OFFICIAL Fuel Mileage Discussion Thread

[someguy]

Originally Posted by jeffdaman

The reason I am obsessing over these number is because when gas goes back to $4/gallon I will not have to ability to make my car payment. I needed the car to get at least 34mpg to break even on my budget; in 15,000 miles it has averaged 31.8mpg. I'm in a really lousy position because I had faith in Hyundai. My only hope now is to have a semi run this POS over! I purchased the car in May when there were very real threats of $6/gal. Now I have a $24,000 car note which amounts to $60/month more in payment. If the car had just saved me 6MPG (I drive 33,000miles/year) it would have made up the difference. If I could even just make Hyundai buy this POS back and be left with the $4000 extra that I had roll over from my last car I would be happy. As it stands they've really really screwed my life up. And what REALLY pisses me off is that they would insult me with a measly $55/15000miles for my "loss of 1MPG." It's a hard pill to swallow knowing that I may lose my home and ability to provide for my daughter over a lie that a billion dollar company shrugs off. If I seem bitter it's an understatement; because if I publicly posted what I'm really thinking it would get me into trouble.

I dont want to turn this into a discussion on financial responsibility but thats where your real problem lies. To blame Hyundai for screwing up your life is just plain absurd. I'm sorry it turned into this for you.

[crownr0yal]

Originally Posted by OkieRich

I had once heard that "a large majority of Americans were only one paycheck away from starvation." That statement is a bit disturbing. Hope there's no truth in it. But if it is, it's really, really sad.

I hate to break it to you, but this is very true. Too much spending, not enough saving. But what do you do when you don't make enough to save? I work as a case manager for a large non-profit and man, some of the stories would just break your heart.

[TurboLed]

Originally Posted by someguy

To blame Hyundai for screwing up your life is just plain absurd. I'm sorry it turned into this for you.

I agree... Why buy a new car instead of a used one if ones cannot afford a few extra MPG?

[Xion]

Originally Posted by OkieRich

I had once heard that "a large majority of Americans were only one paycheck away from starvation." That statement is a bit disturbing. Hope there's no truth in it. But if it is, it's really, really sad.

In Canada too. This is my case and now my wife has no job. Sometimes I wonder if I should sell my car and keep her 2004 Accent. I admit I'd be sad loosing my car. I need to find a way to pay all my debts.

[OkieRich]

Jeez, this thread is becoming depressing! I sincerely hope everyone struggling right now gets some relief, and quickly! Been there, not a position I ever want to return to. TOAST: "Here's to a fruitful and happy future for all! God bless!"

[Em-squared]

Originally Posted by OkieRich

Jeez, this thread is becoming depressing! I sincerely hope everyone struggling right now gets some relief, and quickly! Been there, not a position I ever want to return to. TOAST: "Here's to a fruitful and happy future for all! God bless!"

Something that I haven't talked about much on the forum (because it's not relevant to cars) is that since losing my last job, it's really forced me to re-assess what things are "needs" and which are "wants." Other than my car, I have stopped spending ridiculous amounts of money on clothing and other superflous things, and have found ways to recycle things and make things homemade, or find things used. I've had a HUGE lifestyle change.

Our society programs us to spend and buy beyond our means and be indebted to our creditors. That is a form of imprisonment. That is why I have stopped spending, gotten rid of credit cards, and am on a strict repayment plan to my creditors. The good news is, we all have free will, and very rarely does anyone hold a gun to our head and FORCE us to buy something we don't need.

[crownr0yal]

And this concludes the financial literacy portion of the afternoon.

[Xion]

Originally Posted by Em-squared

Something that I haven't talked about much on the forum (because it's not relevant to cars) is that since losing my last job, it's really forced me to re-assess what things are "needs" and which are "wants." Other than my car, I have stopped spending ridiculous amounts of money on clothing and other superflous things, and have found ways to recycle things and make things homemade, or find things used. I've had a HUGE lifestyle change.

Our society programs us to spend and buy beyond our means and be indebted to our creditors. That is a form of imprisonment. That is why I have stopped spending, gotten rid of credit cards, and am on a strict repayment plan to my creditors. The good news is, we all have free will, and very rarely does anyone hold a gun to our head and FORCE us to buy something we don't need.

