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Post Your Van Gas Mileage Here

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  • wiscywiscy Member Posts: 5
    We have almost 1000 miles on the new van now. I just wanted to post that a more accurate number for highway / city expections is 25 / 14.

    On the highway going 75mph with AC on we get 23 so I can see that 25 is doable. But stops and starts are a killer on mileage in this huge van. Around town with no highway miles we average about 14mpg.

    Still hoping it will get a little better with more miles on the engine...
  • dennisctcdennisctc Member Posts: 1,168
    Just back from West Virginia mountains camping. I had left my tent trailer there til the 4th holiday and had to bring her home. I got 19 MPG on return trip home (24 on way there without trailer).....my Van was loaded, the trailer was loaded. I have 5600 miles on new 2005 DGC SXT....I'm happy
  • famof3kidsfamof3kids Member Posts: 160
    Just got back from Disney World. With the front/rear AC on, radio, DVD player, cruise control, 3 adults and 3 children and enough luggage for 1 week, we averaged 23.8 MPG highway with average speed of 69 mph. Disney was a 12 hour drive for us, so, figure a good indicator of MPG.
    We average 19 MPG city driving.
  • apu1apu1 Member Posts: 1
    Our 05 Sienna LE with FWD 3.3 liter V6 consistenly gets 19-21 in city and 26-28 highway with pretty easy going driving style during summer temps. Our 04 Tribute ES AWD 3 liter V6, normally gets 17-18 city and as high as 25 highway, during the winter milage can drop to as low as 12-14mpg in city. Our old 96 Windstar GL with 3.8 liter V6 generally got between 16-18 mpg city and 22-26 highway in summer temps, in winter we have seen as low as 14-16 mpg city. These are all boxy and heavy vehicles with pretty consistent fuel economy for a typical V6 powered machine.
  • jntjnt Member Posts: 316
    Wantecon,

    Couple reasons why the Kia van has bad mileage:

    It is a heavy vehicle; it weight as much as a Chevy Tahoe (~5000 lb). That is about 1000 lbs heavier than the old GM minvan (w/ shaky structure), 400-500 lbs heavier than a Toyota or Honda minivans. So one can't escape the law of Physics here. Kia is not known for their engineering prowess in making light at the same time strong vehicle. So to make it strong, they resorted to adding massive structure re-enforcement.

    Another one is engine design and technology: Kia is at least 5-10 years be
    hind the Japanese counterpart. Honda and Toyota have been perfecting their engines for decades. Kia and Huyndai, did not design their engines until 10 years ago.

    jnt
  • jntjnt Member Posts: 316
    We have this vehicle for about 8 months now. What we so far got on gas mileage:

    1. Close to 25 MPG for hwy, at speed of 65 MPH. Vehicle is loaded
    2. Down to 22 MPG for hwy, at speed between 70-80MPH. Again vehicle is loaded
    3. About 14-15 MPG for city driving, stop and go, speed less than 40 MPH

    This vehicle has cylinder de-activation (VCM in Honda speak). This feature helps mostly with hwy mileage. Considering the 4300 lbs vehicle weight + 500 lbs load, the gas mileage is reasonable for a minivan or any vehicle with the same weight. Another thing: its engine does not run out of breath at high speed and heavy load.

    jnt
  • stickguystickguy Member Posts: 50,439
    prety similar to our mileage. We get 15-17 local, and about 24-25 on a trip, but at speeds "slightly" higher than 65!

    We will be doing a longish trip this weekend, with plenty of highway (but also up in to the hills, and a fair stretch of local roads). Should be a good test. If I average close to 25 round trip, it would be great.

    2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.

  • odysseydriverodysseydriver Member Posts: 13
    Got Odyssey EXL 3 weeks back. So far i got 19 miles HWY(when we drove back rom the dealer) after that i am getting 13 MPG , it seems not right and less than what others are getting.. what can i do to improve????. Is there anything wrong with my particular car????do i need to bring it up to the HONDA or DEALER.
    Any advice is appreciated....
  • dennisctcdennisctc Member Posts: 1,168
    Relax, take a pill......you've had it 3 whole weeks, it's brand spanking new!!!!! It should improve over time!
  • bnicholsbnichols Member Posts: 4
    I have an 05 EX-L with the same characteristics. My van will actually slow down with the foot off the acclerator going down a hill. This bothers me a bit and I was worried I had a transmission problem but am glad to see that others have described it. It is tough to get used to, almost like a brake dragging. I now have about 3500 miles on the van and am getting between 19 and 22 mpg on the highway. This van seems to guzzle the gas around town, and I do not push her hard. This is disappointing since I sold my 03 Envoy XL V8 which was doing only couple mpg worse.

