Poor fuel consumption

[Dalty]

I'm getting surprisingly and disappointingly poor mileage compared to the mileage posted per the advertaising and brochures. I have a 2009 automatic extronic which is supposed to provide 7.3 L/100km (32.22 MPG US) for urban only driving, which is all I am doing, but I am actually getting only 11.6 L/100km or just 20.28 MPG US! That's a huge difference! I spoke to the dealer and they seemed unconcerned, saying they would have a look at it but if they could find nothing wrong with the car they would charge me for the service and that that I should contact Nissan headquarters. Don't they have a responsibility to live up to their mileage claims? Anyone else having a similar problem? Help.

[ws350]

20.28 seems bad, but it does depend a lot on your driving habits and conditions. Not sure where you're getting your estimated gas mileage from but the 2009 US model with CVT was estimated at 28 MPG city.

[Ride the Piggy]

That is pretty poor, even with the manual and purposely trying to burn fuel I doubt you could run that mileage.
Dealers are rarely going to do anything about this, keep track of your mileage, record data, send it in to Nissan and see what they will do.

My car is averaging 27-28mpg now, I do mostly city driving, I have the manual, and I like to drive fast.

[WHITECUBE]

My MPG is not impressive...I'd say around 21-24. I drive very short stop-start trips with the A/C on.

[Dalty]

Thanks for your replies. The estimate comes right out of the Nissan sales brochure from the dealership here in Canada and it was a big factor in buying the car. I'm 84, drive in what is usually a recommended way for fuel efficiency, no fast take offs etc, and haven't been using the AC since it is still winter here in Canada anyway. It's a brand new car. Only filled up once so far. Also it's moderate weather and pretty flat terrain around here so it seems almost ideal conditions. I have contacted Nissan and they are getting back to me. I'll post when I get a reply. The difference between the advertised fuel efficiency and what I am getting is no minor thing. In fact it seems absurd. I hope they don't try and minimize this issue. So far it seems like a case of severely misleading advertising.

PS I do love the car in just about every other respect.

[KandA]

Dalty,
If the car is brand new, (you said you've only filled it up once so far), your gas mileage will go up a bit once you hit 5000km. Also, seeing as though it's winter there, do you start the car and let it idle to warm up (I live in Wisconsin and am guilty of doing that)? If you do, that will skew the gas mileage. The computer factors in the time you are driving 0mph while idling into the average gas mileage displayed. 3rd tank of gas I was shocked to see 19.9mpg. City driving only, short trips. Next tank I NEVER idled the car (unless I was at a traffic light or something) and I ended up with 23.6mpg. Huge difference for 5-10 minutes of idling every day!

[Ezee1o]

yeah, i think its a little too early to cry wolf...while my mpg at the beginning was not that bad, it did get better with more miles

[KandA]

Also... I don't know if you've got a lead foot or not, but I've noticed that on the highway, the MPG drops drastically once you hit 75mph. Between 65 and 72 seems to be optimal speed/mpg. Of course gas mileage is even better around 55, but who does 55 on the interstates, right?

[Cubelacy]

Noticed this winter when temps steadily in the 20s that my mileage dropped 4 mpg to 26. When I was able to run without the defrost setting, mileage came back up. I don't tend to use the A/C in summer, so no experience to compare A/C on and defrost, although it should be the same.

[Armen]

I enjoy 'spirited driving' and my average fuel economy is 8.6L / 100Km. That includes 'zippy' starts off the line and highway driving with average speeds about 120km/h.