New Edge - Poor MPG?

[jimbobber927]

FWD or AWD??

 

FWD

[VapourSlvr20s]

hmmmm, so i guess the 08 i just bought that has a sticker that says 21MPG city and 30MPG hwy is a little OFF? (AWD LIMITED)

 

DANG!

[plevesquehhh]

Picked up our 2008 Edge FWD about a week and a half ago (it was a bit of a rushed purchase as a new job dictated biting the bullet and buying a vehicle) and have been less than impressed with the gas mileage. Granted we have only put about 1100km on it, but we're finding that we're watching our gas gauge plummet.

 

As I'm a new car owner I haven't done manual calculations for mpg or L/100KM, but just out of curiousity, what is the average KM to E, or M to E? We've already had 3 fill-ups, and we thought the 72L tank would go father than 450km. At one point our KM to E was 571, which was a nice surprise, but after driving about 24KM that quickly dropped to 450.

 

Any ideas out there? Should I be taking it back to the dealership, or just kicking myself for not looking in to the fuel efficiency a little better?

 

As a sub-question, what can one do when they've just signed a 60mth financing term and feel like they're about to get destroyed by the ever rising gas prices? Can you trade in a week old vehicle electing for a much smaller one? Has anyone had an experience like this with Ford?

 

Thanks for the help!

[akirby]

Picked up our 2008 Edge FWD about a week and a half ago (it was a bit of a rushed purchase as a new job dictated biting the bullet and buying a vehicle) and have been less than impressed with the gas mileage. Granted we have only put about 1100km on it, but we're finding that we're watching our gas gauge plummet.

 

As I'm a new car owner I haven't done manual calculations for mpg or L/100KM, but just out of curiousity, what is the average KM to E, or M to E? We've already had 3 fill-ups, and we thought the 72L tank would go father than 450km. At one point our KM to E was 571, which was a nice surprise, but after driving about 24KM that quickly dropped to 450.

 

Any ideas out there? Should I be taking it back to the dealership, or just kicking myself for not looking in to the fuel efficiency a little better?

 

As a sub-question, what can one do when they've just signed a 60mth financing term and feel like they're about to get destroyed by the ever rising gas prices? Can you trade in a week old vehicle electing for a much smaller one? Has anyone had an experience like this with Ford?

 

Thanks for the help!

 

A few miles per gallon (or liters per kilometer) will never save you enough to offset the cost of trading in a new vehicle and taking a huge depreciation hit. You'd be losing thousands of dollars in depreciation to save a few hundred in gasoline.

 

This engine takes 3k-5k to break in and deliver maximum mpg. You should also be resetting the computer fuel efficiency readout periodically, especially when you fill up. The distance to empty will change based on your recent fuel economy.

 

Next time you fill up, reset the mpg readout and watch it as you drive.

[bbf2530]

Picked up our 2008 Edge FWD about a week and a half ago (it was a bit of a rushed purchase as a new job dictated biting the bullet and buying a vehicle) and have been less than impressed with the gas mileage. Granted we have only put about 1100km on it, but we're finding that we're watching our gas gauge plummet.

 

As I'm a new car owner I haven't done manual calculations for mpg or L/100KM, but just out of curiousity, what is the average KM to E, or M to E? We've already had 3 fill-ups, and we thought the 72L tank would go father than 450km. At one point our KM to E was 571, which was a nice surprise, but after driving about 24KM that quickly dropped to 450.

 

Any ideas out there? Should I be taking it back to the dealership, or just kicking myself for not looking in to the fuel efficiency a little better?

 

As a sub-question, what can one do when they've just signed a 60mth financing term and feel like they're about to get destroyed by the ever rising gas prices? Can you trade in a week old vehicle electing for a much smaller one? Has anyone had an experience like this with Ford?

 

Thanks for the help!

 

Hi plevesquehhh. :D Just a few quick questions:

 

1 - Are you driving with the HVAC system set to "AUTO" (or AC)? Having the HVAC system set to "AUTO" is the equivalent of driving around with the AC on all the time. Turn off the "AUTO" setting, and only use it, or the AC setting when absolutely necessary. It uses more fuel.

 

2 - Have you checked your tire pressure lately? Do you check it with a good quality pressure gauge? Do you know what PSI you keep your tires inflated to? If you can answer no to any of those three questions, you are not properly maintaining your tires, and will adversely affect your MPG's. Air is free, gas is not.

 

These are just two things you can do to help increase your gas mileage.