    On the flip side, the van is a great highway cruiser with plenty of passing power. And if it can continue to get around 22 mpg hwy, I am satisfied. Honda must have been in a no wind situation, 55 mph, no stops, and a lightly loaded van to get 28 mpg.
  • jc9799jc9799 Member Posts: 70
    Honda must have been in a no wind situation, 55 mph, no stops, and a lightly loaded van to get 28 mpg.
    Don't forget the 6% downhill grade. :D

    Just filled the MPV tonight. This is only my 3rd fillup. On the first I had just over 18 mpg, the 2nd just over 17, but tonights netted me 21.8 mpg. :surprise: Not that I'm complaining, but why the sudden jump? I've been doing the same type of driving the past 25 days and fill at the same station. Hmm, like I said, I'm not complaining.
  • ClairesClaires Member Posts: 1,222
    New article at Edmunds.com:

    How to Keep Gas Mileage Records

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  • averigejoeaverigejoe Member Posts: 559
    Excellent, useful, detailed post! Hooray!
  • averigejoeaverigejoe Member Posts: 559
    2004 Sedona. 10,000 miles now. A/C is always on. Usually 3 to 5 bodies in van. Used mostly in town but not stop and go freeway congestion. Mileage has improved since new. Averages 16 or so in town. On long warm weather highway trips at 70 to 80 mph with some mountains about 19 to 20 mpg average. Elevation changes in 120 miles or so is from 1150 to 7000 feet. I'll update this soon after a 700 mile trip. No complaints. Great value and decent enough mileage for the utility.
  • jipsterjipster Member Posts: 6,244
    Got an average of 23.75 mpg on 1,400 mile trip to Panama City Beach. About 90% highway. Van was loaded down pretty good... with a/c on the entire trip. Cruised at about 75mph..did need to pass and move from slow lane to fast quite often. Pretty good. :shades:
    2020 Honda Accord EX-L, 2011 Hyundai Veracruz, 2010 Mercury Milan Premiere, 2007 Kia Optima
  • tamu2002tamu2002 Member Posts: 758
    I couldn't help laughing out loud when they get to the part where they showed how to do divisions!! Do people in this country really not know how to do 3rd grade math?
  • dansgirldansgirl Member Posts: 14
    We have had our EX-L with VCM for a couple of months now, and I have been religiously tracking fuel economy due to some of the horror stories read on this forum. Let me preface the number by telling you that I live in the Northern Virginia/DC area and drive 100+ miles round trip to work each day - only 10-15 highway miles.

    My overall average is 21.223 mpg
    Highest is 29.517 mpg (trip to Charlotte 90% highway with cruise set on 75mph)
    2nd Highest is 22.485 mpg
    Lowest is 18.931mpg

    We now have 7,940 total miles on the vehicle, and from what I read the gas mileage is supposed to improve over 10k miles...we're very happy with the performance so far, and would be surprised to see it improve.

    On our trip to Charlotte we noticed that the VCM does not kick in even with cruise control set if over 75 mph.
  • user777user777 Member Posts: 3,341
    the 29.517 is interesting. is that computed by hand (miles driven into gallons pumped) or via on board computer (my '03 doesn't have an on board computer so i apologize for the question).
  • starbux4mestarbux4me Member Posts: 25
    60k miles, still getting around 17...
  • domodomo Member Posts: 3
    I have a new 2005 Odyssey with 3,300 miles and am very dissapointed with my miles per gallon. Hwy barely get 20mpg. Mix of Hwy/city 17mpg. City a dreadful 15mpg. Repeatedly i check the MPG's and these are my numbers consistently. I know it is still early but how much more is it going to improve.
  • garandmangarandman Member Posts: 524
    Just took a trip from Boston to VT with 3 children, 3 adults, and aYakima RocketBox. For those of you who don't know, that's a trip from sea level up over a couple of ridge lines at around 1,500 ft. We spent an inordinate amount of time idling at stops with the doors open and the A.C running Trip computer said 20.9 mpg and the gas file was 20.5, about the worst we've done on any trip.

