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Hyundai Sonata Real World MPG

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Comments

  • pegeseuspegeseus Member Posts: 6
    I've had my 2011 Sonata for a year now and the mileage is definitely nothing to write home about despite the EPA claims. I just say why try to fool us? If they just drop the EPA across the board to REALISTIC expectations then everyone will be happy with their purchase and those who DO get optimal mileage will be thrilled. It's a win-win for everyone.

    I got so fed up with my lackluster mileage that I've taken to EXCLUSIVELY driving with the cruise control on. I use the gas and break in my car only when absolutely necessary. Otherwise if I'm above 25mph, the cruise control is able to take over. Even being extremely conscious about not having a lead foot and coasting whenever possible, I've found that I consistently get much better mileage by using CC than I ever got using the pedals. Never got higher than 21 MPG on a tank of gas using the pedals and now I can get 24-25MPG with primarily city driving using only my thumbs to drive! :)
  • cpenycpeny Member Posts: 18
    the many thousands of people who have purchased this vehicle. with the expectations of decent gas mileage. I feel they have a expectations to receiving gas mileage close to what is listed on the windows. if the gas mileage is not going to be close to what is the manufacturer claims then they should accept the ramifications from the people who purchased the vehicle. although, I can only see for myself. I have tried almost everything to get the listed city gas mileage. when manufacturers use gimmicks to get the public to purchase their products. they often find that the public will retaliate by not purchasing their vehicle, or lo ng terms. the purpose of forums such as this 1 is to ask question s and to be calm informed. I saw your comment about I wish that they would not print the epa listings for this vehicle. and I strongly believe if they had not han days sales would have been reduced by as much as 75 percent. be careful of what you ask for.
  • targettuningtargettuning Member Posts: 1,371
    edited January 2012
    Arrrgh yet again! If anybody is trying to fool anybody blame the EPA they set up the rules, the tests and proceedures and take responsibility for the numbers printed on every manufacturers sticker, not Hyundai they only supply the cars and have no more to say about the outcome than any other manufacturer. If the "numbers" come out looking good (such as they have)Hyundai, as anybody would, (and everybody else DOES) uses those numbers in advertising and why not? Should they say ah hell these numbers are bogus so don't buy our cars??? For those who want stellar city mileage maybe you should be looking at a hybrid, city driving is where they shine the brightest. You know, the right tool for the job. Oh, and I guess San Diego has no traffic?? Right. Finally, read the small print on your sticker...it says in essence, mileage may VARY. Yeah, it will depending on individual circumstances. It ain't no guarantee folks, not even close. And NO I do not work for Hyundai.
  • dudleyrdudleyr Member Posts: 3,469
    The epa numbers should be a piece to cake to beat - especially on the highway. They just made the tests harder a couple of years ago and even the old tests were 28% higher than the published numbers so people wouldn't whine.

    Hyundai clearly has issues with meeting the EPA numbers as many are noticing. My Accord on the other hand has averaged nearly 4 mpg over the highway rating for its lifetime (128k miles).

    Hyundai has a lot to offer and Consumer Reports rated the Elantra above the Civic, but despite Elantras higher epa numbers the Civic got 8 mpg more for the CR highway mpg test than the Elantra. The Sonata does not seem to be off by as much, but still seems to have trouble with EPA numbers while other vehicles have fewer problems.

    I don't think Hyundai is cheating on the tests, but they probably are optimizing their cars to do well on the EPA tests, possibly at the expense of real world mpg.

