Actual gas mileage

[Bedlam]

wondering what to do about my vibe. I have an 07 with no mods that i generally travel with only my laptop in. I am over 13000 miles after 2.5 months of ownership so needless to say economy is of major importance to me. i have tracked every fillup and my milage has continued on a down trend despite driving 95-100% highway and consistently filling up with shell(top teer gas according to GM). I have a 5-spd and do a LOT of coasting down the backs of hills so the car is only idling and generally travel at 65mph but my tanks have begun to average 25-26mpg and it is driving me insane knowing that i should be getting nearly 400 miles per tank rather than barely reaching 300. 2 different dealers looked at my car and said it must be my driving and the car is fine and other people get better milage because they drive better in different conditions which has infuriated me since i never had an issue with my 5spd neon i owned for 250,000 miles before this. after calling GM direclty a few times they finally gave me a final case closed answer of the dealer says nothing is wrong with your car and it must be you so there is nothing we can do about it. thanks, goodbye. so right now i am debating on ghostriding my car into the dealership showroom or getting allstate with new car replacement and crashing it then. btw i also change oil with mob1 full syn every 3000 miles and i am at my wits end. anyone have any clues or know of anything specific i can do about this. i love the vibe but mine deinfately has an issue and i no longer want this specific one and am leaning towards dumping it despite financial loss and getting an 06 or something.

[joatmon]

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=6088&#p65128 has a list from the 2003 service manual about what to check if mileage is lower than expected. Sounds like the dealers you have gone to only see the step about "blame the driver"What octane gas are you using? some people say higher octane gas will give better mpgs, but I use 87 in mine, the one tank I tried higher octane I got worse mpg, How are your tires? perhaps have the alignment checked. That's one thing about my car, I have gotten a lot better life out of the tires than expected. Have you noticed any drop in power to accompany the drop in mpgs? (might be too gradual to notice) pmh013 had a lot of power and economy issues as a result of bad catalytic converters

[Bedlam]

alignment is perfect, tires and car are BRAND NEW, checked all the normal crap. this isn't my first car. i use 87 because thats what the engine is designed for. i told them as well that sometimes if i am on a hill and i ride out first a lil bit i get a hesitation half the time at 2700-3000rpm and the power goes and comes back. i reset tripB for both of the dealers that check it and one drove it 2.1 miles and the other 3.2. i loved when those a$$holes saidn they gave it a full runthrough and how necessary it was for them to keep my car the entire day so they could give it a full runthrough

[Tubaryan12]

Hey Bedlam?Have you checked the air filter? I know it shouldnt be bad yet, but when I got mine (used) the filter was way dirtier than any other car I have owned at that same mileage. Check the tube from filter box out as well...you never know. Its still early in the car's life. 13000 miles in 2.5 months definitly means that it didn't get a gentle break in period. The same thing happened to my wife's car. We bought it, then took it on a long trip. Its mileage has never been close to what it should be. Maybe that has something to do with it...who knows?

[Bedlam]

thanks for the ideas Tubarayan. just went through and checked those over about 2 weeks ago tho. and for breakin i had some downtime for work and did the first 700+ miles of sub 2500rpm country driving with a lil highway mix and stop and go. gf and i took it round the back roads of new england while i still had my grand prix before i put it into service with non stop highway driving.-mike

[ProtonXX]

I have a scan guage 2.My mileage went up to around 37mpg in the city after putting the stock box in but it only does 25-27 average on the free way (lol?). I live in Vegas with dry air & every other main street is like a 55mph highway. Using 91 octane gas + octane booster vs 87 gas(without booster) made 0 gains in mileage

[VivaVibe]

As mentioned in a prior post, my 04 Base is new to me, and I've been keeping pretty close tabs on my driving habits and other factors to see what MPGs I can get with it.Factors that could affect results: 04, Base, AT, 16" alloys w/ stock tires, no mods, using little if any A/C or defrost. Try to stay at or below 2500rpm in mainly city driving with some highway, mosty flat terrain, and warm weather in Florida, 87 octane, and dino oil.First tank got 29mpg (low tire pressure went unnoticed), second got 30mpg, third got 31mpg. I'm very impressed to get at or better than the stated ratings.

