Quasi-success/baseline
 

Just got a 2000 mercury mystique GS 2.0l auto with 87k miles on it for 1100 bucks runs great AC is awesome has a few minor issues that i've mostly sorted already, just waiting on a part to be delivered

first thing i did was increase tire pressure to 46PSI and then fill the tank up and drive it like i normally do to and from work which is a 34 mile trip one way about 80/20 highway/city I had some hot weather for us this week so I ended up using the AC more than i wanted to and then some bad wind and rain.

At fill up yesterday i put in 9.7 gallons trip meter read 302 miles which is 31.13mpg only 3 mpg higher than epa highway rating but I'm callin that a good start and I'm sure it has some more potential in her current stock form

Also I'm used to getting 21mpg with my old car so this is a personal best for me

Congratulations on the personal best.:thumbup:

I had a 98 Contour 2L manual. Always liked mine. Might want to check for any recalls, believe there were three on mine. The cars lifetime average was 26.32. (pre ecommoder days) 7 over the limit and almost 100% AC usage. Highway mileage was similar to yours.