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I don't judge a car until I've got a number of fill-ups under the cap. The more evidence added to the pool, the more confidence in the conclusions.
For instance, now that I've got 100 refills on my 2015 Mazda3 2.0L automatic, I can confidently say I've got a car that is delivering over 44 mpgs achieved mostly on the highway for a lifetime-so-far fuel cost-per-mile of 4.6 cents.
I consider each refill as the latest iteration of a track record that becomes more valid every time I fill the car. Any significant deviation from that track record at a refill means that I start looking for reasons: A strong headwind? A brake dragging? A malfunctioning engine computer?
I do use a ScanGauge, but only as an interesting indication of fuel mileage under varying conditions. My gauge is usually within about 2% of actual accuracy, which is good but not as good as counting gallons at the station.
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