 

In addition, it can take up to 5,000 miles for these vehicles to fully break-in. Your fuel mileage will increase over time.

 

As far as trading-in a week old vehicle. Well, any Dealer would be more than happy to accept your trade-in. They would be more than happy because they will rake you over the coals on their trade-in offer, and then they will make more money all over again when they sell you another new car.

 

Unless the owner of the Dealership is your Father (and maybe even not then), you will lose more money by trading-in your Edge and buying a new car than you will ever make back gas savings.

 

Of course it never hurts to ask. But it would certainly be an unusual occurrence (and bring your own calculator) :shades: .

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

 

 

EDIT - Curses, beaten by the lightning fast fingers of akirby again!

Edited June 4, 2008 by bbf2530

[akirby]

Hi plevesquehhh. :D Just a few quick questions:

 

1 - Are you driving with the HVAC system set to "AUTO" (or AC)? Having the HVAC system set to "AUTO" is the equivalent of driving around with the AC on all the time. Turn off the "AUTO" setting, and only use it, or the AC setting when absolutely necessary. It uses more fuel.

 

2 - Have you checked your tire pressure lately? Do you check it with a good quality pressure gauge? Do you know what PSI you keep your tires inflated to? If you can answer no to any of those three questions, you are not properly maintaining your tires, and will adversely affect your MPG's. Air is free, gas is not.

 

These are just two things you can do to help increase your gas mileage.

 

In addition, it can take up to 5,000 miles for these vehicles to fully break-in. Your fuel mileage will increase over time.

 

As far as trading-in a week old vehicle. Well, any Dealer would be more than happy to accept your trade-in. They would be more than happy because they will rake you over the coals on their trade-in offer, and then they will make more money all over again when they sell you another new car.

 

Unless the owner of the Dealership is your Father (and maybe even not then), you will lose more money by trading-in your Edge and buying a new car than you will ever make back gas savings.

 

Of course it never hurts to ask. But it would certainly be an unusual occurrence (and bring your own calculator) :shades: .

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

 

 

EDIT - Curses, beaten by the lightning fast fingers of akirby again!

 

I type faster and think less........

[plevesquehhh]

Thanks for the very useful and quick responses folks. I'll keep all the tips and the ones from the first page in mind.

[cobra98]

I have a 2008 Edge purchased a few months ago. My biggest complaint initially was the poor MPG's. Similar to some other posters here. As of now I have around 6000 miles on it. Have done many long road trips of 800 miles or so. My average MPG's by the computer will typically show around 23. You must reset the computer before driving or after filling up. The actual milage I found it to be was 22.5 or so. This is driving around 70mph. I have the AWD limited model, which was rated at 22 mpg highway. In order to get the 'real' milage, fill up, reset one of the trip meters, drive, fill back up noting your gallons to top-off, then divide miles by gallons.

 

When my Edge was new I took it on a fairly long trip for its maiden voyage, probably about 900 miles or so. It happend to be during the Northeast winter, right after a Noreaster. So my trip south was extremely windy, and it happened to be bitterly cold. Needless to say I was basically driving into a 30mph headwind that only caused my MPG's that trip to be around 17. All highway and around 60-65mph. There were probably many factors contributing to poor MPG's, wind, cold, new-ness of the vehicle.

 

I believe that these cars will be more gas efficient when the temperature is much warmer as I am seeing now. But this could also be that it is breaking itself in as some others have said.

 

Something else to be aware of is that you can look at your Average speed on your computer. Reset that at the same time after fillup. I generally do a mix of city (lights, stop signs, and 30mph roads) and highway at about 65-70. My AVG speed generally over one tank runs around 27mph. I might get around 16-17mpg's or so even though I am mixing in some highway miles. However, your AVG speed is based on time. The more time you spend sitting at street lights and stop signs is bad..bad..bad waste of fuel, not to mention the acceleration it takes to move a 4000 pound vehicle.

[cambo]

Hi everyone.

 

New to the forums. I have a FWD SEL. First tank of gas i got 15mpg ALL city driving. Haven't taken above 60 yet. I am very happy with that number for its first fill. When i first got the car it could barely get above 10 on the trip computer but as I continued to drive it the the MPG creeped up to 15. Filled the tank and vuala, 15mpg. Very accurate. I was thinking that because it was originally getting 10 it must have been a fairly decent number to get it up to 15. On my way back from the gas station the computer told me 18. (reset everything). I am very curious as to what the average MPG will ultimatley be when i start driving back and forth from phoenix to tuscon for college.