    I rented a 4 cyl Sonota for a week and it got about the same mpg as my Sienna minivan. Disapointing.
  • LASHAWNLASHAWN Member Posts: 303
    If you still have to the vehicle's monroney label, look below the big bold numbers for the fuel economy in the fine print that says expected range for most drivers. If your car's mpg is in that range than your car is getting the fuel economy it's supposed to get period end of story. Now if it's getting less than that, then you have something to complain about. Please people remember, their are too many factors involved when you consider a vehicle's fuel economy(cargo, occupents, weather, road conditions, etc. etc.)
  • targettuningtargettuning Member Posts: 1,371
    Yes, about the best I can say about the whole "disappointing" fuel economy issue with this car, or many others if you can believe the comments all over the web sites, is this....look at the sticker, test drive the car you may like and its competition, decide then buy. THEN take those economy numbers with a grain of salt. If you are close (and happy) or exceed them (very happy) enjoy your new ride. If they are close and you are not happy consider all the variables listed. If they are far, far off then reconsider the personal conditions that you can control then control them. If you are still far off then maybe you have a problem that requires a dealer look-see. I have seen others post this car or that car (Honda and Toyota come readily to mind) routinely exceed the EPA posted numbers even mini-vans ) and I take these posts with the above mentioned "grain of salt" because while good cars they do not have the patent on super fuel economy while Hyundai is still negotiating the patent rights....
  • magrxmagrx Member Posts: 3
    edited February 2012
    I have a 2012 GLS w/6 spd manual. Averaging 25 mpg with spirited driving and about 27 conservative. This is in mixed driving, city / highway.
    The MPG gauge is very optimistic showing about 2 mpg more than actual.
    I still trust the pencil and paper method of computing mileage more than any vehicle computer.
    Set the trip odo to 0 when you fill it and do the math at the next fill.
  • mmarrommarro Member Posts: 2
    I have a 2012 Hyundai Sonata Limited (non-turbo). I had a 2011 Sonata Limited and made the "mistake" of trading it in for a 2012 Kia Optima. Obviously I did not like the Optima, as I am right back to the Sonata.

    Anyway.....I live in Chicago and we definitely have crappy weather, and deal with the "winter blend" of gas more months of the year than the "normal/summer" blend of gas. I have had the car for almost 2 weeks now. It came with a full tank of gas in it, and I finally filled up yesterday. I do about a 50/50 mix between "highway" (although it is not true open road highway driving, as it is Chicago, and it is more stop and go highway driving, but not as bad as stop and go in the city of course) and "city" driving. I calculated my MPG manually when I flled up yesterday, and I got 27MPG - and I never use cruise control.

    When I had my 2011, it was in the summer, so the "non winter blend" gas and I got around an average of about 29MPG with the same driving style, travels, etc. that I have now. The winter blend will account for lower milage due to the additives that are put in the gas.

    But, needless to say, I am thrilled with my Sonata and the gas mileage it delivers (not even using curise control as I said) and I am not a "slow/speed limit" driver either.
  • zornundozornundo Member Posts: 21
    I am almost up to 123,000 miles on my 2009 GLS 4 cyl. automatic. My lifetime average is is 35.09 mpg. The lifetime covers 121.5k miles. I missed the first fill-up amount and then two other fill-ups at some point.

    I try to maximize my fuel efficiency and have a job that puts me on the road a lot and gives the opportunity to do so. I would say that my driving consists of a good 90-95+% highway/interstate driven at 60 mph with cruise control and easy hills. My worst tank was 30.4 and my best was 39.1.

    Most of my driving consists of a rural highway ride to the interstate (eight miles at 45-55 mph), and then another 50+ miles to a bigger city where the last mile or two will be city traffic. I notice that the longer my highway stretches are, if I'm going 100+ miles out to a destination, then my mpg gets better. Conversely, the more city driving I have to do the worse it gets.

    Speed can play heck with the mpg, too. While I mainly try to do 60 most of the time, there are plenty of times where I have to hoof it up to 75+ for the whole time and my tank mpg will get down to 32-33 or so.

    Graphing the lifetime mpg shows a seasonal variation (thank you cold weather and winter mix). Best mpg is the warmer months with minimal AC use. I usually won't get over 36 mpg on a tank from october to april. I start hitting 36+ in may, but that's usually on the super highway heavy jaunts.

    I have to say I am impressed. I am considering getting a new GLS at the end of the year. I expect to drive it the same way and am curious to see if it will do better. It should, given the six-speed transmission and GDI.
  • zornundozornundo Member Posts: 21
    We owned a Fit for about a year. The wife mainly drove it. I stuck to my Sonata. However, I did drive it enough for the first fill-up, trying to maximize mpg. I managed to get 43.1! For the year my wife drove it, she usually would get the high 20's. She mainly drove it for work, which is 3 miles round-trip.

