Mileage

Froggiegirl · Post by **Froggiegirl** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 1:55 am

I have a 03' vibe with 24,000 miles on it and my mileage started going from 400 per tank to 250 about 10,000 miles ago and that ALL HIGHWAY! 1. Is anyone else having/had this problem and knows what the fix is?I have taken it to 2 yes 2 dealerships and they have NO CLUE!PLEASE HELP - It is costing me over 70$ a week in gas cause I drive so much and when I'm city driving I'm only getting 200.

Froggiegirl · Post by **Froggiegirl** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 1:59 am

Automatic and haven't done a darn thing to it. I am at the dealer every 3000 miles getting the oil changed and keeping it maintained is HIGH PRIORITY. But still know one knows what's wrong?

Jahntassa · Post by **Jahntassa** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 2:04 am

Yeah, my mileage (GT) has been steadily going down...not sure why either..

ShotInTheDark · Post by **ShotInTheDark** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 2:44 am

I know in Maryland during the winter they oxygenate the gas and it makes for lower gas mileage but I can't imagine 150 miles per tank.

red · Post by **red** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 3:05 am

well i'm getting 160 mpg per tank and its mostly city (awd/auto) and dealer says that "awds get lousy gas mpg" . have they checked to see if the catalytic converter and all related equip is operating properly?? pmh013 had this issue and no check engine lights popped on at all!!! she was experiencing a significant lag in power though..i dont know what her fuel mileage was...has there been any drop in power/accerlation on your rig !!!!!

joatmon · Post by **joatmon** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 3:35 am

in http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=7676, there is a list from the service manual on things that could contribute to low gas mileage.Has there been any change in performance (power, acceleration, etc)?When did the mileage start to drop? was it a sudden or gradual change? What kind of records do you keep on you fuel useage?

drummerdude · Post by **drummerdude** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 3:57 am

I've got the gt and i get average of 29-32 mpg and this last tank I only got 23!!! I was mad. I don't know what's going on besides the fact that I have a lead foot but even then I was still getting 29-32.

AKLGT · Post by **AKLGT** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 4:59 am

yes, my mpg is directly affected by the weather. i think it may also due to having the heater running and drawing more power. but i don't know. my mpg went down to about 23-25 and i usually get about 26-30. and i do drive with my foot down majority of the time....

joatmon · Post by **joatmon** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 4:59 am

interesting, we know that cold weather was not a big influence on the design based on the battery, I wonder if there is some sensor calibration that gets messed up when it's cold. silver, 16 gallon tank made me wonder, then I remembered your gf has the vibe these days, your driving something else.

jgvibe · Post by **jgvibe** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 11:06 am

I have a 03 AWD Vibe with about 12K now and my milage has dropped from about 27 to 21mpg since winter began. Now Up here in NY we stopped using MTBE addative Jan 1 and increased to 10 % Ethonol. These addative will reduce milage but I did not expect this much a drop. Perhaps the extreme cold weather is a factor.

Mavrik · Post by **Mavrik** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 11:37 am

The weather has a great big factor in your fuel consumption. The colder it is, the worse it is. Do you run your car in the morning to warm it up before heading out? If a dealership can not help you, my suggestion is to log your miles per tank, how much fuel is put in each time. Sorta like a tracking chart. After about 5 tank fulls, average it out and compare it to what the ministry of transportation specs for your vehicle should be. (this works in ontario anyway) If you are WAY below the standards... get your Vibe back in for poor fuel consumption and present them your chart.Also note that when you bought your car or look at a new one... the miles of fuel for city/highway specs are determined on flat surfaces in the hot desert of nevada and going with the wind... its never going to be ACCURATE. Its determined under the perfect driving conditions.

bellwilliam · Post by **bellwilliam** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 1:28 pm

I also get low 20s mpg. I believe this is a problem with Vibe/Matrix. I am in southern California. it hasn't got cold at at all this year. we had only about 5 rainy days in the last 6 months, so I doubt weather is the problem. One thing I want to ask : how your mileage is with your other cars. I get the same mileage (may be 1-2mpg less in Winter) all year with every cars I've owned. Vibe has been the worst in mileage. My V6 minivan gets better mileage than my Vibe. I always get CITY EPA mpg or better with every cars I've owned. my base auto Vibe is supposed to get 28 city 33 hwy. it sucks to get low 20s mpg. I believe eventually this will become a warranty issue. it seems half of us gets really good mileage, the other half sucky mileage.

