Using an insane amount of gasoline?

[iiTsFrost]

My mother drives a 2011 Edge, I drive a 98 Explorer. Anyways I've been driving her Edge for a few days and her car uses an insane amount of gas. The car says that it averages around 23 MPG but it'll say it has 120 miles left to empty. I would only drive about 5 actual miles and then it'll say it has 110 miles left. I drove to my work the other day (less than 2 miles from my home) It had I think 90 miles left to empty and by the time I get there it has about 83 miles to empty.

 

Does anyone have any ideas as to what could be the cause of this?

[1004ron]

Is it a gauge accuracy issue, or have you checked the actual mpg?

[iiTsFrost]

8 minutes ago, 1004ron said:

Is it a gauge accuracy issue, or have you checked the actual mpg?

I assume gauge accuracy because I find it really hard to believe the car is using that much gasoline. How would I go about checking the actual MPG instead of just looking at what the gauge is telling me?

[1004ron]

9 minutes ago, iiTsFrost said:

I assume gauge accuracy because I find it really hard to believe the car is using that much gasoline. How would I go about checking the actual MPG instead of just looking at what the gauge is telling me?

The typical method is to fill it, record the odometer, ride a reasonable distance fill it again recording the mileage and amount of gas it took to fill - come on, I'm sure you know how that's done.

[iiTsFrost]

12 minutes ago, 1004ron said:

The typical method is to fill it, record the odometer, ride a reasonable distance fill it again recording the mileage and amount of gas it took to fill - come on, I'm sure you know how that's done.

Yep forgot about that, we'll do that today and see how much its actually getting. I'll keep this thread updated.

[1004ron]

What model / engine? - please add that to your signature - Settings - Ford Edge Forum

[ben senise]

9 hours ago, iiTsFrost said:

Does anyone have any ideas as to what could be the cause of this?

 

you have a lead foot perhaps? ?

 

but seriously, like 1004ron says, first step would be to see if that's actually true. those "distance to empty" figures are predictive based on current driving. stomp on the gas and the calculations are basically "if you keep driving like this, you'll run out of gas in x miles." if you're driving uphill, it'll be pessimistic and so on.

[omar302]

As @ben senise stated above, the "distance to empty" figures are predictive. They use the average MPG of the past few hundred miles, so if your current driving uses has a lower mpg compared to the average used for calculation, the "distance to empty" number will go down quickly.

 

From you posts above, seems your driving is for short drives which will definitely reduce your mileage.

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

please update us on miles on the vehicle and typical driving conditions, along with oil change routine. 2011 has a "defective" iolm, so i would not depend on it for oil change reminders.

 

special operating conditions, overly long oil change intervals, fuel with insufficient additives, poor maintenance history with fluids, filters and plugs/pcv valve can all contribute to the mpg decline where the powertrain is concerned.