    You are correct. There is no comparison. The Fit is a light-weight thing. I think I could have made it a highway MPG monster, but the wife just couldn't stand it and traded it in for a 2011 Sonata Limited. She LOVES the Sonata Limited. I haven't been able to put it through some max mpg paces, though. I just keep piling the miles on my 2009 GLS.
  • mikedef62mikedef62 Member Posts: 2
    I don't think the GLS MPG is THAT bad. I own the 2011 Sonata GLS back from February of 2010. While I sit my butt in an hour and a half of traffic both ways of the commute (Wash. DC Beltway, ugh), I can still manager to get around 25-26mpg. That's what the computer reads, so judging above from someone saying that the computer is off by 2mpg, that's roughly 27-28. Granted, it depends on how you drive. Swapped out the Kumho tires after the front left CRACKED for some Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval AS and have gotten better mileage out of it (also better traction, dry and wet braking and Way less noise). The car has its fair share of problems, but I've never had a car that didn't have issues. Overall, 2 years later and 30k miles I'm still happy with the car.
  • crankeeecrankeee Member Posts: 298
    edited February 2012
    We have had new sonata for two months and ~2400 miles. City MPG is 22-24 with all in town stop & go. With freeway and limited stop & go it goes up to 24-26+. Well within the EPA city estimate.
    The highway mileage with 2000 of the miles, is actually better than EPA. 65-70 will deliver 36-37.5 depending upon hills, wind load etc. At 70-80, when safe the mileage drops off almost tot he same % as the increase in speed. 33 MPG at 75-80 is the average so far. The car also responds favorably tot he fuel type. We use BP, Shell & costco in town. 87 octane in town and 89 on highway trips since the MPG "appears" to improve ~10% vs. the 3% cost increase. just had oil changed and dealer recommended staing with the 5W20 weight so with no oil consumption sofar we agreed.
    Beautiful high value automobile for the money and a great road car for us.
  • garytp1965garytp1965 Member Posts: 3
    Hey Crankee,

    Yea, I have been pretty fortunate with mileage as well. I did however run in to a huge issue that Hyundai made good on very well. My Check Engine light came on, and I noticed a slight tic from the motor. Like a lifter tic. I brought the vehicle to Hyundai, and they changed the oil, light was off yet once I started the vehicle, the tic remained. I brought it back the nect day and at first, one of the mechanics pointed out that fuel injectors tic. Knowing my vehicle, I explained that this tic was far beyond the injector tic.
    Long story stort, the Oil Sensor which signals the oil pump to send oil was not working properly. Therefore, the motor was not getting sufficient oil. Turned out, I needed a new Shortblock. It was ordered from Korea. I n addition, they replaced the exhaust from the shortblock to just past the converter. It took a bit of time, but would have been extremely expensive. My guess, probably $6000,00 at the least. The oil they used to refill was a 50/50 synthetic blend. Best part of all, the vehicle was purchased as a used vehicle with 8000 miles. Therefore I had a 5 yr 50,000 mi warranty. At the time of the tic issue, the vehicle had 54,000 miles. Hyundai still picked up the entire tab. I was pleasantly surprised and earned more respect that ever. Many auto maker/dealers could have easily shunned me on that one. Hyundai didn't. A month later I took the car from Illinois to Florida and back. Smooth sailing all the way round trip. Going easy on the gas peddle, I still average about 26mpg city and if maintaining 65mph to 70mph, I can get 36 to 38mpg. Closer to 36mpg. This is a 2008 4 cyl with a trunk load of clothes, a PC, personal items, and, Oh yea, 2 cats in the backseat. The worse performance issue with the whole trip was the cats. Happy with Hyundai!!! :shades:
  • longstreetleelongstreetlee Member Posts: 1
    I just bought a 2012 Sonata SE after gas prices chased me out of my dearly loved Mercury Grand Marquis. With the Marquis, I always burned premium fuel, not for a mileage boost, but to keep the engine clean. Even though the Sonata supposedly runs well on regular gas, should I burn premium to keep the engine clean? Has anyone noticed an mpg boost with premium fuel? I drive 100 miles a day to and from work. 95% highway in uncongested traffic.
    Thanks!
  • nj2pa2ncnj2pa2nc Member Posts: 811
    suggestion go to the premium gas vs regular gas website. Using premium gas when regular is recommended will not benefit your car.
  • crankeeecrankeee Member Posts: 298
    We also bought a new 2012 Sonata GLS with the value and MPG being the two most critical factors in the decision. Our old Pontiac was great with 18 in town and 28-30 on the highway and agood car mechanically for 14 years.
    The Sonata seems to get ~8-10% better mileage on the highway using midgrade NOT premium with added cost of #3% or so. The old Pontiac first clued us in to this phenomena. We use regular and bought the last two cars with that requirement in mind. The Sonata appears to get 22-24 in City and 33-37 highway at 80-65 MPH. Runs great on regular and also appears to maximize MPG with midgrade Shell, BP, Exxon and other major brands.
    In the city we use Costco due to price break with some Shell & BP. BTW - all grades of major brands include cleaning solvents like Techron (Chevron).
  • sivicmansivicman Member Posts: 32
    If you read your owners manual, Hyundai recommends you use Top Tier gasoline. http://www.toptiergas.com/

