So I recently bought this car with navi and about 49,000 miles on it and it is snowing here in chicago and i drive city mostly. I checked and I'm only getting 11 mpg. I know it is a 10 year old car, but is there anything you guys can help me to figure out what I can do to improve this number or if theres something wrong with the car.

 

^are you using premium fuel?
are your tires inflated to proper specs?
are o2 sensors working correctly?

 

I recently bought the car from the dealer so I've only used half the tank and haven't filled it up yet. Could the air filter have something to effect the mpg?

 

Yes.

And how are you checking your mileage if you haven't burned a full tank of gas? Tell me you are estimating

 

no on the TL by the dashboard where you can see what your mpg is and it told me im getting 11mpg. It can also tell you the weather outside and stuff. I'm not estimating.

 

I know when the temperatures dropped, so did the PSI in my tires. I went from 34/35 to 27/28. This could be a contributing factor, maybe not.

 

So what is your average speed? Guessing it is less than 20mph?

 

ok I will check. Do any of you guys notice a dramatic difference in your mpg in the winter vs the summer?

 

about 30 mph

 

Well unless it was reset when it was last filled and/or you have reset it, it could be way off.
What is your Avg MHP? There is a correlation between Avg MPH and MPG. 11 MPG does seem low, but you are doing primarily city so it's possible.
Are you someone who goes out and starts your car to let it warm up in the AM. If so, you are getting zero MPG while it is sitting and warming and that is getting averaged in.
If you can tell us a little more about your driving habits etc, we might be able to help, but again you said recently bought the car. How many tanks of gas have you purchased/burned?

 

haha, after reading this it hit me.. I let me car warm up for about 10 minutes in the morning in the winter before I get in. Not just because its "good" for the motor, but because me and the ice cold leather do not get along.

 

Go get on the Interstate, set the cruise at 60MPH, reset your MID and drive 10 miles. Report back the stats. This number won't reflect your real world MPG, just another data point.

After that, drive like you normally do for 200 miles and report back the stats. Any "spirited" driving will tank your MPG very quickly...especially if you don't have lots of highway miles to balance out.

Winter fuel blends quite often will lower your MPG a bit.....usually in my experience, no more than 1-2MPG. Usually winter lowers MPG since people like to warm their cars up so they don't freeze their butts off.

 

- How ice cold is it getting in Virginia Beach??

 

hey hey hey... I'm in D.C. now! It was 5 the other morning!

 

Just busting on you!! My daughter goes to school in Harrisonburg

 

It is 11 mpg and 9 mph because i don't drive that often and used about half the tank, but haven't filled it back up yet.

 

More often than not with these MPG complaints, the car is performing as intended.

The car gets 0 MPG when idling, and DRAMATICALLY worse economy when cold. 11 MPG aint bad for 9 MPH.

 

Waste of time. How can you say you're getting lousy mileage when you've never checked mathematically? Wait until you fill, write down the mileage, then fill again, then you'll have the miles driven and the fuel consumed.

 

Eh city driving alone (in Brooklyn and queens) with very little HW miles, i get about 210 miles per tank. When i do take the highway, i avg about 250, then the gas light turns on. It's not amazing on gas, but its decent.

 

If you take the highway your only getting 250? How long is the trip on the highway?

If I take the interstate to work (around 15 miles there, and 15 miles back) I can average around 300-320 to the tank.

 

How many miles per tank is a pointless conversation. How many of these MPG threads do we have to have for everyone to understand that. What defines a tank of gas? 12 gallons? 13 gallons? When the light comes on? When it is on "E"? Fill the car up, reset the MID, drive till you "feel" it is empty. Check the MID and do the math with miles driven divided by gallons required to fill it back up. Compare the two and there you go.

These cars can average anywhere from 10-35MPG depending on how you drive them. If you stay on the highway running steady speeds below 70MPH, expect mid-30s. If you get into stop and go traffic, expect down in the low 20s. If you drive like a mad man, idle a bunch, or drive in really heavy stop and go, expect down in the teens.

If you don't like that, you should consider a lighter vehicle with a smaller engine.

 

About 20 miles
Not sure if your argument was directed towards me, but i use it as a "rough" estimate. If i wanted to investigate it, i would have definitely put more research into it. It's not like one week I'm driving like a mad man, then the next i decided to drive more "efficiently". I keep my driving habits consistent, and was just throwing my estimated miles per tank out there. Would 1-2 gallons be that much of a difference? I obviously wouldn't push my car to those lengths, and risk getting stranded, nor will i invest that time to ensure what actual lengths my car can go to.

As always, nothing here is a proven fact without substantial data, and anyone coming here looking for definitive numbers shouldn't be referencing this thread. I just wanted to get a ballpark estimate to see if i was matching up with others. Because, if you're driving like a mad man, and coming in here posting your MPG or Miles per Tank, your just throwing everyone else off.

No flaming or bashing intended