    On the way back we added a snowblower but it's mostly a downhill run. We averaged 22.2, still lower than our average for the first 6,000 mioles of 22.8 mpg.
  • stickguystickguy Member Posts: 50,439
    Just took a 600 mile weekend trip from Phila. to upstate NY. Mixed driviing, with plenty of stuck in traffic, local back roads, local highways, etc. On the open highway portions, I ran from low-high 70s, depending on traffic. DId get to use the cruise a few times, a rarity on this trip.

    Overall, got about 24 even. Not at all bad IMO, given how nice the van cruises, and the conditions. Plus the AC was on all the way.

    I still think I could get an easy 27 if I did a straight run south, since there aren't the big hills I hit in NY, assuming I could just cruise along and not get stuck in any traffic jams.

    still getting 15 - 17 in very short hop local driving, about what our Quest got, although I do get better highway mileage (about 10%).\

    2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.

  • marine2marine2 Member Posts: 1,155
    I got over 24 mpg on my DGC 3.8, the first trip I took up north. That was with the a/c on about a third of the time. This last trip, I only got a little over 20mpg using the a/c all the way up and back. Really made a big difference. But you need a/c in Arizona, in the summer.
  • dudleyrdudleyr Member Posts: 3,469
    Interesting that VCM does not work at 75 mph and up. Can anybody confirm this?

    This is significant for me because with a 75 mph speed limit my highway trips are usually about 80 mph. Since the VCM equipped Odyssey is actually geared shorter than the non VCM version (to allow it to use VCM more) it would actually get worse gas mileage at higher speeds.
  • ipaper1ipaper1 Member Posts: 1
    Recently purchased 2005 EX-L in S. Cal.
    I got ~16.5 MPG for the first two tanks of gas.
    Mainly local driving. Still in break-in period.

    This is worse than 98 Toyota Sienna I used to have. I got ~18 for Sienna.

    VCM does not work above 75 mph? That would be a bomber for long interstate trips.
  • stickguystickguy Member Posts: 50,439
    I have had the ECO light on up to about 80 mph. of course, that doesn't mean for sure that it is running on 3 cyls, but it probably was. I was trying to see how long I could keep it on, and managed to get that high.

    It helps to be cruising downhill though. It will kick off quick going up hill at high speeds.

    I think they should have geared it the same as the non-VCM units, but I guess they had their reasons.

    2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.

  • scommuriscommuri Member Posts: 1
    Recently purchased a Sienna XLE 2005 model for over $33K from the Toyota dealer in Norman,OK. I have had good experience with Toyota cars before, but the Sienna has left me wondering if I have been had! I have been getting a gas mileage of 15.4 mpg in city and 16 mpg on the highway. Toyota Service gave me their standard spiel on how things will improve!! Considering I traded my SUV for this, I think I am going to go and have my head checked!!
  • kjokjo Member Posts: 24
    We just got back from a trip that totaled 680 miles . The first tank was 409 miles and 20.77 mpg, the second was 271 miles and 22.51 mpg, total for the trip,21.44mpg. Both tanks were about 2/3rds highway and the rest city, also both tanks had about 40 minutes each of sitting at idle with the AC on so the kids could play playstation on the DVD while the wife was doing some shopping. The van now has 2084 miles on it and the mpg on the overhead is 21.1mpg, not displeased at all. My highway driving is at between 65 and 75mph with ac on. If you want great mpg, keep it below 70 and below 2k rpm.
  • dansgirldansgirl Member Posts: 14
    Computed by hand (driven/pumped), so yes, it is flawed, but the average remains 21mpg +, which I will take!
  • garandmangarandman Member Posts: 524
    We now have 12,000 miles on an 05 Quest SL used for business and family trips. Average MPG for the first 6,000 was 22.3 or 22.8 - I forget. Average for the second 6,000 was 21.1, which I attribute to more city driving and faster driving on the highway as the drivers got more familiar with it. They regularly drive 75-80 mph on the highway with other traffic in the pasing lane.