    The reason for Top Tier is because of the amount of detergents in the gas. The biggest problem is the 15% of ethanol that kills the mpg's and plays havoc on the engine components. Unfortunately I am stuck without any Top Tier gas stations in my area so I have to use fuel injector cleaner every so often.
  • longo2longo2 Member Posts: 347
    edited March 2012
    "The worse performance issue with the whole trip was the cats."

    At least you didn't do a Mitt Romney and tie them up on the roof in a pet carrier!

    Loved your Hyundai Story about the history of the $6,000.00 engine tic. I wish more people would post positive experiences.

    Your highway 2008 GLS MPG sounds the same or better than those posting with the new model 2012's.
  • johnjjjohnjj Member Posts: 81
    I had a 2011 Sonata Limited and made the "mistake" of trading it in for a 2012 Kia Optima. Obviously I did not like the Optima, as I am right back to the Sonata.

    What didn't you like about the Optima? I'm considering buying a 2012 turbo.
    John
  • crankeeecrankeee Member Posts: 298
    longo: Just returned from trip with the following MPG results:
    180 miles at 35 MPG highway and 182 miles at 25.5 city for calculated total of 362 miles and 12.2 gallons for 29.7 MPG. Average speeds were 20-30 in city and 65-75+ on highway. Pretty close to EPA estimates with a little better average. Car has plenty of power and is a very good road car for as light as it is. Biggest factor appears to be the mix of city vs. highway miles on the average tankful. Great car with very reponsive service from the dealer . That and a great car loan that was initially $28 ( 72 months) more than HMFC lease payments for 36 months (15,000 miles per year).
    Refied for 2.69% and 60 months after 3 months. Cars getting like houses!
  • danbob6danbob6 Member Posts: 1
    I just bought a 2012 Sonata SE (automatic) last week and am very happy with my purchase. Having gotten rid of a pick-up with 'average' gas mileage (20 MPG), I was looking forward to a tremendous boost in mileage. So I've been pretty surprised to find that my mileage (according to the sensor on the dash) is around 18 MPG. Admittedly, I've only driven about 150 miles, much of it city driving, but still... Am I jumping to conclusions too early?

    Thanks
    danbob6
  • new_car_tnnew_car_tn Member Posts: 4
    My new car has averaged 35MPG (all of it are highway miles) on the first tank of gas.
  • lawsojclawsojc Member Posts: 1
    Traded in my beloved 4runner for a 2012 Sonata gls last Friday. On first tank I avg. 29 mpg!! 10 miles more than the runner. When I purchased the car the dealer told me to try the Active Eco feature. I did and could tell a difference in throttle response. Was wondering if anyone else has experimented with it and what difference there was in mileage!! Love the Sonata so far!
    Thanks,
    Justin
  • crankeeecrankeee Member Posts: 298
    edited March 2012
    Justin: We have had our 2012 GLS for ~3months with 3200 miles logged. I tried the ECO mode in town and found about 1 MPG (25 vs. 24) improvement. However the power seemed much less, to me anyway. I have read that the ECO feature reduces the engine timing/advance that affects the power output. I noticed that it was much easier to "overrev" the engine since it needed more gas pedal in ECO to drive the same route. I MUCH prefer the cars driveability W/O the ECO engaged. If the politicians and oil company execs agree to raise the price of gas to $6, I may change my view. We get 24-25 in city and 35-37 on highway and can use regular 87 octane gas (even with the lower energy/ higher cost ethanol lobbied for by the farmers, oil companies and approved by our politicians again), so no complaints. The Sonata in GLS trim gets the EPA mileage with standard 16" tires so no complaints here. Great car and more than worth the price.
    BTW - Those 4Runners are the premier SUV and at 21-22 highway not bad.
  • wiemerwiemer Member Posts: 1
    I love this car...but I want the 35mpg! I bought the car 2-29-12 ..presently the mileage is 7620... have had 2 oil changes at the dealership....that says no matter what the you must add the fuel additive that cleans the fuel injectors every 3750 miles or you invalidate the warranty.
    I drive the freeway...very little town driving... and am getting 30.5 mpg. I bought the car for
    the mileage...and the daughter of the owner of the dealership said I would probably get 38 mpg.
    I drive with the ECO on most of the time...don't want to drive 50 miles and discover I did not turn it on. I compute the mileage myself to see if it agrees with the car...the car records a little more
    than an actual calculation. I drive at 70-75 miles per hour...with the cruise control. Of course
    heavy freeway traffic alters this from time to time.
  • backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    ... and the daughter of the owner of the dealership said I would probably get 38 mpg.

