Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
I've never heard wind as a factor discussed, although I just signed on here. When I knew I was driving into a maybe 10 mph wind I was getting 39 mph at the speed limit. Taking the same route back on the interstate with the wind I got 43.
Another fairly obvious factor, speeding up to pass cars quickly, cuts down on your mileage. Pass a car in 5 seconds - really poor mpg; pass a car in 10 seconds, much, much better on the mpg.
I have a distinct feeling that some folks here are really not aware of some of these factors.
It's discussed all the time in these forums. Both wind(blowing kind) and wind resistance. It's long been accepted that after about 55 mph(without a headwind) wind resistance is a major player. Now cars have gotten a lot more aerodynamic in recent years and cut through the air better but wind resistance is still a big factor. I'm also convinced that these small engines and multispeed trannies are more affected by wind and wind resistance than the bigger engines and 4 & 5 speed auto trannies. I can't prove this but it just seems logical to me. It seems the smaller the car/engine and more speeds to the tranny makes it harder to achieve high mpg at higher speeds. Stay down around 55-62 like you mentioned and I believe mpg could blow the EPA highway numbers away. I think everyone knows that anytime you floor it to pass versus a calm steady pass affects mpg a lot but conveniently don't think about it much when they figure their mpg.
went ahead and got this car rather than a hybrid. During the period of this test I would
say I drove about 35%/65% (city/hwy). Where I live there is rarely any stop & go traffic
in town so my 'city' driving is less intensive than in most places with a lot of traffic. I was more optimistic than when I originally posted here because when I got on the highway and got up to speed I reset the mpg setting, set the cruise control to 65mph and got readings as low as 36 mpg and as high as 43. So I was prepared to be pleasantly surprised with the overall outcome.
But when I refilled the tank today and did my calculations I was only getting an average of 29.6 mpg.
So I'm sad to report I'm still unhappy and do wish I'd made another car choice. While I have no other complaints as yet about the rest of the car, fuel efficiency is very important to me and I doubt I'll be getting another Hyundai. And I've become very skeptical about reported mpg ratings in general.
I'll continue to do these mpg tests intermittently and will report back here if there is a significant change.
online right now.
actually, my decade old car was still getting average 37 mpg's. Hyundai Corporate suggests I not idle nor use the AC.
I am trying to get out of my lease.
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/mpg/
Just relax...you'll see it increase over time.
How did you figure that? Over 160,000 2011-12 Elantras have been sold in the US this year alone. I don't see anything close to 80,000 people saying they are getting way below sticker on MPG. Do you realize that if 15,000 people complained about mpg on the Elantra, that's less than 10% of all owners, not including the 2011s sold last year?
If you think the EPA ratings are guaranteed please read the following:
link title
Your mileage may vary
Who on earth do you think people are going to sue? Hyundai doesn't just get to decide what estimated MPG goes on the sticker (or in advertising). Those numbers come from the US EPA, not the manufacturer.
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR
Need help navigating? kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.
Share your vehicle reviews
When you advertise 40mpg and engineer a car to get 40mpg, people do have a right to sue. Do you think it is any coincodence that the recent slew of new Hyundai's are estimated to get 40mpg by accident? I think not....
It's not whether the suit is valid in a court of law as it is people want to have a say that they were mislead. T
It's quite obvious that Hyundai engineered their cars to beat an EPA test, rather than actually get real-world mpg's.
I have to agree with you. The thing that all these owners conplaining about mpg are missing is that they purchased one of the best compact sedans available. Enjoy your car.
I used CR, Motor Trend, and personal driving to help make my decision about the Elantra. For the money it is a well equipped and well appointed car. However, I was expecting better average mpg. In the Motor Trend review they commented that they could not get the advertised mileage. I read that and thought that not paying the premium (+/- $2K) for the Civic would make up for the difference. Now, experience shows that I will eat up that premium long before I can afford to get rid of the car.
I'm pretty sure we all understand how the mileage estimates are derived by the EPA and Hyundai. However, when the car consistently delivers less than the lower estimate I think we have a problem. I hope those of you making dismissive comments about our comments are 2011/2012 Elantra owners!!
I've owned this car since June and right now I'm on the fence about Hyundai and the Elantra. A big issue is the fuel, but I've also got some other complaints. The fuel issue (trust?) taints all the other issues as well. If I had to make a decision today I'd tell others not to buy the Elantra and to be wary of Hyundai.