Froggiegirl · Post by **Froggiegirl** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 8:04 pm

I gave my 98' Corolla up to get this vibe. It has the SAME engine in it. I NEVER had any mileage problems with the corolla. That's why I got the same engine, was just happy they put it in a GM body.

joatmon · Post by **joatmon** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 8:55 pm

I'm getting EPA mileage in mine. If I was getting the low numbers I see some other people get, I would be back at the dealer. I would either be back as many times as it took to get the problem corrected, or I'd move on to a different car, becasue MPGs were a big factor in me buying a Vibe in the first place. There are a number of potential causes for bad mileage, and most of them are things I can't check . A couple I can. If the cause of poor mileage is the same for all of you, that would be great, everyone would benefit from findong out waht that cause is. Likley to be a combination of numerous things though. Really won't know until enough people with bad gas mileage actually get the problem corrected and the cause or causes are determined.

Craigmri · Post by **Craigmri** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 8:58 pm

I'm no expert in fuel analysis but I'd wager to say that your issue has something to do with the formulation of the fuel being used in the winter. The formulation varies on region of the country and some places are worse than others. Once the summer weather returns if your mileage goes back to normal most likely its the fuel causing the low MPG.

Froggiegirl · Post by **Froggiegirl** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 9:28 pm

Like I said earlier I owned a 98 Corolla and I got anywhere from 35-45 pg but I know this car is heavier so I figured it would go down a little and it did but It has dropped in half. It's CRAZY. I think I am going to call the 800 # in my manaual cause I have taken it to 2 different dealers and they say nothing is wrong. I have heard of a lot of vibe owners having this problem.

Reynoma · Post by **Reynoma** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 9:54 pm

I have an 03 GT and I have been getting somewhere between 28/30 MPG. I have not experienced the "drop" that other people have been confronted with.

csjrishere · Post by **csjrishere** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 10:10 pm

I have had my Vibe for a little over a year now and have always got anywhere from 20-24 mpg. There was exception...got close to 28 mpg on a summer road trip.

pmh013 · Post by **pmh013** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 10:13 pm

What's the temperature there?I noticed a drop in mileage when the temperature dropped into the -18C (-0.4F) range. Not a really big drop, but still a drop.Then, when the temperature hit the -25C (-13F) & lower range, my car started doing the downshifting on the highway thing. See http://forums.genvibe.com/zero...ge=10 (I linked to the last page, because it's a long one) and http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=8119 .When I took the car into the dealership last week, I drove 100 km/h (62MPH) directly into a 40 km/h (25 MPH) wind, and the car was not able to maintain this speed; it had to downshift. It does the same thing when going up a small hill. If you can find some gently rolling hills, you should be able to replicate this type of loading (wind is harder to replicate). What I noticed is that it didn't need to downshift to get up these hills in the summer, but it did once the temps dropped. And by the time the dealer figured out what was wrong, the catalytic converter was so plugged, it was downshifting even above freezing.I think that there are about 1/2 of us who are having some sort of fuel consumption issue. I think it is highly dependant on geography, fuel formulation & driving style (city vs highway). GM may have a big can of worms here.

michaelgt · Post by **michaelgt** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 12:09 am

I have an 03 with 29k miles, base with auto. I am still getting close to 30 mpg. During the summer, it was between 32 and 35. I have noticed that my mileage drops when I use gas with ethanol. This has a lower btu factor. My car does better with Mobil, BP/Amoco, and Marathon gas. What dealers did you take it to?

bellwilliam · Post by **bellwilliam** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 3:28 pm

as for me, I get low 20's mpg all year, summer or winter !! and it doesn't get cold here in southern California. I probably used defrost less than a dozen times in a year. my mileage should be lower in the summer, because of southern California heat (air condition on max)!!btw, Matrix people are having same problem. see matrixowners.com

joatmon · Post by **joatmon** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 7:19 pm

I found your thread over there, http://www.matrixowners.com/mo...17738Quote Â» Vibe web site are dead, I see more expertise hereDidn't see any solutions there though.

JustinVGT · Post by **JustinVGT** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 10:08 pm

I have about 26k miles on my GT. I just filled up last night at over 280 miles on the tank and like 9.3 gallons to fill it up. That comes out to about 30 mpg. Last week I had 28 mpg. I hit lift almost each day if the traffic or weather permits and it isn't exactly highway driving either with the traffic and roads here in northern VA. So, I'm really happy with my GT, especially when I used to get the same and sometimes worse mileage in the winter with my old 1996 Ford Escort with a whopping 88hp a couple years ago.

bellwilliam · Post by **bellwilliam** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 9:14 am

your step number 2 on resetting ECU sounds really good idea, will try that.

Roadpig · Post by **Roadpig** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 10:13 am

Hmmm maybe I'd better start logging my MPG. Currently I reset the odometer everytime I fill the tank. This gives me a rough idea of my milage. Currently I get between 290-310 with an 10-11 gallon fill-up on the GT. So that's roughly 28-29 MPG. I only have 4900 miles on it now, which is too early (judging by these posts) to notice the drop. I think I will log it now so I can take the car to the dealer if the MPG drops significantly.Great, another problem to worry about (clutch, paint and now this!)