[DopeVibeGT]

I actually got the best gas mileage a couple weeks ago on a trip down to MD, 390 miles on a tank of gas, which is 32-33 mpg.....this is in a GT.....that had a bad cat.. LOL

[KNINE]

I was getting 32 MPG untill recently. Will the cold weather reduce my gas milage?

[TJinPgh]

Yup, quite a bit, depending on how cold it is. Plus, the winter formulation of gasoline isn't as efficient as the summer blend, from what I'm told. I have no real verification of that either way, though.The car revs faster until it reaches operating temp. Pontiac recommends you just get in and drive to get it up to temp faster. But, I've never really been certain that's good for a car.In either case, who wants to drive off in a frigid car.One tip I learned a while back (with other cars) to getting the car up to temp quicker is to turn on the A/C with the temp dial turned up to hot. Haven't tried that yet on the Vibe, but in cars I've had previously, it can get up to temp in about half the time. Just don't forget to turn it back to normal afterward, or you'll be riding around with the compressor running in the winter time, which serves no real purpose.

[NJVibe04Salsa]

Quote, originally posted by TJinPgh »... One tip I learned a while back (with other cars) to getting the car up to temp quicker is to turn on the A/C with the temp dial turned up to hot. Haven't tried that yet on the Vibe, ...The A/C on the Vibe only kicks in above a certain externally measured temperature even if you have the A/C button depressed. It's probably a safety feature as running an A/C system in extremely cold temperatures can stress out and result in physical damage to the system. I'm still getting between 23-28 MPG (40/60 suburb/hwy) on my Vibe and it has been pretty much within this range since I purchased it 2 1/2 years ago. It is an AWD model.

[dianebrat]

I'm simply floored with the poor mileage on my 3 week old AWD '06 (yes.. it still has only about 500 miles on it)So far I'm averaging between 19-21MPG on a fairly light duty city/burb trip of 34 miles round trip per day. I'm a soft pedal, and can usually squeek EPA MPG out of a vehicle with ease.My previous vehicle was rated 23 city, 25 Highway, and I got exactly that with my driving style, now the exact same commute that I have gotten 23 MPG out of for a year, and the AWD Vibe that's rated for 26 MPG City is giving me 21 MPG. flat out.. they're lying.. if they weren't, then I wouldn't have been able to meet the city rating with my last vehicle.

[nygiantzz1]

Quote, originally posted by TJinPgh »Pontiac recommends you just get in and drive to get it up to temp faster. But, I've never really been certain that's good for a car.I'm a little skeptical of that reccomendation myself, but the reality is that you can't move until the defroster clears the windshield. You need heat from a warmed up vehicle to accomplish that. As far as gas mileage, I've dropped to around 27-28mpg since the cold weather set in. I averaged 31-32mpg all summer.

[nygiantzz1]

Quote, originally posted by dianebrat »I'm simply floored with the poor mileage on my 3 week old AWD '06 (yes.. it still has only about 500 miles on it)Your car is still in learn mode, the computer is learning your driving habits right now. I think it takes 2,000 miles or more to complete this process. Your mileage should progessively improve over time. Bear in mind that it's winter here in the great northeast and the car takes longer to warm up. If you don't see improvements over the next couple of months, have the dealer look at it.

[dianebrat]

I'm sure hoping it's a combo of breaking in, and learning, but damn those are dreadful numbers.and as I said.. I am the poster child for EPA city mileage ratings.. my commute usually generates them naturally.. and to be almost 5 MPG under it.. that's a lot.Diane

[sgicanada]

