2016 Mazda 3 MPG??

benz895

Hello,

I leased my 2016 mazda 3 isport back in end of february and I was wondering what everybody was getting for their mpg because mine seems abnormally low. It is advertised as 28 in city and 36 in highway (i think on the top of my head), but in the first month, it was averaging ~30.5. My commute is mostly suburbs so not much traffic but then I'm not driving at fast speeds either (usually 30-40 mph). However, my average mpg kept decreasing by 0.1 and now, after 8 months, I'm averaging at 26.2 and it only keeps going lower.

What mpg are you guys averaging? Do you think there's something wrong with my car and I should get it checked out? (first time "owning" a car here so sorry if it's a noob question)

stever

How many miles are on it now?

benz895

hi stever, it currently has ~4900 miles. I commute nearby so I drive maybe ~15 miles a day.

stever

Well, you're going in the wrong direction. It would be more typical to start out at 26 and improve as the car breaks in.

Sorry for the dumb questions, but I assume you've checked the tire pressures and checked to see if your e-brake is on?

That said, 26 isn't too far out of the norm. 15 miles a day barely gets your car warmed up.

People over at fuelly.com are getting closer to 30, so it's a bit odd for your mpg to keep falling. You can also find other owner reports at fueleconomy.gov. Different commutes and different driving habits can make a big difference. EPA should be 29/30 for city driving.

benz895

Hello,

When I first got my car, I got a tire pressure warning in the 1st month and I heard that's pretty normal as tires deflate during the time they're in the dealership and not being sold. So I inflated my tires to match the pressure written on the manual so it should have no problem. As for e-brake (I'm actually not sure what that is but I'm assuming it's the handbrake?) I barely used it because I don't really need to.

This is really frustrating It seems that it stopped decreasing at 26.2 though as it's been at that average for a month now.

stever

Yeah, tires lose pressure normally whether they are sitting in your garage or at the dealer or being driven every day. The sensor isn't a substitute for regularly checking your tire pressure.

And yeah, the ebrake is the equivalent of a handbrake. If it was on, there should be a warning light telling you that.

Be nice if you could take a bit of a road trip and see how the mpg is doing over 100 miles of highway driving.

texases

Check the tires now. Cooler weather = lower pressure. Check them once a month or so, first thing in the morning, before any driving.

benz895

Thank you for all your answers. It actually dropped to 26.1 mpg today and i feel like it's only going to get lower. I will invest in a tire pressure checker and find out if it's lower than the recommended.

And now that you mention e-brakes, I do remember a couple days after I first got my car, I accidentally drove ~1 mile with the e-brakes on..... and now I'm guessing that has to do something with the mpg that keeps dropping...do you think my dealership will help me out with diagnosing the problem or will they just try to charge me money?

bigvladdy11

Try resetting the mileage trip computer by holding the middle of the toggle for 2-3 seconds. You have to reset it every gas tank to get an accurate reading of you mileage. 

bigvladdy11

To be clear, I'm talking about resetting the computer that tells you the average mpg (not your odometer)