I bought a Vibe used with a little under 69000 miles for $5000, which I was excited about. About a week later (before I had a chance to really see for myself what the fuel economy was like with my normal usage) some hit and run driver dinged the front driver's side fender. Took it to a shop to get the wheel alignment reset, but didn't get the fender restored to save some money as I was having to pay out of pocket and was told the damage was cosmetic and wouldn't affect performance.
Since that time, my MPG has plummeted from 265 miles per 11 gallons (24mpg) to 240 miles per 11 gallons (22 mpg) to 198 miles per 11 gallons on my most recent tank (18mpg). I'm not sure how much of this is due to my driving habits (I commute to and from work short trips - 3miles each way in city traffic - and some highway miles on the weekends) or the cold weather (live in Pittsburgh), or the snow tires I have on the car, or if the accident is affecting things.
One of the things I appreciated about the Vibe was its solid fuel economy (EPA listed 26 mpg city/31 highway) but I'm getting significantly below even the low end of the EPA estimate for city driving. Is this reasonable?
Other 2009 Vibe drivers, what MPG do you normally get (city/highway/overall)? Just trying to get a sense for what is normal before deciding if I need to take it into a different shop for a second opinion on the accident.