2007 Accent Sport GS Fuel Consumption

Picked up a Accent Sport GS over the weekend and It is a blast to
drive - All ~72 hours that I have had it! As most dealers do, the car
came with a full tank of gas, and I have been treating this thing like
a newborn baby but I have a few questions regarding the fuel
consumption.

First things first, perhaps it is normal for a brand new car with a
less than a dozen miles on it to consume more fuel while being
"broken" in? Just something that gets better over time?

I reset the Trip Meter to zero when I picked up the car, with a full
tank of fuel, now I am just a smidge above 1/2 with 210km (130 miles)
on it. 80 % of my driving is Highway, commuting to work and back, AC
only on in the evening on my return trip home. And I am certainly not
a maniac driver......

Thoughts? It's my first "NEW" car so I guess my experience with these
issues are quite limited.

Thanks!
Jay.

 

I got about 2 mpg more after a frew thousand miles.

Gauges are not always linear. The needle position at say 1/2, does not mean
you actually have exactly a half tank. When you fill it up, check the
mileage.

 

And you are assuming the dealer actually FILLED the tank. I bet if you
took it right out of the dealer and went to really fill it, you would have
been 2-3 gallons short.

My suggestion is to wait until you fill it up yourself to gauge the
mileage, but as Edwin said, it will get better with time.

Eric

 

It'd be difficult to purposely underfill a tank by a few gallons. By the
same token, it doesn't mean the tank was filled. That may not have
necessarily been the dealer's intent.

Additionally, the size of the fuel tank is important. Per hmaservice.com,
it's 11.9 gallons. 130/6 is about 22MPG. That's a little low, but we
don't know that you've actually used six gallons, either. Like Edwin
says, the gauge isn't necessarily linear. You'll have better information
by filling the tank, driving until near empty, and refilling the tank.

 

I didn't mean to imply that the dealer did this on purpose. Although I
guess it did sound that way. With that said, the last 4 or 5 cars I have
purchased supposedly came with a full tank from the dealer that really
wasn't even near full.

I think what happens is this: Vehicle arrives on car carrier completely
empty (I believe it must be transported empty). The dealer takes the car
and fills it up. Then it either gets test driven a few times and/or sits
on the lot for a while, allowing for some usage or evaporation.

That's what I meant to say.

Eric