I have an 06 Vibe that I bought new 15 months ago. It'a a base Vibe with an automatic. Currently there is a bit more than 23,000 km's on the car. The gas mileage has always been poor and is getting poorer. The dealer(s) have been telling me to wait, it gets better. Just the opposite. I am a causious driver, maintain the tire pressure weekly and change oil every 3 months. Several long trips of 3,000 kms has gotten me no better than 29 mpg. In town, over several tank fulls, 22 mpg is the best I can get. Of course there are no codes that the dealer can find so of course they cannot and will not do anything. The shop forman has an automatic 04 and gets about 10 mpg than I do so they know something is not right. Evenso the dealer will not do anything. No lights, no codes, no help. Just recently I went to a Toyoto dealer who suggested I do a hard reset (computer). He guaranteed this would help. I did that and I'm now waiting to see what the results are. There has to be a problem with the car but the mechanics in this electronic age can only react to whatever a computer tells them. No need to think anymore on their part, no creative thinking at all. I had/have an 01 Sunfire that also was getting terrible gas mileage when new and also there were no lights or codes. Somehow, this same dealer, managed to detect a failed oxygen sensor. Once it was replaced the mileage was right up there with my 99 Sunfire (42 mpg hywy). From the comments I have read so far it appears no one has actually had this issue addressed to their satisfaction. Lots of suggestions but nothing that says, hey, I did this and it worked. Has anyone out there actually had this problem and had it resolved to their satisfaction? Anyone?

[JesseWHHS]

i get about 20-21 mpg ALL THE TIME. granted im 18 and nothing short of full force acceleration is allowable while im driving, i should get more than 21. a few tanks I calmed it down and i got 22. haha. this morning my car was lettin a lot of smoke out, im not sure if smoke is the right word, cause it disappeared pretty quick. My dad said it was because of all the condensation. we saw a good bit of water jsut sitting in the tailpipe. Also i rubbed the inside of teh pipe, I dunno y. ahha. and it was really nasty and black. He said it was probably from the fuel running to rich.What am I to do about the fuel running to rich? Im thinking that may be a BIG contributor to the MPG problem with me, also imma pump my tires up tomorrow, i tested one the otehr day and it was at 20 psi.

[dianebrat]

Update:I have seen one mixed tank that got a whopping 24MPG.But I'm still hovering in the 19-21 MPG range which considering I'm an old broad with a light foot is telling me something is wrong, especially when Jesse Leadfoot is getting the same *chuckle*More power to you jess!

[NJVibe04Salsa]

I know it has been mentioned before, but there seems to be a clear distinction between those who own good mileage Vibes, and bad mileage Vibes. Perhaps if two trusting people who live relatively close to each other could swap cars for one or two tanks of gas and then record their mpg, we could resolve this once and for all. As of now, the only responses we have been getting from the dealers has been "the computer says nothing is wrong. Wait until the car breaks in" or "it's your driving habit". I'm pretty sure it is not my driving habit since I have owned 4 cars prior to this one and my driving habit with those cars has always resulted in them exceeding the EPA mileage estimates.

[dianebrat]

NJ, I agree 100%I always get EPA city.. always have, to be 5 MPG under stuns me.I've pondered renting an AWD Vibe from Avis for 3 days and seeing if it adds up the same.Diane

[Tubaryan12]

Quote, originally posted by K-NINE »I was getting 32 MPG untill recently. Will the cold weather reduce my gas milage?Yes

[Tubaryan12]

Quote, originally posted by nygiantzz1 »I'm a little skeptical of that reccomendation myself, but the reality is that you can't move until the defroster clears the windshield. You need heat from a warmed up vehicle to accomplish that. As far as gas mileage, I've dropped to around 27-28mpg since the cold weather set in. I averaged 31-32mpg all summer. I just get in and drive mine each morning with no problem (and its been around 0 f here each morning for the last week). My mileage has dropped about the same as yours since its been cold.

[CCD]

I have only been thru 3 tanks in my 03 Base Vibe with 45k miles on it. It is a loaded with everything but Nav and I got 37 on my first tank 60mph highway. I got 32 on my second 2 tanks on I-10 and I-75 at 85+mph. I used no AC or heat yet as it is 70 degrees here in Fl. I assume this car works best on the road at 60mph with the cruise locked in.

[VivaVibe]

This has been mentioned before, but if you live in an area with special formula gas, it can indeed affect your mileage results. I believe most areas in the northeast or large metros would fit this mode. And, especially if the formula includes ethanol which is noted for getting less mpg.