Tom
My wife has a '12 Elantra Limited, BTW. She bought it in September so she's only on her 2nd tank of gas (the first tank was the "free" one that came with the car).
Out of curiosity, what are you other complaints?
What if they purchased the car on the premise that they would get the estimated fuel economy and they are not able to achieve it? I think they have a right to gripe.
When you purchase a commodity expecting it to be one thing, and turns out to be another, it is well within their right to be disappointed.
Suing, on the other hand, is a bit extreme. It is up to the legal system to determine if that suit is valid, not us. Personally, I do not agree with suing in cases like this, but I'm not of proper authority to tell people they can't.
Cases like this would be handled on contingency, meaning the lawyer(s) receive nothing unless they are able to successfully prove their case, and all of the "obtaining proof" costs come out of their pockets.
Such a "rigging" scheme would be a high-risk proposition as well, as it necessarily relies on the cooperation of all individuals involved, and the non-guarantee that none of them will become a whistleblower in the future.
I'm not saying it could never happen; just that other factors (including a potential flaw in some vehicles) are more likely to account for the disparities.
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR
Need help navigating? kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.
Share your vehicle reviews
Cars are engineered to meet specific standards, such as EPA estimates and CAFE standards. Just how companies decide to reach those objectives is up to them. Engineering a vehicle to list stats on paper does not mean it will translate into real-world performance. This is nothing new. It is up to the consumer to do research, take test drives and form an opinion before they buy and if all goes well, they will not have buyers remourse. Well, that's the idea anyway. Not everyone does that, unfortunately.
I do agree with you about law suits. In a case like this, it is pointless and does nothing but waste money. However, I have been in several forums on Edmunds where topics of class action suits come up because an owner(s) are displeased with what they purchased. People are sue happy, I guess.
You're almost always better off being persistent, or working with your own legal counsel if that's the route you choose. If you have a good dealership, sometimes they can help you get action. Sometimes not.
However, class action lawsuits tend to take years to resolve, and at the end of it all - if your side prevails - the outcome for the consumer is usually a set of options: if you still own the vehicle, you'll get some sort of "fix" to be implemented, or a gas card worth $50 (to compensate for the lost mileage) or a $500 off certificate toward the purchase of a vehicle from the same manufacturer you just sued. Not what most people have in mind when they think "class action lawsuit," but that's pretty standard.
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR
Need help navigating? kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.
Share your vehicle reviews
What are other's thoughts about using the ECO mode?
On another note: I have the tech package, with blu-tooth. My phone pairs with it well except for one thing. For about 4 weeks I had my contacts transferred to the car. Now they won't transfer any longer no matter what I do. I've deleted my phone and repared about 4 times. Each time it won't import my contacts. (Yes, that option is turned on). Anyone else have this issue?
For the most part though I LOVE my new car.....
Corporate recently told me to have the dealer's service dept complete a "fuel mileage mechanical check" whatever that is. Will do so soon.
If these were your top two requirements for a vehicle then I agree you purchased the wrong car. From reading the available reviews and literature the cars that possibly rate very high for mileage and reliability IMHO are the Honda civic and Toyota Corolla. Maybe you should have done more homework in finding a car that met your requirements. Instead you purchased one of the overall highest rated cars (which considers other factors you have not mentioned as important) in the Hyundai Elantra.
Dolf
That is incorrect. In fact, CR tested the 2012 Civic and it received higher FE than the Elantra and is still considered to be very reliable, but did not receive recommendation because of the lack of overall quality in the ride and interior build that Honda is usually known for.
His basis is completely right. If he wanted reliability and economy, Consumer Reports is in favor of the Civic over the Elantra in predicted reliability and economy.
I've been monitoring this forum before I purchased my 2012 Elantra Limited this past June, and for some reason, I couldn't believe the results that some people were getting as far as mpg. I now have approx. 3100 miles on the car, and I drive approx 70% highway and 30% stop and go between fill-ups, and the best that I have gotten was 33.1 mpg.
Now that isn't too bad, but that 33.1 was when the car was newer <1000 miles. Granted, it was calculated during the summer months with no A/C, and since I purchase my gas in NYS, the gas didn't have 10% ethanol.
Unfortunately, it's now Nov., the gas has 10% ethanol, and I'm only getting 29.5 mpg.