NJVibe04Salsa · Post by **NJVibe04Salsa** » Sun Feb 15, 2004 11:03 am

Bought my Vibe AWD less than a month ago. I've only filledthe tank 3 times, and each time, the average mpg was around 23-24.This is mixed highway and off-highway driving. It definitelyseems odd, since that is lower than the city-rated mpg. I was thinkingthat maybe the car's mileage would get better after a break-in period??BTW, it is winter here and the average temp is between 20-40F.

Jahntassa · Post by **Jahntassa** » Sun Feb 15, 2004 1:22 pm

Mine's been steadily going down, or so the trendline says. I'm gonna hope that it just doesn't like winter. So...I'll give it a while before I panic. It's been staying steady around 20-23...so as long as it doesn't continue on a downward spiral, I won't panic.City driving in my Ford Probe was only yielding 17 MPG, and 26 Highway.. So far with the Vibe, i've been at 20-23 City, and as far as 32 highway..

johnsoax · Post by **johnsoax** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 12:39 am

Here is the milage that I have gotten in my 1st 11 months. I have ~21800 miles now. It is a large jpg.

Attached files

johnsoax · Post by **johnsoax** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 12:41 am

As you can see, I had a sharp decrease in milage when it got cold. I'm hoping that it comes back up

johnsoax · Post by **johnsoax** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 12:51 am

I didn't count the dealer gas. All of my calculations are from 363 miles.Checking the difference between how you do averages

johnsoax · Post by **johnsoax** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 1:04 am

Quote, originally posted by Salsa! Â»Also, when I calculate my mpg I rarely do it on each fill up, it's nice to see that with one tank you average 36mpg, but it's not representative of the average driving conditions you encounter. So take always the overall mileage dvided by the overall gas you have used.... Like my example: 27,800 miles/ x gallons..... It's also a better number than taking all the mpg from each fill up and adding them then dividing by the number of fill ups (this last technique is not as precise!!)The difference is about .06 MPG higher your way. That just takes into account rounding. Without rounding both ways are mathmatically equivelant.I don't actually calculate it, I just enter the numbers into my PalmOS program and it does all the caculations and consequently, my Handheld software does calculate average MPG your way.

Attached files

johnsoax · Post by **johnsoax** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 1:16 am

I could definetly see where that would be a problem. I actually have mine to three decimals. (I write down the gas put in to 3 decimals). Maybe that is why it isn't much of a diffence for me.I just want to mention that I got my best gas milage on Shell (all highway between Chicago and Cincinnati (when my Grandmother died)) For the most part, Shell, and Exxon give me the best milage and Speedway, Phillips 66 give me the most consistent milage. My car doesn't like Amoco, Mobil or BP. I got my most consistent bad tanks with those gasses My worst tank was actuall with Shell also, but I was driving into a very strong headwind the whole tank (highway between Chicago and ST Louis)

StampedeVibe · Post by **StampedeVibe** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 3:48 am

Hmm... I'm starting to wonder about my mileage. I've attached my stats.Most of my mileage is in the city. Except for a few trips to the mountains. The trip out to Vancouver was in early October, where I got my best mileage overall, even though a lot of my driving there was in the city. A couple of questions:1) johnsoax, do you do most of your driving on the highway?2) does altitude have a big effect on mileage? Calgary is about 900m (~0.5 miles) above sea level.

Attached files

johnsoax · Post by **johnsoax** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 4:59 am

Quote, originally posted by StampedeVibe Â»1) johnsoax, do you do most of your driving on the highway?Yes most of my miles are on the highway. I have a 40-45 mile roundtrip commute for work, 75%-80% is on the highway.Quote, originally posted by StampedeVibe Â»2) does altitude have a big effect on mileage? Calgary is about 900m (~0.5 miles) above sea level.Illinois is pretty flat, and aout 200m above sea level.

johnsoax · Post by **johnsoax** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 6:16 am

Here are my one year stats (only off by 3 days!)

Attached files

kep427 · Post by **kep427** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 6:45 am

I purchased my '04 base on 12/31/03. I've filled it 4 times and been averaging about 28 mpg. I drive about 90-95% freeway and really babied it the first 1500 miles. Now, I'm driving with traffic.Although the weather here is not hot; it's not cold either (Nor Cal).The sticker said I should be getting 29-34 mpg. By my reckoning I should've been on the high end; not below the 'city driving' number. I'm extremely disappointed since mpg was one of the highest criteria I used in selecting this car.

syclnjr · Post by **syclnjr** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 8:55 am

This may sound stupid but check that the air pressure in your tires is sufficient. On my 04 GT I noticed that the dealer decided that it was better to run about 22 psi in the tires for ride but gas mileage suffered. just a brief thought for you.

