Hey guys,

I did a search on poor gas mileage and it just seemed like a lot of people were flamed at complaining at gas mileage. Well, I don't make much and know very little about cars. I know my Accord at least when I drove highway would get almost 400 miles per tank. I think a nice combo would get me around 340-350. This is the first time ever that I do about 90% "city" driving. I live in a small town and I wouldn't call it city driving and it isn't constant stop and go. It would be more like a lot of cruising at 25-40mph.

I changed the air filter, filled my tires up and got my oil changed and none of these have helped. If anything, my mileage continues to get worse. I just paid almost $40 to fill up my tank and I only got 15.2 miles per gallon!

Does anyone have any idea why my car is getting such poor mileage? What can a poor college kid do? Thanks for all the advice in advanced!

Welcome to DA :wave:

Do you have a V6 or I4? Put your car's model/trim info in your sig, so that it's easier for us in the future to give specific advice :)

Welcome.

Its hard to tell by just one tank because you could have gotten shortchanged the previous fill-up and not known it. Two bad tanks in a row may give you a better idea if something isn't right. A big temp. change could account for part of the difference.

Is anything due for maintenance? A few things to check would be the air filter and tire pressure. Check tires while cold (meaning the car hasn't been driven recently even a short distance) with an accurate gauge. You probably already knew this and had checked these things anyway but just in case you hadn't that would be what I'd suggest.

Sorry, it's a v6. This has been going on for about 2 months. I would say at least 4-5 bad tanks with the max being 245 miles per gallon.

I have almost 37k miles by the way.

Is the car performing like it always has. If you have performance problems, I would also check spark plugs too, dumping gas and not burning it will go throught it quick too. check plug wires too.

Is it a manual or an auto? Do you leadfoot it very often? As a v6 mt driver I get at least 400mi with more than half 'city' miles on most tanks, but I spend a lot of time at part throttle and a lot of time in 5th or 6th gear. If you have an auto it may be shifting late, if you have a manual YOU may be shifting late ;).

If you still have any warranty take it in & se if they'll do an update. Your computer may have a glitch.... (need a software update)

You may have to pay for some diagnostic time, but without other symptoms or throwing a code there's not many ways to figure it out.

Did you have the fuel pump update (recall) done???

Around town it's not uncommon for mine to only get 16-19 mpg. But I EARN it.... meaning when my prince drives it more, he gets way better than I do in the same area!

First, I would try another brand of gas.
Second, I would log any other symptoms down....slow starts, rough idle, etc.
Third, I'd take it in & ask a dealer for help.

If you still have any warranty take it in & se if they'll do an update. Your computer may have a glitch.... (need a software update)

You may have to pay for some diagnostic time, but without other symptoms or throwing a code there's not many ways to figure it out.

Did you have the fuel pump update (recall) done???

Around town it's not uncommon for mine to only get 16-19 mpg. But I EARN it.... meaning when my prince drives it more, he gets way better than I do in the same area!

First, I would try another brand of gas.
Second, I would log any other symptoms down....slow starts, rough idle, etc.
Third, I'd take it in & ask a dealer for help.
Hmm, wasn't aware of a recall.
To some of the above posts, I drive an auto and I drive pretty conservatively since I've had this problem. I rarely drive over 70mph and I don't floor this thing like I used to. I used to drive fast and get where I wnated to go as quick as possible, but I drive like an elderly person now.

I guess I got to take this car to the dealership. About spark plugs, would a simple replacement solve hte issue of burning fuel or whatever?

I did notice that when my car started or turned off when I got my oil changed at a shop here, it looked like my engine kind of jumped or moved a little as it turned on and off. I'm not sure if this is normal. It just kind of moved, jolted a little. Not really sure how to explain it.

are you accidentally putting it in D3? that could be one reason...

are you accidentally putting it in D3? that could be one reason...

No sir.

I have the V-6 6 speed and city mileage is 16mpg--but on the highway I can get well over 30mpg. I think taking off 20% off the EPA mpg for city driving is the general rule. It's always been that way for me. So if your EPA estimate is 20 for city--16 is spot on. Highway EPA estimates seem accurate. The EPA figures are calibated differently and lower in 2008 and more accurate.

I have the V-6 6 speed and city mileage is 16mpg--but on the highway I can get well over 30mpg. I think taking off 20% off the EPA mpg for city driving is the general rule. It's always been that way for me. So if your EPA estimate is 20 for city--16 is spot on. Highway EPA estimates seem accurate. The EPA figures are calibated differently and lower in 2008 and more accurate.

I don't know. What city do you live? My city really isn't a city..

Jonesboro, AR. 55,000 population. Stop signs and stoplight at every intersection. If you go 1/2 mile w/o stopping, that's a victory.

Yeah I called Honda and gave them my VIN and there are no updates or recalls for my car. They said hte brakes might be dragging which is probably hte problem I'm thinking. My roommate said he had a friend with that problem. I'm going to get my brakes inspected by some place in town for free. It sounds shady, but I won't let him do any work.

I really hope this works. I drove about 25 miles the last two days and the needle as moved so much. So sad and frustrating. Makes me not want to drive my car.

