Why isn't my 2007 Ford Focus getting the advertised gas mileage?

Question

I've owned my Focus for 2 months now, and I've put about 1000 miles on it. By now, I would think that the engine has been broken in so I should be seeing the advertised mileage 27 (city) to 37 (highway) depending on how you drive and other factors. I'm easy on this car, but I'm only getting about 22-25 mpg. Any suggestions on why this is happening?

Answer 1

The EPA estimate ( what your stating) is just that. An estimate. It is done ( the mpg test) under controlled condos, and cannot account for all the variability's in what makes up fuel mpg. Driver habits, ( quick or slow stars from a stop) climate, ( hot or cold) geography, ( elevation, hills or inclines) number of accessories being run, ( a/c, heater, lights, all load the engine to some extent) traffic and speed, etc etc.
Little things can have a huge impact. Quick starts from a stop, cold weather, As a quality engineer i once visited a customer who had poor fuel mpg. We went round and round and found nothing wrong with his van.Until I duplicated his habit exactly. He ran the defrost accessory in the morning, every morning. That killed him by more then 2 miles per gallon. I am not into blaming the customer. Just pointing out that these fuel mpg tests cannot and do not take into account all these variables. You're best bet is to do what you are doing now, talk to other owners of Ford Focus and average it out.

Answer 2

The gas mileage is merely a suggested mileage given ideal conditions. If you sit in traffic a lot, or if you are in a cooler environment where you have to let your engine warm up longer can alter the outcome of this.

But still, the edmunds article on fuel ratings states that the difference between realized and sticker are usually at about 20% difference at most. You might want to have the car checked out.

Also, if the car is a manual, you might want to wind out the rpms a bit so as to break it in better. And of course, stay away from cruise control until 1,500 miles (varies between different cars though).

Answer 3

Someone not long ago did a mileage test with his car on the New jersey Turnpike. It was a Toyota somethingorother. He drove it 195 miles at 45mph, the minimum speed limit on the Turnpike. The advertised mileages was 41mpg highway; he got 57.

If you get out on the highway and floor it and drive like a stupid idiot as fast as you can, you will get crap mileage. Slow down to under 50 and you should see an improvement.

Also, every time you slam on the brakes, you are wasting gas. So if you have a habit of flooring it and slamming on the brakes you will also get crap mileage.

Just a couple of hints that most people cannot seem to understand.

Answer 4

Mileage is very much a personal thing the advertised mileage is with ideal conditions remember they have to sell cars and if for some reason they find they can get a certain mileage with say a rear wind helping and lots of down hill stuff thats the one you get to hear about
Being a Ford it will keep its resale value and will not give much trouble so count your blessings .~~

Answer 5

Your engine needs to break in before it will get the advertised mileage. You should see it at about 10-25k miles. Also if you do a lot of stop and go driving this will limit the mileage. To get the best mileage you need to maintain a constant speed.

Answer 6

I know on my truck it took about 2500-3500 for the mileage to improve. Also, that mileage may not include having the AC on. It would include professional drivers who know how to get the best mileage out of a car. So there are a lot of extra factors to consider. But the mileage should improve with a few extra miles on the odometer. good luck.

Answer 7

Gas mileage is measured under ideal circumstances. The estimates don't take into account the geography in your area (hills or flatland), the amount of stop and go traffic, or your driving habits. In real life, vehicles rarely get the gas mileage advertised on the sticker.

Answer 8

EPA has said that it has to start being stricter on gas mileage testing, because the estimates are always a bit lower than what the estimates are. That's just the way it is right now. The EPA should start forming up the gas mileage estimates to be what they will be.

Answer 9

The way you drive is usually different how they test the car. You always turn on the a/c and audio, stop at the traffic night but they usually don't have that in mind.

Answer 10

Because auto company's test their vehicles in a completely controlled environment that would be very hard for someone to duplicate. Also, i think the government warned automakers about advertising exaggerated mpg's just last year.