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Originally Posted by Atheria
I am looking at some people's mpg numbers and gasping! I am clearly doing something wrong (even with the Scion) to not get WAY better mpg than I'm getting. :-/ Of course, then again, I'm not willing to ride a foot from the backend of an 18-wheeler to let it break the air pressure for me. :-)
Atheria
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Not necessarily. Don't believe everything you read. It's a human tendency for people to brag about their best numbers, but not mention those that are less complimentary.
You mentioned in your first post:
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Anyway, the car is rated at 31/40 but the salesman swore on his mother's grave that some of his customers were getting 45 mpg. I was totally excited when after my first 117 miles, I got 48.5 mpg! And that wasn't even with perfect driving...some heavy traffic. Since then, I've been extra diligent about throwing the car into neutral and coasting as much as possible, etc. I was expecting to get 50 mpg on this fill-up, but nooooo....I averaged only 38.2 mpg! How can that be?! I've done the same percentage of highway vs. city driving I think, or at least approximately. I've not been gunning the car or anything. I can't figure it out and am really upset. I would have kept my 35 mpg 2008 Scion xD and saved $10,000. Although I love this Fiat for other reasons....money is money.
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Never believe anything a car salesman says. Car salesmen will say anything, literally
anything, to sell you the car.
What's the fuel tank capacity? Are you sure the tank was filled completely when it was refilled? Maybe you made an error in calculating? Anything is possible.
On the brighter side, I don't think you are doing anything wrong - other than your persistent belief that somehow you must be doing something wrong. The fuel economy EPA ratings are usually roughly accurate, or more commonly, actual MPG will be somewhat less. The actual MPG is rarely higher than the EPA estimate unless the car has been modified or extraordinary driving techniques are being used.
BTW, just because I'm critical of FIATs doesn't mean I'm your personal enemy. I'll try to help you as much as anyone else might.
