I love the car- that is the problem. I test drove a few Toyota, Scion and Honda’s before the Elantra and Accent. Given that I wanted a sub-compact that had power, decent room and most of all great MPG’s in the city and Highway, I chose the Accent GLS. I got around 40 MPG on the one big road trip I took to Santa Barbara and that was it. My normal commute used to be around 46 miles round-trip on the freeway and and the rest in the city and for the most part, the MPG's were slowly increasing in botht he city and freeway. That began to slide in late Nov-early Dec.
The only other issue I have besides the MPG is the loose steering which, at 8,000 miles I have gotten used to for the most part.
I have a friend who is an extremely intelligent guy and a lead engineer for another car company. Both he and the regional service manager at Hyundai stated that the "brand" of gas you use should only have minimal effect on MPG. (There are some generic stations around the Bay that I avoid though because their gas is definitely watered down) I did inquire about California's "special" gas with 10 % Ethanol and again was told by my friend and the Service Manager that the switch over from summer to winter gas (which is about when my MPG's started decreasing, should not have an effect either.
After getting contacted by Hyundai’s PR department regarding my complaint, I met with the regional parts and service manager and the service manager for the two dealerships in SF and the Peninsula. They asked me to drive the routes that I usually drive every day around San Francisco, 90% of which is flat and no steep hills. Next, the local service manager drove the car, etc. and when they did the calculations, rather just what the dash says, my MPG was 17.9 and when they drove it , they got closer to 20. I also drive on the freeway and over the Bay Bridge 1-2 /week and also drive 60 miles south 1-3 times/month. Even on a 25 mile freeway drive I now average about 19-25. If anyone out there thinks that this is all due to my driving habits,, where I live, etc, all I can say is that you are incorrect.
Lastly, up until the fuel test this week I did not want my money back; all I wanted them to do , since it has now been at the dealership 4 times for the same issue, was to trade my Accent in for the exact same car. Now unfortunately I don’t know what to think about Hyundai’s apparent Quality Control issue. I say this because they let me drive a brand new Accent the same route, then they drove it and the mileage was almost identical. Seriously. How can some people achieve and even beat what Hyundai says and here I am getting pathetic MPG’s? I don’t get it.
@northey87, I think I mentioned that this is actually the first New car I bought in my life and the reason I did so was to not have to worry about my car again for a while. Now I am dealing with a bunch of those unfortunate events and circumstances that we all go through (I am dealing with them all though L ) and can not just “get rid of it” without Hyundai’s acknowledgement and help.
Thanks for listening.