only (9.4L/100KM), and because my daily commute consists of heavy traffic, 10 traffic lights, not being easy on the gas and the occasional hooker jaywalking across 6 lanes of pavement, my car can usually do 450KM at every pump visit.

But then, does your husband find anything unusual such as high engine idle RPM, vibrations, and all those bits and pieces?

Your Mileage May Vary*  :-)

I get about 6L/100km when I set the cruise control to 84-85km/hour.  When I do 110km/hour, I get about 10L or 11L/100km.  It just happens that 85km/hour is the most efficient use of the gears, I guess.  In my case it blows away the advertised mileage when I do 85.

So perhaps try a bunch of different speeds – does it have a mileage computer that can be reset, etc?

But if your car is getting truly horrible mileage, take it back to the dealer and explain it.  Maybe there’s something faulty.  Document your interaction.  If they don’t do anything about it, go a step higher, etc.  Keep it all documented, though.  Chances are that someone in the big huge corporation will want to Do The Right Thing, and fix things.

I’d love to tell you about a similar interaction I had with a Big Huge Corporation, where the local people screwed up, and then denied it, tried to screw me over.

I sent a complaint up the ladder, until someone responded.  Which they did when I threatened legal action and gave a firm date for response.  They saw that I had everything documented, including saved voicemails (awesome!).  The reason I can’t tell you about it, of course, is that the legal settlement they paid included a non-disclosure agreement :smile:  

What kind of car is it?

Mileage computer is so nice to have.  :-D

My new car gets much worse gas mileage than my talon at much lower speed  :frowning:

Fortunately it doesnt use premium gas though so it all works out in the end… except for the lack of balls… my car has no balls.

Make sure the tires are properly inflated. 32lb’s (33lbs if you like it a little stiffer) is good for most small cars, your Honda Civic included.

On the highway, check the RPM guage and make sure that you are in the highest gear possible, while maintaining the cars RPM at 2500 RPM or less. I’ll go to Terrace on a 1/4 tank if I keep it at 90 Kph (2200-2300 RPM on my car). If I drive 110-120 Kph the car is just over 3000 RPM and I’ll use a 1/2 tank both ways.

It’s a Chevy Aveo ( brand new) and according to the product page I just Googled, should be getting around 700 km on a full tank (40 L) of gas. I know my husband drives it in about the same way he drives our Civic, so getting only 450km on a full tank is simply crap. I’m going to mention everyone’s advice to him and hopefully something can be done about it one way or another…right now his fuel economy is hovering somewhere around the numbers he was getting with the beater work truck he was using for the past few years but now he’s got less carrying capacity. LOL!

  haha… go purchase some bulls balls they sell…  have it welded to the underside of the back bumper… lol… then you’ll have surely have some balls jesus…

Ok, so if it’s a brand new (automatic) Aveo, according to the brochure, it should be about 8.2L/100km, or 487km per 40L if my math is right.  On the highway, it should be able to do 5.8L/100km, or 689km per 40L. 

My guess is that the highway number is accurate only in the top gear, and only if you’re keeping it at an optimal speed for that gear.  And maybe with no hills :smile:

Is being driven on the highway?  Cruise control?  If so, it might just be going way too fast to get the ideal mileage.  That’s what happens to me, anyway, and I’d echo what MeepMeepZoom says about the RPMs.

Prince Rupert isn’t a great fuel economy town.

If you think that something is defective with your car, try this: Fill the tank right to the max. Record your current odometer reading. Drive to Terrace. Fill the tank right to the max. Subtract your original odometer reading from current odometer reading. Divide the amount of fuel that you added in Terrace by the difference in odometer readings and multiply by 100. This will give you a liters per hundred kilometers figure. Compare that to the advertised figures.

If the majority of the driving is within Prince Rupert, I wouldn’t expect you to come anywhere near the advertised consumption though.

Looking at MiG’s math, getting 450km to a tank is pretty close to the advertised rate for city use.

Unfortunately the car is used almost exclusively on the highway- his office is literally a ten second drive away from Highway #1.

I guess the part we find odd is how our much older car seems to be outperforming what should be a much more efficient vehicle but I’ll mention all the tips to my husband and he can try them out.
:unamused:

Lemme guess: Is it on the freeway stretch between eastern edge of Langley and Chilliwack? People driving there treating it like an Autobahn on steroids. O_O

Ok, so if it’s highway driving, what speed is he doing?  Like MeepMeepZoom above, I can literally halve my fuel usage driving from Rupert to Terrace by driving at 85 instead of 105.

So the key is to figure out where the sweet spot is on that car.

Nope, not in the Fraser Valley or the GVRD.

It’s a fleet car, so he keeps it just at or under the speed limit. (90 kph in this area)

I still think if I squeezed it hard enough, I could make some lemonade!

My car’s sweet spot is 107 kmh, aout 1800 rpm on cruise.
If I set it to 90 kmh like when it;s bad road conditions, I have way too much gas left when I get home.
My 3.5L V6 Saturn gets better mileage to and from Prince George than my 660cc 3 cyl. minitruck. Which is cranking 6500-7500 rpm doing highway speeds and is as aerodynamic as an upright sheet of plywood.

Recently we took a trip to Edmonton. From Rupert to PG it averaged 7.8 l / 100 km. By the time we got to Edmonton the average had dropped down to 6.6 l / 100 km. So assuming PG is about 1/2 way that means the other side of PG we averaged about 5.4 l / 100 km. We hardly hit any construction except in Edmonton and had almost no idling time. We have a Honda Fit and it took our car about a year to “break in”. A couple years ago when we first bought it, you could easily add 1.5 - 2 litres per 100 km, but it has slowly come down.

Back in my day, you got 40 rods to the hogshead and liked it!