    Best full tank was 26.5. Worst full tank was 16.4.
  • averigejoeaverigejoe Member Posts: 559
    I submitted it and don't see it.
  • averigejoeaverigejoe Member Posts: 559
    2004 model with 11,000 miles on odometer. Five 250 mile trips in an area varying from sea level to 4000 feet above. 3/4 loaded, A/C on. Moderately heavy foot. 70 to 80 mph, mostly freeway miles. 16.15 mpg average for 1060 miles.
  • hansiennahansienna Member Posts: 2,312
    Drive at 65 to 70 MPH when other drivers are not harrassing you too much for obeying posted speed limits. :cry:
    ANY minivan will exceed EPA highway mileage ratings on the highway when speed is kept at 65 MPH. However, these newer, heavier minivans guzzle fuel when starting from a stop but barely sip fuel while cruising.
    I get high mileage because the DC 3.3L V6 is NOT a high performance engine. I am not tempted to drive my minivan like it was a Chrysler 300C or a Ferrari. ;)
  • jc9799jc9799 Member Posts: 70
    Drive at 65 to 70 MPH when other drivers are not harrassing you too much for obeying posted speed limits

    Here in OR the rural interstate highway speed limit is 65, just north of us in WA it's 70. As far as I'm concerned one shouldn't have anyone harassing you at that speed. Unless of course you're that idiot puttering along in the left lane holding up traffic. :mad:

    'Course, that's a post for an entirely different topic. ;)
  • fish8fish8 Member Posts: 2,282
    We just went on vacation and I wanted to share the MPG we experienced. 90% Hwy we got 21.5+/- MPG for approx 350 miles. Our van was completely full. Back seat stowed away with the rear filled with "stuff". Kids in the middle seats and 2 adults up front. I noticed that when I exceeded 80mph, the gas mileage dropped significantly. If I drove at a more moderate speed of 65-70mph, I could get close to 24mpg. So, bottom line is if you can survive driving the speed limit your gas mileage will improve. if you have a heavy right foot...be warned.
  • dilbertzzzdilbertzzz Member Posts: 190
    I think, in the case of highway driving -- especially vacation, open-rode driving -- it would be a heavy finger (on the cruise control setting) causing the higher speeds and lower gas mileage. :surprise: ;)

    Having just followed my brother a couple hundred miles out into West Texas as he drove a non-cruise-control-equipped U-Haul, I was reminded what a pain it is (literally!!! :cry: ) having to keep my foot pressing on the gas pedal for hours. Finally, it occurred to us that I should lead and then he could gauge his speed off of my cruise control (duh!?! At 51 it seems to take longer sometimes for the light to come on... :blush: ).
  • squestsquest Member Posts: 25
    Just returned from a trip of 2950 miles. Traveled from Georgia to Maine and return.
    Had a fairly large load of materials to be used for a project in Maine. Met friends at airport in Maine and hauled a large load of luggage and 6 passengers to hotel, and returned friends after 7 days back to airport with their luggage.
    After getting them to the airport, I loaded all the supplies back in the van. Stopped in Connectuit and loaded a heavy, oak dining table and chairs for remainder of trip home.
    Each day I had a commute of several miles carrying 5 passengers and myself. Three of the passengers were pretty heavy. We also did some sight seeing and lobster tasting along the coast near Portland.
    Traveled in a lot of mountains. Brakes at times got very hot and the vibration from what appeared to be warped rotors was heavy until brakes cooled again. No problem stopping, however.
    Probably 90% of my driving was highway, but there were many stop and go traffic jams that lasted from 5 to 20 minutes.
    The temperature was very high. I saw 104 degrees in Greensboro and Charlotte. My wife suspected our reading was not accurate until I pointed to a thermoter in front of a building that read the same as ours.
    My overall average was 22.42 mpg. I saw mileage as high as 26, and as low as 16 on individual stretches. The mileage computer in the car was not changed at all for the entire trip. It read 23.1 mpg. On some of the stretches the actual mileage calculated with a pencil was higher than the computer reading, and sometimes it was slightly lower.
    No problems. The van was comfortable and trouble free. The AC cooled very well in spite of the very high outside temperature.
    Gas cost as much as 2.69/gallon for regular in CT.
    The van now has 18680 miles on it.
  • ronikronik Member Posts: 1
    You can reset the mileage by pressing the 1st and 4th buttons simultaneously and holding for 10 seconds.
  • hansiennahansienna Member Posts: 2,312
    It looks like you enjoy the trip computer on your Quest as much as we do on our 2002 T&C LX. ;)
    Sadly, DaimlerChrysler took off the instant mileage from the trip computer a year or 2 ago. Stupid decision. :sick:
  • dilbertzzzdilbertzzz Member Posts: 190
    Maybe DC decided (wisely) that the driver has enough distractions without being tempted to watch a constantly changing (and essentially meaningless for overall mileage) display. :P ;)