[NJVibe04Salsa]

I have a Toyota Corolla and a Mazda Miata and the winter mix does not seem to affect mileage significantly. Also, mileage on the Vibe has not exceeded 28 mpg in the summer or winter.

[dianebrat]

Quote, originally posted by VivaVibe »This has been mentioned before, but if you live in an area with special formula gas, it can indeed affect your mileage results. I believe most areas in the northeast or large metros would fit this mode. And, especially if the formula includes ethanol which is noted for getting less mpg.[vent]I hate to sound like I don't appreciate the efforts and thoughts of those trying to help, but that's just one of many excuses I've heard.Simply put, my previous vehicle that I drove with the same driving style, on the same route, even until mid-January, with the same cheap gas, made EPA city or better every week, that includes weeks where the temp was under 20 degrees. and that's in a time frame over the past 12 months.You just can't tell me that the AWD Vibe is incapable of performing the same task.I understand the usual winter, fuel mix, your style may vary from the EPA's, discussions, but that doesn't explain why in January with a 10-20 degree week, my old vehicle always hit the mileage numbers, and still a month later the Vibe is nowhere near them.Something is either wrong with the vehicle, or someone in marketing is pulling these numbers out of thin air.[vent]Diane

[VivaVibe]

Well, I'm by no means an authority on the problems you are having. I've just relayed what I've heard others on the board say which you may not have seen. My situation with a used 04 Base is much different than yours, and I'm surprised and pleased to be averaging 30mpg with mostly city/suburb driving.With an AWD and winter driving I suspect you would get less than advertised mileage. Your Vibe is new and likely still under warranty so I guess you've had it thoroughly checked out. If the dealer is not finding anything you might consider having an independent do a complete computer analysis and overall check.I've also heard others say they've had "cat" problems even with brand new ones, which will kill the mileage very quickly, even though your car seems to run normally. Or, problems with the AWD system. Again folks have also complained that GM mechanics don't seem to understand this Toyota based vehicle, so checking with Toy or with a AWD specialist shop might help.The EPA determines the posted MPGs, not the marketing dept. Their testing uses specific techniques to get the figure. Somewhere the details of that were posted. I heard they will be changing the method sometime soon to more accurately reflect actual usage, and thus the results.Hope you can find and resolve the problems you're having.

[dianebrat]

Quote, originally posted by VivaVibe »Hope you can find and resolve the problems you're having. I know you guys are just trying to help.. and I do appreciate it.I'm aware that many folks have felt the EPA mileage numbers have "needed fixing" for a while, but that can't explain why my 2001 underpowered Tracker that used numbers from the same broken system met the numbers for me all the time. My style has always had me getting the EPA numbers in the City. I'm using the same broken system for my comparison.If someone had said I was going to get 20 MPG city out of the Vibe, I would have considered not buying it, thats a dreadful number for a 4 cyl vehicle, heck that's what the Torrent gets and I ruled that out of the running because of the poor mileage ratings. So I get to give up the power and mileage by going to the AWD, *mutter* I really thought they had a better handle on this.The dealer has already started backpedaling and saying "well the numbers are in the right range depending on your driving habits.." YMMV, etc, and so far nothing has appeared wrong to them, no codes, nuffin.While I can certainly hope that it will "break in" and the situation will resolve itself in the warmer weather, those are long shots.Diane

[zionzr2]

An update from my stats:

[VivaVibe]

My first road trip and I was eager to see what the MPGs would be for my used 04 Vibe, with AT and cruise control. Filled up shortly before leaving but had to run some errands first. When I arrived I had used a bit less than a half tank. Too soon to do a fill-up so I estimated and came up with about 38-40 MPG. Seemed like too much to me, so filled up again before the return trip just before hitting the road. And filled-up again as soon as I got home so I could get an accurate reading. The meter showed well short of a half tank used. To my surprise it worked out to 40 MPG. Wow!!This trip was about half interstate at 70 MPH and half 4 lane US highway at 60-65 MPH with a few slow downs and stops through towns along the way. Used the cruise as much as possible and ran the AC about 30% of the time. And the load was light as it was just me and one suitcase. Daytime driving with temps 70-75 degrees. Some hills but relatively flat terrain.Still, I find this incredible as I was expecting around 35 MPG. Note that I used Texaco going down and Shell on the return, instead of the cheapest thing I could find. Not sure if it makes a difference though. I'm still averaging 30 MPG with my daily commute of mostly city driving. At this point I'm extremely pleased with the mileage this fun car provides.