Before anybody asks, I have run the Elantra smoothly. In other words, I've pretty much been babying it these 1st 5-6 months (and I don't have any extra weight in the car), and like some others writing in to this forum, I, too, am disappointed in the gas mileage. Don't get me wrong, I love just about everything else about this car except the no spare tire deal, but I just wish that I could get about the same as the 14 yr old car that I just gave my son to drive - a '96 Nissan Sentra which was getting anywhere from 34 to 38 mpg. Granted, that Sentra has a manual transmission, but it also has close to 140K miles on it. It just seems to me that something is not quite right with the Elantra, but it could be me because it has been 20+ years since I was driving an automatic transmission. Somehow, I doubt that it is me, though.
To those of you who write in this forum that you've been getting 35+ mpg, I think that is great. What are your secrets, though? I've tried all the ideas that everybody in this forum has suggested, and nothing seems to make a significant improvement. The only thing that I have yet to do is to have the dealer's service dept complete a "fuel mileage mechanical check" whatever that is, and I will do so soon.
To those of you looking for a class action lawsuit about this situation, I'm no law expert, but I think that you're going to need quite a lot of people to complain about this issue. With only about 40 registered mpg's on the government's website (the link was listed in a few posts back) between the 2011 and 2012 models, that is not going to cut it. More people are needed. But with the majority of those 40 people having a mpg that is significantly lower than the estimated mpg, I think that there may be something wrong, but again, more people are needed. Also, I can see that writing to Hyundai America to complain about this is pretty much useless as far as some of the advice that they give to help improve the gas mileage, but it might be a good idea to record the problem with them. After I see my dealer and if nothing changes, I will do that, too. But as far as a lawsuit is concerned, one might be able to go the route of false advertising, but I'm sure that Hyundai has protected themselves from those kinds of lawsuits in some way, shape, or form.
Oh and yes, before anybody comments, I do like the 2012 Elantra that I am driving, otherwise I wouldn't have bought one. The styling, the "solidness", and the safety features are just some of the things that I like about it. And one more thing, it seems to handle pretty well in the snow. We had the freak Oct. 30th - 31st snowstorm up here in NY. And I had to drive home from work in the middle of the storm. Made it home with no problems.
Best Regards,
majorben
I purchased mine in Sept and until just this week I've never used the ECO mode. This week I did and the mileage was almost identical. But I felt the ECO mode made the transmission more like a manual feel. The engine seems to wind out more before changing gears, which I think I like better.
Has anyone else used this mode? What are your thoughts? Did mileage get better, or stay the same. Which mode do you like better?
I did read in the owners manual that the ECO mode automatically cancels, even though the light stays on, when more power is needed. Maybe we should stay in that mode all the time and get a little more mileage.....I'll keep trying.
Like you though, except for the mileage and the fact that I couldn't get a manual trans, I really love the car. The Technology package, though a lot, is WELL worth it.
I do, however, feel that ECO mode, as you, makes the engine wind out a bit more than I expected, but I have nothing to compare it to. I guess I'll try it without ECO for 1 tank full to see the full effect on engine response and mpg.
I also seem to notice that the car "downshifts" or asks for more power by increasing the rpms dramatically (from about 2k to about 2.9k) while going up some of the hills around here while highway driving. That seems excessive to me, especially when it happens on the smaller and less inclined hills.
BTW, I stayed away from the tech package because I couldn't justify the price difference since I already own a stand-alone gps. But push button start sounds so cool... Oh well...
2 other things I forgot to mention in my 1st post... 1st, I travel roughly 42 miles per day. And 2nd, I never let the car idle for a long amount of time (getting colder up here in NY) before I head out for work in the cold morning. If I do idle the car, it is only for about 1 to 2 minutes while I am scraping the frost off my windows. Of course, I wasn't doing that during the summer/early fall, so in my opinion, I don't think that the mpg is getting lower because of that. Normal idle time for me is about 15-20 seconds when starting up in the morning.
That is quite a difference - 23 city vs 38 highway, but I guess it is somewhat closer to the estimated mpg. How many miles do you have on your car?
And I also have a mechanic friend (former GM mechanic who knows more about cars that most people I know), and he, too, has said that the breakin period for the engines in these cars is long. He said to expect a change in mpg at about 10k, which seemed really high to me, but he said that these engines are very tight (valves and all) when they leave the factory and only really loosen up at about 10k. He did say, though, not to expect more than a 2-3 mpg change. That and the 1st oil change, should put me at about 34-35 mpg, maybe slightly more, but somehow, I doubt it.