    Do you believe everything a stranger tells you? Or base important buying decisions on what they tell you?

    You say you are getting 30.5 mpg. You also say you drive at 70-75 mph, and from time to time you have "heavy freeway traffic." Under those conditions, 30.5 mpg seems in the ballpark. I bet there's some non-freeway miles in there. Plus driving at speeds higher than on the EPA highway tests, plus that heavy traffic.

    If you want 35 mpg, you'll need to drive exclusively on the highway at constant speeds (i.e. NOT heavy traffic), and stay under 70 mph. Or... just consider 30.5 mpg to be really good overall FE for a car with that size and power and keep driving the way you do now.
  • nj2pa2ncnj2pa2nc Member Posts: 811
    Owned numerous hyundais and never added a fuel additive and never had any problems with the warranty. When I travel on highways with a 70 speed limit the MPG are lower than on lower limit highways.
  • tja526tja526 Member Posts: 12
    I agree! I love it, too...but even though I only travel .5 to the highway and then 12 miles on the highway..and two blocks to work--It varies.
    Seems like I am only getting the 400 to 450 per full tank. This is crazy!!
    I wouldn't buy another one...because of this. I am leasing actually, will trade in earlier because of the mileage. Funny thing-when I was initially upset at first, I called the dealer and no one there had an inkling that the car should do avg 35 mpg-they told me not to believe everything I read and they have never heard of a car getting such gas mileage. Can you believe that??
  • fushigifushigi Member Posts: 1,459
    Under the conditions you describe I would expect you to be getting less than EPA estimates. A significant percentage of your 12 mile drive, probably at least 25%, will typically be when the car has not fully warmed up. When an engine is below full-normal running temps the fuel-air mixture is richer, i.e. more fuel is used. All gas-engined cars do this to help the fuel combust. http://autos.yahoo.com/maintain/repairqa/engine/ques072_0.html talks about it WRT carburetors but the need is the same on fuel injected engines as well.

    Also, please check the actual sticker on the car. What is the reported range for highway MPG? The 35 is more of an average; the actual range on the sticker will probably be something like 31-37 or thereabouts. The 35 in big print is a possibility, not what the EPA (or Hyundai FTM) asserts every Sonata will achieve.
    2017 Infiniti QX60 (me), 2012 Hyundai Elantra (wife)
  • larrys1352larrys1352 Member Posts: 11
    I have the same "bad" gas mileage issues, but when you mention it in this forum someone always has a spin on why it's happening. My 2012 Sonata Limited gets 19 in the city and 33 on the hwy. I am 65 years old, go easy on the pedal and never do jack rabbit starts. The gas mileage on these cars are severely over-rated. In the latest edition of Kiplinger magazine they have a good article on an investigation done by the government concerning Hyundai claims.
    Now my disclosure. I love Hyundai's and have owned them since 2004. It's a fact. the gas mileage numbers are over-rated.
  • crankeeecrankeee Member Posts: 298
    We have 2012 GLS with PEP, that gor us alloy wheels but also the 205x65 18" tires that are standard. When properly inflated the rolling resistance is at its minimum. We prefer 36# in our cars and watch the pressure periodically. We get 22-24 in town and on the highway max is 37.4 at 65-70 MPH. Speed is biggest factor with 33 MPG at 75-80. We also make it a point to only use top tier gas; Shell, Exxon, BP, Chevron and Costco at times. The GLS is set up for max mileage and we feel we get the EPA #'s or better, depending on conditions.
  • nymattnymatt Member Posts: 4
    I got this new car just over a month ago. I'm on my third tank of gas and am closing in on 1,000 miles, and with 80% city driving, I'm averaging around 21 mpg. I keep the ECO boost on all the time and I'm pretty upset. I called the dealer last week and the service manager told me that around 8,000 miles the computer will have figured out my driving and it'll start to get better.