[dianebrat]

megamileage updateI did a trip from Boston, to South Carolina last week, all 70MPH cruise control, on the highway, went down with an empty car, and came back with 350# of stuff in the back.Both ways, 33mpg, with one dip to 26.So I can meet EPA highway, now I get to play around with city again.It certainly broke it in.. now I need an oil change.Diane

[Vibr8tr]

I average 33-35 on the expressway during trips.... HOWEVER I learned on my trip from Florida with the couch in the back, with the extra weight, and the wind resistance from the hatch being up... I only got 22-25.... so always put your hatch down, lol

[psiu]

So far with the 03 AT bought in November, I would say about 23 mpg in day to day driving, about 31 mpg on our extended highway trips.Day to day is mostly my wife going to work and back, about 10 miles/20 minutes in city traffic, plus our trips to school, including plenty of extended restarts and idling when one is done with class before the other.It's definitely an improvement over our 1990 Maxima V6 mileage, that had a bigger tank (18 gallons) and generally had to be refueled every 5-7 days. She said this one is more about every 7-10 days (with smaller tank).I've entered all of our fill-ups (with mileage) into a spreadsheet so I can track mileage and enter any notes about the driving (Cold & Snow, Trip to Pittsburgh, etc).Still have yet to bring it in for a real good overhaul, haven't had any problems yet, but don't know what kind of maintenance the previous owner did. So the mileage could hopefully even improve a bit.

[UKStory135]

I have been averaging 29.5 mpg since Feb. but I went on a road trip and had 42.2 mpg on one tank of gas. Most of the trip I averaged 32, because I drove 80 mph most of the way.

[Tubaryan12]

Gas mileage update: over the last several months, my gas mileage has gone down (25-30mpg combined mileage). Of course, I chalked that up to winter mix fuel and slippery roads. Then over the last 3 weeks I got to run a great experiment. Week one was considerably warmer than average for this time of year (50's). Week 2 was the normal temp (20-30 f) and week 3 was warm again (60's). My mileaged was back to normal (33-34mpg) during the 2 warm weeks with the same mix gas. This makes me think that poor gas mileage in the winter has more to do with the temperature than weather conditions or winter mix gas. Anyone else see anything like this lately? ....On a side note, do cai's really improve gas mileage?

[jsimon63]

Tubaryan12, I live in Indiana and have experianced the same weather. Yes my mileage went up from 25-27 to 29-30ish. I can also tell you that I have an 04 Base with auto trans with 64K on it and have been dissapointed in the mileage because I traded an 03 Base 5 speed with 63K on it and drove the snot out of it and couldn't get less then 29 mpg. The best I got with that 03 was 36.6 mpg. A stick car seems to be the way to go to get the claimed numbers+ The 03 and 04 ar the same car except the trans and even the same color... so no excuses that the Salsa gets better mileage then the Lava! haha My wife drives an 06 that we bought new, Base with auto trans and I got better mpg (31mpg) with hers 12K on it now then my 04. I drove hers the same distance and style as mine while I was in between deals with my 03 and 04. What I have noticed and you all may try this... my driving stly was "adjusted to try to find what my car liked best. 04 likes to be driven slightly agressive (shifts around 3500-4000rpms) for my best mpg. If I baby it with slow take offs and smooth driving stly, my mileage drops to the 25-27 range. Yes, I did tring being more agressive (who wouldn't try!) but my mileage was not as good as the slightly agressive, but better then the not agressive stly. Figure that out! I hear that these carss (toyotas) learn your driving style and adjust the computer for best economy with your style of driving. That may be the newer ones. Just my 2 cents!

[Tubaryan12]

***update***I tried the trick of shutting down the car everytime you will be stopped for more than 10 seconds this week. The weather has been pretty warm for this time of year until yesterday. the results:last week - 33.2 mpgThis week - 35.1 mpgThis week was also my 1st 400 gallon tank in a loooong time.