Mavrik · Post by **Mavrik** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 9:11 am

Quote, originally posted by syclnjr Â»This may sound stupid but check that the air pressure in your tires is sufficient. On my 04 GT I noticed that the dealer decided that it was better to run about 22 psi in the tires for ride but gas mileage suffered. just a brief thought for you.That same dealer would probably not warranty uneven wear on your tires due to you keeping them under inflated...

joatmon · Post by **joatmon** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 9:50 am

Quote, originally posted by kep427 Â»... mpg was one of the highest criteria I used in selecting this car.me too, but I've getting the epa numbers in mine.Maybe yours will get better after break-in

johnsoax · Post by **johnsoax** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 11:25 pm

Quote, originally posted by kep427 Â»I purchased my '04 base on 12/31/03. I've filled it 4 times and been averaging about 28 mpg. I drive about 90-95% freeway and really babied it the first 1500 miles. Now, I'm driving with traffic.Although the weather here is not hot; it's not cold either (Nor Cal).The sticker said I should be getting 29-34 mpg. By my reckoning I should've been on the high end; not below the 'city driving' number. I'm extremely disappointed since mpg was one of the highest criteria I used in selecting this car.Your milage will improve after the break in. Look at my graph above. It took quite a few tanks before the MPG came up consistently.

kep427 · Post by **kep427** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 5:13 am

Quote, originally posted by syclnjr Â»This may sound stupid but check that the air pressure in your tires is sufficient. On my 04 GT I noticed that the dealer decided that it was better to run about 22 psi in the tires for ride but gas mileage suffered. just a brief thought for you.Thx for reminding me to check. I finally did. All 4 tires were 40 psi after driving about 4 miles to the gas station. I let a little air out of each (to 36 psi) figuring about 4 psi due to heat.It appears to me they were overinflated a bit which I correlate into less tire resistance and supposedly better mileage....Last fill up (about 2100 miles on odo) got me to 30.5 mpg. I'm still driving fairly calm (no jackrabbit starts, not racing to each red light, crusing about 65-67 on the freeway, about 90% freeway driving). 30.5 is not impressive to me.....but better than before.

kep427 · Post by **kep427** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 5:16 am

Hey Alex. Your graph doesnt show up real well on my screen. How many miles on the odo before you got into the low 30s?I'm up to 2100 and up to 30.5 mpg on the last fill up.K

AKLGT · Post by **AKLGT** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 5:18 am

well, i avg about 26 mpg in my gt. i know that triton was avg like 32 mpg in his gt. i drive lots of city miles during the day for work and then hwy miles to commute to get to the office. i've gotten as high as 35 mpg but that was on a road trip. if you're getting 30.5 w/ some city driving, i think that's pretty good. also, depending on how you accelerate will make a diff in mpg... but, don't know how you drive. i know how i drive and i floor it a lot.

kep427 · Post by **kep427** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 5:32 am

Quote, originally posted by trdvibe Â»well, i avg about 26 mpg in my gt. i know that triton was avg like 32 mpg in his gt. i drive lots of city miles during the day for work and then hwy miles to commute to get to the office. i've gotten as high as 35 mpg but that was on a road trip. if you're getting 30.5 w/ some city driving, i think that's pretty good. also, depending on how you accelerate will make a diff in mpg... but, don't know how you drive. i know how i drive and i floor it a lot.I'm driving pretty conservatively with a goal to mimic what the EPA does. I recently stepped it up to 65-67 mph on the freeway; but my street driving leaves me in the dust of everyone else. They advertise 29-34 for the base (automatic). I figure I should be getting close to 34. When I did this with my last 3 vehicles ('86 Mazda 626, '90 Toyota P.U., '00 4-Runner) I ended up on the high side of the advertised mpg range. This car is the opposite; I've been mostly on the low side (28-30 mpg)....btw trdvibe; pretty flashy interior in your vibe. I like the red accented pedals.

AKLGT · Post by **AKLGT** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 6:28 am

wow! going from my tundra w/ 16-17 mpg to 26-30 mpg... i think i'm doing great! plus the savings on my insurance and pmts.... phew! like $400 in savings per month alone!!! oh, and thanks for the compliments on the interior...

kep427 · Post by **kep427** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 6:36 am

oh yeah. Forgot to include the '96 RAV4. That car was a piece of junk. I have a whole list of annoyances and problems. Interestingly, the MPG actually dropped on that one (from about 28 in the begining down to about 23 begining around 40,000 mi.), but then picked back up (to about 28 mpg) at around 80K mi.

johnsoax · Post by **johnsoax** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 7:33 am

About 2600 till it was consistently above 30. I had some good tanks and some bad tanks there at the beginning. Lately, I've been just under 30, but I've been driving more aggressively.