 

BTW, love this engine/tranny combo. Really smooth acceleration and just seems to always pic the gear i want for the situation.

[cambo]

second fill, 16mpg all city driving :D

[VapourSlvr20s]

I think it's both your eyesight and memory.

 

30

 

 

just to prove i can read! :P

[akirby]

Dupe.

Edited June 20, 2008 by akirby

[akirby]

just to prove i can read! :P

 

Those are imperial gallons, not U.S. gallons. 1 imperial gallon = 1.2 U.S. gallons.

[VapourSlvr20s]

Those are imperial gallons, not U.S. gallons. 1 imperial gallon = 1.2 U.S. gallons.

 

 

aHH I SEE :yup:

 

SO 17.5MPG city and 25.8 MPG hyway, never crossed my mind on the us to imperial thing...

[DUCKRACER]

My 08 SEL FWD has about 5000 miles and the best I've seen so far (combined freeway and city driving) is 18.3 MPG. I was hoping for 20 overall when I leased the Edge-- a bit of a disapointment. Anyway, even though I like everything else about the car, I will be seriously considering the "ugly" 60 MPG Toyota Prius in 2010-- enough is enough. Gas in So Cal is already at $4.00 a gallon, so the Prius is looking better and better!

bkin I live in So Cal just like you. I would like would like you to consider two things. First, if you sell your Edge you will take a huge loss in resale value and even at 4+$/gal you can buy a lot of gas with the money you will lose on trade-in. Second, if you run the a/c in city driving (something you MUST do in SoCal) the gas motor will be running, even at a stop, so you will never see the astronimical city mpg the Prius totes.

If you must sell your Edge, consider the 35 mpg Ford Focus or maybe wait for the Ford Verve/Fiesta.

Lastly, go to americansolutions.com and sign the petition to DRILL HERE! DRILL NOW! PAY LESS

Good Luck, whatever you do.

[Jaak in TO]

One way to ensure the milage is good is to replace the air in your tires with Nitrogen. My dealer does this with all their vehicles and my tire pressure has remained stable since March 4 th of this year (canada does get cold & hot).

 

When you fill the tank ... try to use gasoline without Ethanol. Ethanol is less than gasoline in "power" and your milege will be about 10 to 15% less than 100% gasoline.

 

Two weeks ago I went up north fishing with a 7' utility trailer attached, with a 12' Aluminum boat mounted upside down (on cross bars) with a 6 HP Johnson outboard, 10 CDN gallons of gas in cans, 10 gallons water & assorted boating accessories. Inside there was two of us, a 100 lb Golden Retriever, food & drink for 3, assorded crap such as fishing gear ... bug zappers etc (basiclly loaded up) and my milage up there and back on the highway was 28 MPG (Imperial) on regular non-ethanol gasoline!!!

 

Other times I have used Ethanol blended fuels and have noticed a loss in power as well as milage.

[akirby]

One way to ensure the milage is good is to replace the air in your tires with Nitrogen. My dealer does this with all their vehicles and my tire pressure has remained stable since March 4 th of this year (canada does get cold & hot).

 

Just to clarify - using Nitrogen doesn't affect your mileage. Keeping your tires properly inflated does and Nitrogen helps with that because it leaks out more slowly. But as long as you check your tire pressure regularly you'll get the same results with plain old air.

[Jaak in TO]

Just to clarify - using Nitrogen doesn't affect your mileage. Keeping your tires properly inflated does and Nitrogen helps with that because it leaks out more slowly. But as long as you check your tire pressure regularly you'll get the same results with plain old air.

Nitrogen remains constant throuout the temp changes. I have not had the need to add or remove any "air" from the tires. The pressure remains constant thus keeping them at optimum for milage (and wear).

[akirby]

Nitrogen remains constant throuout the temp changes. I have not had the need to add or remove any "air" from the tires. The pressure remains constant thus keeping them at optimum for milage (and wear).

 

There is no evidence that Nitrogen expands less than Air (enough to make a difference) at normal tire temperatures and pressures. For racing applications where even a 1/4 lb makes a difference at drastically higher temps it might make sense. It's also true that nitrogen is less flammable than air due to the lack of oxygen, so it's used in airplane tires e.g. But again - not an issue with car tires.

 

The only real benefit is that it reduces the slow leakage of air over time through the tire itself. As long as you keep the tire inflated properly it doesn't matter what's in it.

 

Nitrogen will not improve your ride quality, fuel economy or tread life. But it won't hurt either.