New car gas milage?

[John in Ct]

I went looking at new cars today. Was thinking of replacing one of my 3 older cars with the same make and comperable new model. After the price sticker shock I noticed that their mileage was probably less than what I am getting. I asked the salesmen ( at 2 dealerships) and they couldn't give me a streight honest answer on what the new cars get for mileage so that to me confirms my thinking the new cars get less. Excluding purchace price, it will cost me more in insurance, property tax and less fuel mileage to get a new car. There isn't anything wrong with my old cars but when you qualify for antque plates you think maybe get something newer. Any thoughts? Thanks!!

 

[jd b puller]

John, I had read somewhere a few months ago that they changed the EPA testing for mileage. All will show less than they used to, even for identical cars.

 

[Allan in NE]

My wife comes home from the grocery store two weeks ago with a new grocery-cart/truck/SUV.

Thing gets 17mpg, but that isn't what bothers me. She won't stop drooling over the goofy thing and on top of that, now she won't stay at home either.

Gotta go here, gotta go there. Whoops I forgot the mail; gotta run back to town. She used to drive about 500 miles a year; now the engine never cools off. Geeeze, she's running the wheels off her new toy! :>)

Allan

 

[RayP(MI)]

We have two suv's in the family, 4.8 v6's, both get in the 19-22 range. With all the work I put them thru, including pulling loaded hay wagons, I can (in my mind, at least,) justify their use. Time and time again, that 4wd has paid for itself. Like the time wife was run off the road, bu a errant semi in the middle of the night. Punched the button and walked rightout of the ditch.

 

[Allan in NE]

I hear ya. We live up in the hills and in the wintertime it's either 4x4 or ya walk so we've always opted for the SUVs.

Heck, all they are, are a fancy, dolled-up pickup anyways. :>)

Allan

 

[flashback]

Thats true and now they (EPA) is asking for another change to accurately reflect the true gas mileage. Auto manufacturers are squealing like pigs being castrated.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Been hearing about the new emmissions equipment taking a toll on gas miliage. There is still some cars that get 35mpg. Get used to most salesman not knowing much more than the warranty information. Any technical questions you have problably won't be answered by a salesman, most of them are not mechanics and have no clue beyond basic displacement and horsepower.

 

[Uncle]

One thing I can't understand is that I have had 80's Honda's, and 70's Opal's and Fords, and with the technology we now have, these older cars got better MPG than the new ones.
We can send a man to the moon and build space stations but we can't get any improvements in MPG's.

 

[Spook]

Yeah, GM was using a real world cars, unmodified production machines for certification. Some of it's asian competitors were doing things like removing power accessories, putting in non epa chips, in general, gaming the system. They got caught )

 

[MarkB_MI]

It's been my experience that the EPA "average" mpg is pretty close to what I get in real life. But everyone's driving habits are different. Also, people have a tendency to check their mileage on long trips and not when they're knocking around town; this really skews your average.

In my job I drive a wide variety of new cars and light trucks. My observation is that mileage has held mostly constant, while vehicles keep getting bigger, heavier and more powerful. I think if you compared two vehicles of the same size, weight and horsepower, you will find that the new vehicle will get better mileage.

Mileage is only one component of your cost of ownership, as you point out. The biggest cost for a new vehicle is depreciation; for your old beaters depreciation is zero. I say keep your old cars as long as they are reliable enough to meet your needs. But if you need to have a car that you can depend on, new is the way to go.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Home builders and car makers know that they are selling product to women so they address the concerns of women. Women don't see any value in paper money only in the things that it buys.

 

[Allan in NE]

Amen to that.

Reference my post on that damned cat! :>)

Allan

 

[CJ3b_jeep]

Some newer vehicles get better mileage than the older models. My 92 Toyota truck, 4 cyl, auto. gets 22, the brand new version gets 27. That being said, most newer, smaller cars are not that impressive when it comes to mileage. A Toyota Corola gets 41, but the smaller model they make gets the same mileage. A Ford Focus gets 33 MPG, but a 1987 Escort GT got 4, and was a much hotter little car. That dumb looking Mercedes Smart car you see in comercials, and running around all over Canada, only gets in the mid 40s. By the size, weight and engine size, it really should be getting 55 mpg.

 

[dhermesc]

"Any technical questions you have problably won't be answered by a salesman, most of them are not mechanics and have no clue beyond basic displacement and horsepower."


Actually I'd be shocked if they even knew that. When I bought my Freestyle the salesman insisted it had the "big" 4.2L V6 - same as the base engine on the full size pickups.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Saw a thing awaile back on the news about new car gas mileage. They said the Gov't is cracking down because the makers were not truthful about their products. They were going to make them put the right mileage on the sticker.
Anyway, I noticed on a friends new SUV, the use of E-fuel really cuts the mileage...as much as 20%.
I noticed on the Exploder...when we got out of the ethanol reigon this Summer...the mileage increased a lot...nearly 5 MPG.
Look around, get what ya like. Maybe they will come out with more diesels soon in cars...hope so.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I drive a new Buick and I love it. My dealer ship sets my oil changes up at 4000 miles. My son in law works at the GM teck center and he claims that it wrong. GM has developed and built in a computer program that annalizes when to change. This is part of their green program. When I reach 4000 miles I usually have used 70 percent of the oil life.

