Only getting 25mpg

Glad to find somebody else bothered by mpg.

I can easily afford fuel but I hate the feeling of not going out what is put in.

I spent £3,500 repairing a previous car but it was only getting around 29- 33 mpg, It was costing me around £70 a week in fuel, despite easily affording it I hated it's poor mpg, so got rid when a suspected bad valve in the engine popped up.

I now have a diesel mk2 2006 focus sport, written statstistics are 39.2 urban, 52.3 combined, 64.2 extra urban.

I usually average 40 mpg or so but that is mostly urban driving, I did record over 58 mpg not long ago after a motorway trip. however I still have a problem with my bad MAF wiring loom, and need to replace glow plugs and get furl injectors checked over.
I recorded my lowest ever mpg recently and in the 9 months that I have had this car, only saw 32 mpg!! should see 40 mpg approx. from the next fill up.
My mpg should be better again noce get these prob;lems sorted, especially the wiring loom .

Same here, can afford the fuel its just annoying knowing it's only getting around half what it should. Just went for a drive, the MPG was between 15 and 20 so I'm sure there's definitely something wrong here! Gonna book in for a service and ask if there's anything else I should look at like o2 sensors

Yes, it's not a problem paying for the fuel, just hate not getting out what I put in, I always fill my tank from empty each week ( Or top up if I have a bit left )
I always reset my mileage and note my mpg when I am next adding fuel.
It's like if you have a gas/water/electric meter ( I have no meters but this is just an example ) at home and you put £50 a week on the gas say but you only get £30 out, you would be pissed off.

MPG is basically the biggest deal for me, but obviously I want a smart looking car outside and a very nice interior inside, I also like a powerful engine.

I am wondering how you calculate your mpg, does your car have a trip computer that informs you of your mpg or do you use the internet for that ?
If so I use and recommend Torquecarsukmpg.


15 - 20 mpg is awful, I'll recommend some things to test but I would first like to say, if nothing seems to improve your mpg then I suggest saying bye bye to your car, if you keep hold of it and spend loads of money ( in my case on previous car I spent thousands) you will then feel committed to keep it and will have to feel pissed off everytime you put petrol in amd hardly get anything out.


What car do you drive, year/petrol or diesel, engine size, does it have any service history ?


Things it could be-

. Worn engine ( also, does it burn oil, blow blue smoke ?? )
. May need a complete service, new plugs, oil, filters, e.t.c.
. Lambda sensor ( same as 02 sensor )
.EGR Valve ( you should check this, could be very possible )
. vacuum leaks
.hole in exhaust
.blocked catalytic converter
.bad wiring loom
.MAF sensor
.
and many more possibilities I guess
.

Yeah that's exactly it! Some people ask why I'm bothered but it's the same as you said with a water/gas meter.

It's a 2003 golf, 1.6 petrol with full service history. Only done 48k miles. It mainly stays at around 25 mpg but on short journeys it's been as low as 15-20. I'm getting this information from my cars computer on the dash however I filled my car up today and have noted how much I put in and what my mileage is currently at so I can work it out properly as I know trip computers aren't always right. My car is due a service so I'm going to book it in for a full service sometime soon. I don't think the engines got any problems as far as I'm aware, spoke to my dad about o2 sensors etc but he said it would have come up on the MOT in September if there was any problems? As far as I'm aware there's no leaks or anything and there's no smoke blowing

Honestly that doesn't sound too far out to me. My 1.4 mk3 Golf got about 20mpg around town and 30mpg on the motorway. You might get it up slightly with a good service but I wouldn't get your hopes up too high.

It's true though isn't it. If your under achieving on your mpg then it is like putting money down the drain, in your cause you are lets say only getting 55 % out of what you are putting in, if you are putting £50 a week in, you may only be getting £30 out. so that's £80 a month. 12 x 8= £640 a year going down the drain.
You could use the money it is wasting and just go out on needless drives just for the fun of it and get used to your car, it'd be better than it going down the drain.
I had a 2000 astra petrol, spent about £3,500 on repairs and for the last 2 years I constantly clocked my mpg each week and it really frustrated me how crap the mpg for it was, but I felt I had to keep it as I invested so much on it in repairs.
I got rid after a suspected engine problem, I was glad to get rid of it in the end. I'm just telling you, don't end up keeping it and spending out on repair constantly if your car is as bad on fuel as you are saying it is.

My current diesel is good on fueI guess but this tank is looking a bit low on mpg ( around 37 mpg today ) but I know there are things on this that need attention and will be much better on fuel once sorted.






If it is in good order mechanically then I suggest get rid and get another car, a diesel preferably


A. 48,000 miles is not bad for an 03 car, you do need to know when the timing belt is due to be replaced though.

B. Yes, get it serviced and look for any improvement in your mpg, it WILL improve but by how much we don't know yet.

C. Yes, trip computers are not always accurate, it just gives an estimation

D. 25 mpg on short journeys is poor, 15- 20 mpg is dreadful

E. You will be very surprised, you may think your engine is in good shape but engines can be very deceiving and unless you are a pro, it may seem all good iyo.

F. No. A bad 02 sensor will not particularly be diagnosed/show up on an MOT, Perhaps if it was really bad your car would run poorly and be very smoky and result in emissions failure, perhaps this is what your dad means. However It is not always the case, I recommend having your car plugged in and see if it picks up any faults, either with 02 sensor or anything else that may affect your mpg, usually a fault would trigger check engine, but not always and sometimes the check engine light has been removed by some idiot.


G. It is almost impossible to know if your car has any leaks ( except obvious leaks like water.oil/fuel dripping under car), a lot of leaks via the hoses/pipes are hard to detrect and a common way to test is getting a smoke test done to see if any leaks show up,


H. Your car is not smoking, a bad 02 sensor or EGR will often cause excessive smoke out the exhaust, but not always, so they are both a possibility and need looking at




Good luck