    Has anyone ever heard of this? It sounded like a load of bull.

    Otherwise, I like the car, but I expected a blended average well over 25 (since it advertised 25 MPG in the city).

    Thanks
  • bpe383bpe383 Member Posts: 6
    edited September 2012
    LOL, welcome to the Hyundai lie. They have not gotten better, they just say they have. I had a 2011 that sucked. I purchased it brand new. Never got the 35MPG. I drove 132 miles a day with only six miles of road not interstate, and it only had three traffic lights. Very rural town. By the time I sold it I was lucky to get 28MPG highway. It had been back to the deal more than my 1991 camry with 240,000 miles had in 20 years. My glove box was so full of repair orders i couldn't put anything else in it. In fact I sold the hyundai, and went back to my camry with 240,000 miles. I get 30MPG and haven't had to fix it yet. Buy a toyota. O, and the Hyundai still had 5 issues that needed fixing when I sold it to the dealer. I didn't have time to have them fixed, as Hyundai doesn't give loaner cars. Even after all the crap that broke. What's worse was half the items they had to replace, were staring to go bad again when I sold it, and that wasn't part of the 5 items I mentioned. Same parts going bad again tells me it wasn't a bad luck thing. It was poor quality parts. Really I can't say how much of a piece of crap this car was.
    Problems: Brake switch, steering linkage, A/C compressor, A/C bracket, (they failed again a year later), window trim coming off, outer door panel coming off/loose, steering wheel controls broke. Radio broke, then radio lights stopped working in hot weather, power window wouldn't roll up only in 40* or lower weather, hard pull to left, map lights stop working, and more just can't remember.
  • rickb56rickb56 Member Posts: 14
    I now have 2 '06 Sonatas. Both have near 60k miles. I just took a trip with the 4 cylinder and achieved 34 mpg highway driving at 65-70 mph. Fairly flat roads, not much wind. My 6 cyl gets 32 under same conditions.
    I use synthetic oil and overinflate tires a bit which I believe gives me something like 5-10% improvement based on earlier readings.

    Overall mileage is about 10% better with the 4 cyl. if mileage is 50/50 in-town/hwy. For anyone looking for a good used vehicle, I highly recommend an older Sonata. I have had no expense on either car except routine maintenance and second set of tires. The onboard computer is generally accurate but changes every few miles if you are going uphill, downhill, accelerating or coasting but the most common reading is very close to actual mileage when I use actual miles driven divided by gallons to replace.
  • larrys1352larrys1352 Member Posts: 11
    I bought mt 2012 Sonata Limited in November 2011. I was told the same story. I average about 19 in the city and about 32 on the highway I also own a 6 cyl 2007 Santa Fe that does not meet the expected gas mileage. You will hear all sorts of excuses, but the fact is in real world driving the MPG we get does not meet advertisements. Like you I like my Sonata and all it's features but am very disappointed with the MPG.
  • backybacky Member Posts: 18,949
    What a coincidence, I have a 2007 Sonata 4 cylinder with nearly 60k miles and I get about 34 mpg on the highway at 65-70 also. I can get a little better if it's 65 or less and no AC, but 34 is better than the EPA estimate so not too bad. I use regular oil, maybe put a couple pounds extra in the tires but don't focus on that. I bought the car used in Nov. 2009 and it's been a great car for us so far, still has the original brakes, very reliable. Hope to keep it another 4 years or so.
  • targettuningtargettuning Member Posts: 1,371
    The real truth is that "your mileage may vary". What are your expectations? that it will meet or exceed the window sticker numbers? Many people DO meet these numbers, many exceed them however if you go into the gas mileage game absolutely blinded by the numbers on the sticker chances are you will be disappointed especially if you do nothing special to try to meet them but simply drive as always even if that means 85mph whenever traffic allows, find yourself in city grid-lock frequently and otherwise expect the car itself and the EPA generated "NUMBERS" to magically produce the "expected" stellar economy. Here is the hard truth...in most (note: NOT ALL) cases the real world fuel economy does not and cannot reproduce the EPA generated numbers because the tests are performed in a controlled, reproducable environment. These cars, and indeed all cars, perform to the ways and conditions under which they are driven and nothing, not even the almighty window sticker, will alter that. So, too bad that your cars do not meet your personal expectations although I believe your numbers aren't "bad" for the size of the car and conditions under which it is driven. Instead of complaining analyze what could be causing your personal numbers and try different driving styles, routes, or some other change that may actually increase them. One other thing, and every driver should know this because it is common sense, city driving is a series of stops- creep a car length and another stop during which any car is getting between zero (0) mpg and something in the mid to low teens (mpg). The only types of vehicles that do best in the city are hybrids and electric cars e.g. Volt, Leaf . It drives me nuts when owners continually point at the window sticker and complain they are not getting the "advertised" mileage and I wish there were more accurate means to transmit the estimated economy of a vehicle without resorting to the notoriously optimistic EPA...it almost always leads to finger pointing at the manufacturer for not delivering as "advertised".
  • bpe383bpe383 Member Posts: 6
    I respectfully disagree. The Sonata is the only car I've owned that didn't meet, or exceed the window sticker.
    1: 91 camry- 35MPG when new, now 30 MPG 240,000 miles, sticker-29MPG
    2: 88 Corvette-27-28 MPG, sticker-22-24MPG
    3: 04 Corolla 38-40 MPG 235,000 miles - Sticker-35
    4: 82 VW rabbit Diesel-50-52 MPG, Sticker-43 MPG
    5: 02 maxima-28-30 MPG, Sticker-26