 

[mnbob]

May be a little late but had to add my pennys worth. When my rig qualifies for antique plates its still only a small portion of my age, so why change it out? Like Allan says about the tractors, at least you know what you got and can wrench it! LOL

 

[Anonymous-0]

I don't know what SUVs you drive - but I don't believe there's one on this planet that would get 19-22 MPG overall mileage where I live, in the winter. Flatland Michigan, maybe.
My wife and I are always on the lookout for any AWD or 4WD that can get good fuel mileage - but they are getting harder to find all the time. Even our old standys - Subarus - are hard to find with small engines and many of the newer ones are dogs.
We live on top of a mountain in New York on a narrow dirt road that gets a lot of wind-driven snow drifts all winter long. So, even when it doesn't snow, many mornings have a 1-2 foot snow drifts we have to drive through. And, my wife drives 50 miles a day, up and over two mountain dirt roads. We've experimented for years with may types of 4WD and AWD vehicles.
For a conventional SUV, I've never found one that could do better than 18 MPG in winter driving - and we don't drive them hard. That's all around driving average - not a long trip on a flat highway.
Recently my wife's parents came to visit here - from Alpena,Michigan. They have a new Ford Escape - with the high-output 3 liter V6 and 4WD. They got 25 MPG coming here, which is pretty impressive. But, they stayed here for two weeks - and averaged 15 MPG - and it was summer - not winter.
I've watched and checked fuel mileage very closely with our vehicles. We don't buy much new, but here's what we've gotten in average winter driving.

SUVs
1986 S15 Jimmy 2.8 V6 - 14 MPG average
1995 Chevy AWD Atrovan 4.3 V6 - 13 MPG
1994 Chevy Blazer 4.3 V6 - 13 MPG
1991 Chevy 1/2 Suburban 6.2 diesel - 16 MPG
2001 Kia Sportage 2 liter - 17 MPG
1989 Chevy K5 Blazer 6.2 diesel - 17 MPG
2001 Honda CRV - 2 liter - 18 MPG.

Smaller 4WDs and AWDS
1995 Subaru Impreza AWD 2.2 sedan - 22 MPG
1989 Subaru Justy 1.2 4WD - 29 MPG
1991 Subaru Loyale 4WD wagon 1.8 25 MPG
1986 Subaru Loyale 4WD wagon 1.8 - but with three-
speed auto trans - 17 MPG ( a real dog)

Trucks
1985 Ford F250 4WD 6.9 disel - 10 MPG
1994 Ford F250 4WD 7.3 turbo diesel - 13 MPG
1985 Isuzu P'UP 4WD truck - 2.2 diesel - 27 MPG
1992 Dodge W250 4WD truck - 5.9 Cummins - 17 MPG
1982 Chevy K10 4WD truck - 6.2 diesel - 17 MPG
1969 Dodge W200 4WD truck - 318 - 9 MPG

My wife's summer 2WD drive is a 91 Volkswagen Jetta diesel. It consistently gets 50 MPG on the highway - and gets 38 MPG average - climbing mountain roads. My summer driver - when not needing a truck - is a 1981 Chevy Chevette 1.8 diesel and it gets 48 MPG highway and 35 MPG around town. I wish we could drive them in the winter. But, even if we could - the road-salt would quickly detroy them.

 

[Anonymous-0]

The last salesman I talked to tried telling me the 6.0 Powerstroke was junk, but the new 6.4 is built by the same company that made the 7.3 so they are good. When I told him all 3 engines were made by Navistar and was the same company, he just looked dumbfounded, he had no clue and I don't think he believed me.

 

[IH2444]

I have a 90 model 4wd Subaru Loyalle.
I get 22 around town and 34 on the road.


I could buy another newer one that might get better mileage, but I can buy lots of gas with 20K

 

[Anonymous-0]

I've been driving Loyales for 20 years - but they are getting hard to find that aren't rusted out.
I've got over thirty of them sitting in my field.
Best 4WDs I've ever driven - and will go - and stop - in places none of my full-size trucks or SUVs will.
All my 4WD Loyale wagons can get over 30 MPG highway in summer - as long as they are manual trans. But, the non-OD automatics are awful - as least any I've had. They have 4.33 axle ratios along with a three-speed automtic with no overdrive. I've had half a dozen of the autos and they've all been terrible on gas (for a Subaru, that is). Actually, I still own them - they're sitting in my field. Besides being awful on gas, they are not true 4WD if automatic. The standard trans is conventional gear-drive, in or out, 4WD. But, the autos have a convoluted system that gradually adds oil pressure to a hydraulic clutch that engages 4WD. The more you stomp on the gas, the tighter it engages - which is kind of crazy. Sometimes you want full 4WD at light throttle.

In regard to the new ones being better on gas - don't count on it. Many are worse and don't come close to what the Loyales get - especially the ones with the bigger engines. My daughter has a 2005 Subaru Forester with the 2.5 and 25 MPG is the best highway mileage she's ever gotten.

 

[dhermesc]

And he wonders why you wouldn't spend $40,000 based on his say so.

 

[Mike Henry]

Truthly you wont see many vehicles with high milage as the oil companies wont let it happen.I know of a guy in the 60s who was able to reconfigure his carb and was able to get 50 mpg then.Shell found out about the guy somehow and made him an offer he couldnt refuse. The blueprints to that carb have not been seen again.Dont think the oil and gas companies dont have a pull on the vehicle market.My neighbors the amish are the only folks around that dont complain of gas milage.