    Of course, saving money with cheaper instruments (hoping no one will notice) had nothing whatever to do with it! :surprise: ;)
  • hansiennahansienna Member Posts: 2,312
    Yeh, it would be better if the overhead console information were displayed in the instrument panel itself....and seems stupid not to.
    The sensor for temperature on my 02 T&C LX is under the front grille.
    BTW, what information does your Yukon XL overhead console display? My co-worker had a Cadillac some 15 years ago and he loved the trip computer. Said it was nice to see the Cadillac getting over 100 MPG (even though he was going downhill). ;)
  • jtheronjtheron Member Posts: 24
    With 4 passengers and luggage
    Got 24.5 mpg @ 75 mph using a/c
    Got 28.1 mpg @ 65 mph with no a/c, think it would be 29 mpg @ 60 mph but was afraid to drive too much slower than other traffic
    tried using the a/c and mileage quickly dropped 2.5 mpg and that was at night with outside air of 67 degrees, would think mileage would drop more during the daytime with outside air in the 90s and a/c running more often
    One can get higher mpg we found by driving slower and not running a/c if not needed
  • ravichanderravichander Member Posts: 25
    the 1st gas of tank was used for city driving alone to help the break in process. AC was on most of the time, since this is SC in summer. The mileage was 16.1 mpg
  • jc9799jc9799 Member Posts: 70
    We've had our MPV for only a month and a half. It's been mostly the daily highway/city routine with one long road trip thrown in. MPG per tank has ranged from 17.1 to 21.8. So far the total mpg is 19.6. Hoping that average can get up to 21 or so.
  • starbux4mestarbux4me Member Posts: 25
    my first tank on the Ody touring.... 16 in mixed driving and a lot of sitting and idling.... hope it goes up from here!
  • crystaltodcrystaltod Member Posts: 16
    Im in Texas so air is always on. I averaged 16 mpg.
  • miagarfuncklemiagarfunckle Member Posts: 51
    I just purchased a 05 Grand Caravan used with 12000 on the odometer so the engine should be broken in. I just filled up my first tank which was 70% highway and 30% city with 100+ temps outside and the air on all the time and I had my wife and an infant and 4 year old in the van as well. I live in Arizona and noticed that in the summer time regardless of the A/C being on or not the extreme heat lowers mileage in every car I own by 3-4mpg. This first tank I got 16.21 with putting in 18.5 gallons. Anyone else experience mileage like this in the Grand Caravan. Anybody in extreme heat or cold experience this low. I would think with 70% highway at speeds of 70mph with cruise set I would get at least 20 or so. I can assume if this first tank was during our winter here with temps in the low 70's, that the 16.21 would have been more like 20.21 or higher. Any thoughts on my experience would be great. Also at 12k the engine should be fully broken in right?
  • bigdadi118bigdadi118 Member Posts: 1,207
    2003 MPV LX V6 3.0L - mileage 20K - all city driving (for work, supermarkets) with AC on most of time 16MPG ... its rating is city 18MPG. I guess the AC on most of time had that 2 MPG less than the rating isn't too bad.
    Motor Oil : Mobil 1
    Gasoline : Mid-grade
  • leftyflinterleftyflinter Member Posts: 9
    I have a new Kia Sedona Van V6 and have 2025 miles on it so far. I am only getting 11 MPG in the city and the only short trip I've been on so far got avaeage of 14 !!!! Not sure if I could afford to go on a real vacation with this. Anyone interested in buying a van ????????????
  • jipsterjipster Member Posts: 6,244
    With gas at $2.50 a gallon and going strong...may start to see a trend in a couple years of smaller vans with smaller engines...and hopefully a lot better gas mileage.
    Would be the perfect time for Mazda to reintroduce the smaller MPV with hybrid capability.
    2020 Honda Accord EX-L, 2011 Hyundai Veracruz, 2010 Mercury Milan Premiere, 2007 Kia Optima
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