15 X .3 + 40 X .7 = 32.5 mpg
Which is close to what you were seeing in warmer weather.
Now you say you are letting the car warm up for a couple of minutes. During that, time, fuel economy is 0. I notice on the mpg meter on my Sentra that I almost always lose a few tenths of a mile per gallon during warm-up. And I start the car and go almost immediately. But mpg continues to fall until the engine warms up, which depending on outside temperature can take a mile or a few miles. As weather gets colder, you can expect to see a further drop-off in FE.
My advice is to keep doing what you're doing, try to limit idling time (so scrape windows before you start the car, for example), use that light foot on the gas which I expect you are already doing, and see what happens over the next few thousand miles and into next spring and summer.
And with that I should probably explain my 70% highway commute. About 3-6 miles are between 55-65 mph. The remaining 10 miles or so are between 65-70 mph. This depends, of course, on the posted speed limits. I would love to travel between 55-65 mph for the whole 15 or so miles of highway, but that is simply not possible due to the very likelihood of being run off the highway. And I know all about wind resistance with the higher travel speeds. Also with the highway driving, I have been trying to keep it pretty consistent where there is less engine shifting going on. And, I do use a light foot as well.
As far as idling or any other habits that I have done in my 2012 Elantra, I was doing the same habits in my Sentra. I did see a drop of about 3 mpg during colder weather in the Sentra which is comparable to what I am seeing in the Elantra in colder weather. Granted idling mpg is 0, but idling for 1-2 minutes cannot be considered to have any sort of significant impact to FE. At least, in my opinion, it shouldn't, especially since it is usually just 1 or 2 mornings per tank of gas. What kills FE the most during cold weather driving is the longer warmup and the 10% ethanol mix. By the way, I've stuck with 87 octane, and I've been trying to stay with the Top Tier gas stations, i.e. Shell and Mobil.
Anyway, the example numbers that you stated - 15 X .3 + 40 X .7 = 32.5 mpg - could be stated in an many ways, but that 15mpg is totally unacceptable. At least for me anyway. But again, it was only an example that you were giving. A more reasonable equation would be something like 25 X .3 + 35.71 X .7 = 32.5. In this case, both numbers would be more "reasonable", in my opinion. But quite frankly, anything less than 10% of the EPA estimated mpg is not. And, of course, I, like some others on this forum, cannot get over 2 facts - 1) we're not seeing the expected FE at least within the 1st couple of thousand miles, and 2) the FE doesn't compare to our previous older vehicles. By the way, if I didn't mention it earlier, my Sentra is a 1996 GXE model, and it still gets better gas mileage than the 2012 Elantra. Something is just not right with that picture. And I know that the EPA mpg estimates are just that - estimates...
I am hoping for better mileage in the Spring of '12, but I'm just hoping that it is not due to the warmer weather and the non-10% ethanol mix.
Everyone should study the window sticker itself. Mine clearly states 29 city/40 highway, BUT it also clearly says "expected range for most drivers 24 to 34 MPG" city and "33 to 47 MPG" for highway. So the worst expected would be 24 city/33 highway, but that would be within acceptable expectations. I doubt either Hyundai or EPA would say there is any "problem" if your FE was 24/33.
When building tens of thousands of engines, transmissions, and Elantras there is a statistical distribution regarding expected fuel economy. No two cars are identical. Nor are any two drivers. Would be interesting to see what Hyundai's internal data shows regarding the mean figure for fuel economy in their testing and the standard deviation. If it is a normal bell curve distribution, thinking about 68% of cars would have FE within 1 standard deviation and 95% within 2 standard deviations. But 50% would have FE worse than the average. There are going to be outliers, both positive and negative. The lucky ones getting great FE are happy and don't complain. The unlucky ones getting poorer FE are the ones upset. That is the way things are with large production runs.
You appear to be getting low-30s on a new 148 hp engine on the Elantra.
Frankly I would not think that is a big problem if it were me. Especially since the car isn't broken in yet. I saw FE improve ~15% on my two Elantras (2001 and 2004) after break-in. The FE noticeably improved after about 1500 miles and peaked out after about 15k miles. These had the Beta/Beta II engine of course.
If I were you I'd give it some time.