[jsimon63]

Impressive! Them there numbers are stick shift numbers! If I did that and lost about 50 pounds....hmmmmm

[Digger]

I did nothing special and my MPG went up 4 mpg from 27 to 31. I say it is the warm weather. This week it is back down to the 27mpg range. the temp also dropped back down into the snow range from the 60's last week.

[jsimon63]

My mileage had gone up with the temp, and since the cold set in, and gas went thru the roof, I haven't filled back up to see if my 30 mpg went down this tank, based on miles on trip meter... yeah, it dropped a tad.

[VivaVibe]

Shutting down when idle for 10 sec or more? Does that include while sitting in traffic? It would seem to me the extra wear on the starter would negate any benefit from increased MPGs. Any opinions?

[thorntcl]

Starter - $150 - $200 plus labour to install...Not sure it is worth it if you keep stopping and starting the car and wearing out the starter prematurely...imho

[jsimon63]

The starter is right in the front on the engine, easy to get to! hahaha, Really was easy when I put new 5 speed in my 03 last year. I can't afford to pay someone to work for me. Does anyone elses car rev aboue 2 grand when they start it? I would think that may suck up the savings.... but hey, maybe it works. Tubaryan12I believe ya! I used to shut my car off and coast down the 2 1/2 mile mountain when I lived in PA! A stickshift and coasting would work, just slip it back in gear and let out on the clutch andshe starts back up! Oh wait! That was back in the day when you didn't have a steering lock, so be careful!!!

[Petrucci914]

IMHO shutting down the car when being idle for 10 seconds or more is just stupid. You use more gas starting up the car than having it idle for a few minutes. That's why if I have to run in somewhere for less than 5 minutes I keep my car on (remote start - locked doors) rather than shutting it down. Just my two cents.

[Tubaryan12]

Quote, originally posted by Digger »I did nothing special and my MPG went up 4 mpg from 27 to 31. I say it is the warm weather. This week it is back down to the 27mpg range. the temp also dropped back down into the snow range from the 60's last week. It was pretty warm both weeks...though the last day before I bought gas was really warm.

[Tubaryan12]

Quote, originally posted by Petrucci914 »IMHO shutting down the car when being idle for 10 seconds or more is just stupid. You use more gas starting up the car than having it idle for a few minutes. That's why if I have to run in somewhere for less than 5 minutes I keep my car on (remote start - locked doors) rather than shutting it down. Just my two cents. If your car was built in 1973 I would agree with you. Fuel injected cars don't use that much extra gas to start when they are warm. A running car that is not moving gets 0 miles per gallon. That cannot help your average. Also think of the extra wear on the engine by idling it.In my past life I managed and delivered pizzas shutting my car off and restarting it dozens of times a day. The car I punished the most was a 1992 Pontiac Grand Am. In 125,000 miles I dont recall replacing the starter. If I did it was only once. That was over a 8 year period. If I save $2.50 per week (1 gallon of gas) for the same amount of time I would save aprox. $1000. Seems smart to me

[pacerman]

so heres my first full tank mileage test 2005 AWD, 9000 miles, 17000 km.Filled up to the neck today it took 49 litres or 10.7 imp gallons, which I find odd, as the specs say 45 litres and 9.9 imp gallons, for the AWD. Anyway I travelled 560 km or 348 miles which =32.5 PMG (IMP) orrrr .........approx 27.5 US mpg. This is city -hwy combined. I'm fairly happy with this result as my bro in his FWD Matrix gets 33 for the same style and type of driving. I also noted that I had slightly less than 1/4 tank left and the low level light had not come on yet.

[joatmon]

I had a stretch today where I hit 43 mpg. Of course, the 40 mph tail wind might have had something to do with that

[cmhj2000]

Made a 2,500 mile run to the midwest and back. Averaged 37.5 MPG with average speed of 65 and 2 tanks of ethanol mix included.

[02csnow]

06 Base, auto, CAIIm at a consist 30 mpg with 10000 miles on it now. But the long run test will come next weekend when i head to PA and in july when i head to MI.