Thanks Holly, I'm kinda in the same situation, the months before I married my wife she has lost a few jobs and while looking for a new job she got debts. I helped her and gave her all my savings (yeah I love her that much) now we have a common BIG debt. We did our best to lower our monthly payments like TV, internet, auto insurance, we negotiated new plans for those. I put her on my work insurance so now her medication is 80% covered. There are 2 used clothing stores in our city (similar as Value Village but cheaper) my wife just bought shoes that look like new for $4.00 I must learn to do like you Holly, buy what we need and not what we want. It's hard to do so when it comes to my car, friday I had a relapse, I bought a set of caps for my wheels for $50 I'd like to find a way to lower our electricity bill, food cost a lot so we decided to now make our own yogourt, our first batch taste good actually I'd like to buy a bread machine too. Oh we try not to eat at the restaurant, those are very expensive.

Originally Posted by OkieRich

Jeez, this thread is becoming depressing! I sincerely hope everyone struggling right now gets some relief, and quickly! Been there, not a position I ever want to return to. TOAST: "Here's to a fruitful and happy future for all! God bless!"

Thanks, it's really nice of you to say that

Originally Posted by TurboLed

I agree... Why buy a new car instead of a used one if ones cannot afford a few extra MPG?

Because I drive 33,000miles/year to my job. Used cars are almost the same price as new one's unless they're loaded with many miles and the condition of the engine is completely unpredictable. What's more is that I drive 2750miles/month so if I get 30mpg @ $4/gal it's $366/month; and if I get 40mpg it's $275/month plus a warranty so I don't have to worry. I chose a $60/month increase to save $90/month for a savings of $30/month and a warranty. I don't want to get into the details of my finances but I couldn't buy a used car with an upside down loan; I couldn't risk getting any more miles on the Sonata because I can't be making payments on a dead car (would have been 180,000 miles by the end of the loan); I couldn't risk not having a car because I'd lose my job; I couldn't risk losing my job because I'd lose my ability to provide for my family and there weren't any professional jobs in my field here in St Louis. I'm just trying to stay afloat and Hyundai's oops is going to sink me the minute gas goes back up.

I didn't mean to bring down the thread but I'm tired of being cheated by big businesses; especially when I gave them so many customers. I can name 5 people who bought new Hyundai's because how much I ranted about my love for that Sonata. I can understand the oil company's and Ameren Electric screwing me by jacking up products without improving the products, but not Hyundai. I really really loved that Sonata. And giving me generic advice or telling me I'm imagining the problem is a bad way to go. I've written down the miles and gallons on every fillup since I was 17 and I have plenty of data logged to compare this to. I've driven 2 full tanks @ 55mph mostly no stopping @ 80°F and I got 34mpg. I drive 70mph for 20miles, 65mph for 10miles and 60mph for 5miles, the rest 35mph-55mph with stops; this is my daily 1way and the opposite going back; this yeilds 30-32mph depending on traffic and the wind. If there's something wrong with my car I would love to know. But too many people are telling the same story. I would love to see the data of those claiming 38-40mpg. I want to know if maybe the assembly plant got a shippment of mis-gapped spark plugs and that's causing problems for so many of us; or something like that. But I swear to you the problem exist and it's more than an oops to me. I'm re-engineering the intake because the stock air path looks to have too many bends. This car sucks up so many CFM and I took all the resistance out of the path for 2 days. I will let you all know how it did when I have a few tanks this way.

[dmlexpert]

Originally Posted by jeffdaman

... I would love to see the data of those claiming 38-40mpg. ...

I can send you a link to the fuel consumption data logged since I bought my Elantra. My current lifetime average is 38.2mpg in mixed city/highway driving, and a fair share of mountain driving in northeast PA and across northern NJ. And in winter, I run Blizzaks from Dec to Mar. My last tank was 33.1mpg and was 100% city driving and included some miles in a snow storm (nor'easter) that came here the week after the hurricane.

If you want to PM me, I can share information that may help you to get your mpg up to your goal. I have posted the content many times here (so I am not hiding the knowledge from others who may wish to read), but what may work for you may not work for someone else and vice versa. So it's usually best to work one on one with someone who knows how to make the Elantra sing, and then it's up to you to make it happen if you choose to do so.