    So heck yeah I expect the car to be closer than 23-28MPG on a 35MPG rating. The above is only a few of the cars I've owned. If they all meet or exceeded than why would I expect anything else in future cars? 28MPG with tires at 42PSI, mobile 1 full synthetic, and using hyper-mileage driving, and only 5% of my driving is rural/in-town driving. Nope there is something else wrong with their reports. To many people have complained. With tire PSI at the 32-35 and no hyper-mileage driving I would get 23-25 MPG highway/5% rural in-town. That's just plain misleading. Yes, it's the manufacture's fault, because they are the ones selling me the car under the idea it gets 35MPG. Do they not??? It's all over their commercials. Is it not??? If they know the EPA is over stating then they should do the RIGHT thing, and use those engineers minds and calculate what it should be closer to, and use those numbers. But they don't. They have no problem using those "optimistic EPA" numbers.
  • larrys1352larrys1352 Member Posts: 11
    God forbid that our expectations would be that mileage "meets" the window sticker number.
    Look, I am a Hyundai fan. At one point I owned a 2004 XG350, a 2007 Santa Fe and a 2012 Sonata.
    I have talked to many Sonata owners. One thanked me for verifying their major complaint...MPG.
    Listen, Consumer Reports had an article about complaints about the Elantra MPG claims. The government received so many complaints that they launced an investigation.
    If you drive 60-65 on the highway and don't hit any red lights in the city, I am sure you can hit the numbers. But that is not real life. Try driving 65 on the California freeways and see what happens.
    So the truth is you cannot count on the published figures...especially from Hyundai. Deduct 20% and maybe you'll be happy when you hit 20MPG in the city and 28MPG highway...because that is what you are going to get!
  • LASHAWNLASHAWN Member Posts: 303
    Your 100% correct. Another thing people should pay attention to is the fine print numbers below the big print number on the window sticker.
  • samiam_68samiam_68 Member Posts: 775
    Hyundai/Kia are notorious for tuning their engines specifically to cater to EPA tests, not real world driving efficiency.
  • crankeeecrankeee Member Posts: 298
    I certainly hope that all mfrs do that since it is a Federal law that must be complied with to sell a car in the ole USA!
  • longo2longo2 Member Posts: 347
    edited September 2012
    I heard there is a class action lawsuit against Hyundai for the Elantra posted MPG's.

    Some car mag' took a new Hyundai Elantra and tested the highway mpgs and got more than the OEM window sticker. I seem to remember they got in the mid to high 40's in their highway test.

    "You mileage may vary" covers a lot of different driving and driver conditions, but this test proved that posted highway mpg's on a new Elantra can be close to 10% BETTER than the window sticker.