MPG is such a difficult thing to track down. The biggest reason for it being low is usually driving style.

Having Nav, I can track mine while in use. I usually don't bother. It can get better if you drive rough for a couple of days, then calm down. That will retrain the tranny shifts for a while.

Good luck figuring it out. It just may be something as simple as a stuck brake, but I'd think you'd get a code...:dunno:

I have the V-6 6 speed and city mileage is 16mpg--but on the highway I can get well over 30mpg. .



.....just for drill - - - - and to illustrate fuel curve variation between users - - - I have the six with a stick: here are some typical numbers........

.......bad adze LA traffic 21

......careful Interstate driving at 2150rpm/high gear 39.3 all time best

......most times (mixed city/highway around state capital) 27-28.......

I forget which dudes says it: YMMV..........(it's big time true)

..ez..

:yes::yes::yes::yes::yes: That's so true!!

wasn't there a bulletin about honda not having their speedo's 100% accurate on the 03-06 accords, and they were giving people false gas mileage results? I read something about that where I think the gov't stepped in and slapped them on the wrist, so they made all the 07's with a 0% tolerance on the speedos. That would explain why some people can get 30+ mpg in a car that states 29 mpg highway. I drove from MA to Baltimore, and fueled up just before hitting the highway, and filled up again after 400 miles (only took 14-15 gallons), and I got 28 mpg, driving 65-70 ALL highway, with cruise control. I did have 3 grown men with me, so that could have dropped it a little, but still, people that get 30 mpg with V6 (non I4 or hybrid), what are you doing different?! I want to know!

Some people claim to get up to 600 miles to a tank with a v6.
I was very skeptical of that claim up until recently.
Normally I was getting anywhere near 320-380 per tank.
With a few minor changes to the car and myself I was able to
get 480 miles to the tank.My last 4 fillups were anywhere between
420-480 miles.Thats an improvement of roughly 100 miles per tank.
I switched to GC synthetic from mobil1.Replaced my summer tire's
with a nokian wr's on 16" steelies and increase psi to 34.New air filter
and a few coats of collinite.
Along with those changes,I have altered my driving style
drained my washer fluid and removed excess junk from veichle.
I have also lost some weight,cut my hair and switched to a lighter
brand of cigarette.I eliminated using cruise and have found that to
be a pig on steep grades.

actually, no. It was for all Hondas 2002-2006 & some 2007 Fits.

There was a class action suit. There's actually no such thing as 100% acuate since tire wear, size comes into play. But Honda settled. I don't know what other manufacturers did.:dunno:

My prince drives I-5 at speeds of 75-85 & gets 30+ without using CC. We ALWAYS have the A/C on. We stop hourly. But he's just always got better than the maroni sticker for MPG. On the '82s, the '86, the '02, his Pilot, now his Ridgeline. He hears/feels the load better than I do. He doesn't ever allow it to struggle. If there's a hill coming, he'll speed up before it & not need as much gas going up. I'm not sure exactly HOW he does it. I just know he's always managed to do it!!:D

It drives me nuts sometimes! We say if we had identical cars on the same road, he'd beat my MPG by 5-10 per gallon!! I'm serious! I THINK I listen/feel the car, but the numbers always prove otherwise!:paranoid:

Princess, that class action suit has not been finally settled, was it? Your attachment says it's still preliminary...

"cut my hair and switched to a lighter
brand of cigarette."

:lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao::thmsup:



I don't know if it's finalized yet.... I saw a 20/20 or one of those shows on it months ago. THEN saw it on the Honda site. Letters will go out to owners when it's done, I'm sure.

princess, I didn't quite get your response :)

I have no idea if it's finalized (if the class action suit has done it last round in the courts) when it is, Honda will send out letters to the car owners. They always do. :)

A woman in TX started it. She was needing a repair just out of warranty & decided to set out to prove that none of the odometers were 100% acuate. It worked. It wasn't one of those government involvement things, other than the courts.

yeah, that's what I thought... I have recevied a preliminary letter from Honda about this a while ago, saying that this matter is yet to be settled... no follow-up as yet :)

My last 3 tanks ive gotten 21 mpg with my 05 4 cyl...which isnt great considering.

Whenever I see forum post of mpg I usually drop myself about 7-10 mpg from everyone else for 2 reasons. 1. Forums are country wide, and most places DO NOT endur the same kind of driving that I do in Brooklyn NY. 2. I do tend to like to get places faster then most people.

When I had my 07 g35S, the forum people were getting anywhere from 20mph avg, to if i recall correctly 28-32 ( not exactly sure on that one). All i know is with that car I was getting 13.6 mpg lol. It was a 6mt and that car was VERY fun to drive, and I drove it. So even if im getting 21 mpg with my 4 cyl accord, its a big improvement for me, plus im using 87 octane as opposed to the old 93 shell V-Power only with my g35S.

My last tank I only averaged around 14.9 mpg though which is really terrible. But I was on the car a few times during that span.

Is the car performing like it always has. If you have performance problems, I would also check spark plugs too, dumping gas and not burning it will go throught it quick too. check plug wires too.

What's a good spark plug? If I go to Advanced Auto, would they install it for me?