    Not sure if the lawsuit has any traction, but if it were me paying the legal bills, I would bail on this project ASAP!

    And BTW. it's not just Hyundai that is careful to fully optimise the testing conditions, they all do.
    I saw an interview with a Chrysler rep years ago that said they fully prep each vehicle for the mpg testing.
    I don't know if the testing units use ethanol gas mix or pure gas, but even that factor alone could skew the results 5 to 10% +/-.

    Here's a quote from Popular Mechanics regarding the posted Elantra 40 MPG claim after their test.

    " Not only is it easy to achieve, it's easy to surpass, even under less than ideal conditions. If you choose a car with a high-economy claim and drive within reason, you should be able to match those window-sticker figures. Considering that these cars are also decent performers on the road, the benefit of this high-efficiency engineering really goes to consumers, who are apparently getting more than they've bargained for."

    .
  • 1wayne11wayne1 Member Posts: 1
    I traded my 2006 Honda Civic LX in for my Sonata due to having a newborn back in 2010. The civic was said to get 40 mpg on highway but it never did seem that way. When I bought my Hyundai Sonata they said I would get 21 city and 32 highway. I tested it by driving to work and back and I would use a quarter of a tank for driving 148 miles. I commute from Hagerstown, MD to D.C. and back. So im filling up every 4 days. If my math is right im getting around 37 mpg. My driving is about 65 mph on the highway til I get to in town or the parkway and the speed drops down to anywhere between 45 mpg to 55 mpg. So far I have no issues with this car and I have racked up about 62K miles on it. I use full synthetic blend oil and I get my gas from Sheetz.
  • mpgcrazympgcrazy Member Posts: 1
    My 2012 Sonata Hybrid averaged 7.2 l/100km but 8.5 l/100km when the weather turns cold. I understand I will never get what the published numbers even I tried my very best to pickup slowly and drive not more than 90km/h. But I don't understand why the Instant Fuel Consumption indicator never point at 0? It is always at about 6 l/100km even when the car is at rest or when it is cruising in EV mode (air is off). Did I turn on something which not suppose to? Or are all Sonata Hybrids the same?
  • nymattnymatt Member Posts: 4
    unfortunately, the Sonata is not one of the models.
  • tomjc2tomjc2 Member Posts: 3
    I was relieved when I saw the initial press releases about Hyundia/Kia MPG but that was dashed when I checked the Hyundai site to find that only the Sonata Hybrid and not the Sonata was included. My in town gas mileage has been under 20mpg in a region that is fairly flat (Northern VA). That is with tires overinflated, running with ECO and driving gently. News reports on the EPA findings said the differences were 1 MPG and up. (my combined mileage, since purchase in April is 22.8). This is a 4 mpg difference. What did EPA find for the Sonata?

    I got rid of a 2000 Dodge Intrepid 6 cylinder that got 20 mpg in town (The Sonata blows it away on the highway - but I don't do that much highway anymore). While the overall engineering of the car is very nice, every time I fill up I am reminded of how misleading the MPG rating is and definitely have a lower opinion of Hyundai
  • larrys1352larrys1352 Member Posts: 11
    I agree 100%. My city MPG is 19MPG after 7,000 miles. I also have over inflated tires, use ECO and use mid grade gas. The car is 12 months old now and should be broken-in. Highway mileage is about 32 on my drives from San Diego to Las Vegas...300 miles one way.
    I am a very conservative drive, age 65 retired. This is the first car I regret buying. Yes it runs great but I bought it for the MPG ratings. The sticker said 24 MPG and I get 19...over 20% less. No excuse!!!!
  • bpe383bpe383 Member Posts: 6
    edited November 2012
    There has to be something we can do. I've yet to meet someone who has gotten the claimed 35MPG out of a sanata. I got mine back in 2011 when the new model came out. I started off at 32mpg running 98% highway. It only got worse as the miles got put on. When I sold it I was only getting 29mpg. As most people on here, I had over inflated tires, mobile 1 OIL, and shifted into N, when braking or down hill. That is the only way I could get 32MPG. Seems that if no one I know of has gotten the 35 MPG there needs to be an investigation. I, nor all these other people should have to go through the trouble we do just to get 32 MPG which is still less than quoted. Hyundai needs to own up to the fact they did this as a marking scam to sell cars, and they were hoping to just pass it off as well not all cars are the same. They will never get my biz. again.
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