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GMC Acadia Real World MPG

124

Comments

  • benny25benny25 Member Posts: 1
    My 2010 SLT Acadia is the worst car I have owned. WHat makes it worse is G.M. Acting like I'm the only one getting poor milage. Driving in attempt to get milage, the best I get is 20mpg highway. That coasting through towns slow acceleration and driving 58mph in cruise on flat roads. Finally today my service advisor at the dealership said that's the milage they are getting. And that his z71 truck gets way better milage.
  • yulanyulan Member Posts: 5
    davidswi,

    I am having similar difficulties with my 2011 acadia denali. We drive it almost exclusively in the city, and have been averaging between 11 and 11.8 mpg. It's awful, and we've been very frustrated by GM and the dealership. Have you been in contact with any other acadia owners outside this forum? I'd like to get in contact with you and others to get more details about everyone's experiences and see if there is anything we can do collectively. Let me know what you think, and how we might go about connecting offline. Thanks.
  • yulanyulan Member Posts: 5
    davidswi,

    What state do you live in?

    Does anyone on the forum live in Atlanta or elsewhere in GA?
  • gmcustsvcsarahgmcustsvcsarah Member Posts: 1,964
    Yulan,

    I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing these frustration with your Acadia. Have yo already been working with Customer Assistance? I would like to see how we can be of service to you.

    Best,
    Sarah
    GM Customer Service
  • yulanyulan Member Posts: 5
    Sarah,

    I spoke with someone with Customer Service over the phone yesterday, but we got disconnected and she never called me back.
  • gmcustsvcsarahgmcustsvcsarah Member Posts: 1,964
    I'm sorry to hear that! Please email us more information (name/username, contact information, last 8 digits of your VIN, and your involved dealership).

    Best,
    Sarah
    GM Customer Service
  • sandro0165sandro0165 Member Posts: 1
    Hello Sarah,
    I also have a GMC Denali 2011 and find that its consuming way to much fuel.
    How can I send you my name/username, contact information, last 8 digits of your VIN, and your involved dealership).
    Regards
    Sandro
  • gmcustsvcsarahgmcustsvcsarah Member Posts: 1,964
    To contact us via email, please use the address located under the profile on this page. Or, if you would prefer to discuss your concerns over the phone, you can always call GMC Customer Assistance at 800-462-8782 (Mon-Sat, 8 am - 9 pm EST).

    Best,
    Sarah
    GM Customer Service
  • mschlagmschlag Member Posts: 1
    I just purchased a 2011 GMC Acadia with 18,000 miles on it. My fuel economy completely destroys my budget. The best I have got is 17.4 when more than 70% of my drive is highway miles. If it is all city it gets around 13-14 I never would have bought it if I knew what I was paying for. I am going t.o lose a lot of money trading this in. If there is a class action law suite I'm in
  • huedawghuedawg Member Posts: 5
    We are having the same issue . I just bought my wife a 2011 Acadia and the best gas mileage we can get is 12.5 mpg. ?? We can not afford the gas for this thing if it doesn't get better . The car now has 1500 miles on it . Surely there has to be some sort of recourse because this is just tooooooo far off from what it claims to get .
  • ab38offab38off Member Posts: 1
    I think the problem is the transmission. It does not shift into overdrive soon enough, and as you decelerate, the transmission downshifts and you can see the rpms jump up. Sort of like it is in trailer mode.

    The city gas mpg is terrible. About as bad as my Yukon Denali, without all the creature comforts!! Highway best is about 23-24mpg at 70 mph.

    City is a killer!

    Tell the DOT to reprogram the stop lights so traffic can be maintained, and not stopped and started for the benefit of the oil companies!
  • lk10lk10 Member Posts: 10
    I also have a 2010 SLT-2 AWD Acadia and get only 12-14 mpg. This is very disappointing to me and seems misleading from the sticker information when we bought the car. Other than this, I love the car. This isn't right though. It definitely would have influenced my purchasing decision. I have asked my dealer service about this and was told that it was just due to my driving conditions. There is no way that I, and everybody else with an Acadia, should be unable to achieve the reported mileage by GM.
  • yulanyulan Member Posts: 5
    huedawg,

    What state do you live in? Have you taken it in to the dealer? what have they told you?
  • huedawghuedawg Member Posts: 5
    I live in Ohio but I bought the vehicle new in Kentucky . I am only 4 miles away from the dealership . I have taken it into the dealership and they could not find anything wrong with it ..
  • gmcustsvcsarahgmcustsvcsarah Member Posts: 1,964
    Huedawg,

    Have you worked with Customer Assistance already? We can follow up with the dealership if you like. Please email us more information (name and user name, contact information, the last 8 digits of your VIN, and involved dealership).

    Best,
    Sarah
    GM Customer Service
  • bobbytheboy69bobbytheboy69 Member Posts: 1
    I just bought a 2010 used acadia, and the mileage around town could not be worse. I have a gm full size work van with a 5.7 liter and it has roughly 2-3 thousand pds on it all the time. The acadia gets worse gas mileage then my work van. On the highway the truck we will call it, gets wonderful mileage. 2 dashes I went about 80 miles but I drive my kids a 1/2 mile away and I can watch the gauge move. Right now I am between a half and a quater of a tank and only put 122 miles on it. Never would have bought this vehicle.
  • stephenw1stephenw1 Member Posts: 1
    I have driven my 2011 GMC Acadia about 6000 miles. I calculate the mpg at every tank fill up and it is usually around 13.5 mpg never above 14 mpg. I do mostly city driving but there are also occasional long distance trips of at least 2 hours. It is truly unacceptable that the window sticker mpg could be at such odds with reality. Now that I see how many other people have a similar issue I think GMC should at least have realistic window sticker mpg. Buyer beware. Does anyone have a solution or action that can be taken ?

    StephenW1
  • victorg009victorg009 Member Posts: 9
    edited November 2011
    Yes, I know what action can be taken. It is called class action lawsuit for misleading advertisement. We all get 30% less city MPG than were promised, which is unacceptable (10% off is ok but not 30%). My prev and current Toyota cars get same or better MPG than sticker.

    I'd be driving a different car now if I knew about Acadia's 30% less MPG when making my purchase decision. Although I read about poor MPG before buying Acadia, I did not beliver forums and trusted sticker number. Apparently I trusted wrong source of information - lesson learned.

    Post #157 in this thread mentions that many owners of Equinox and Terrain complain about less MPG than advertised for their cars too.
  • yulanyulan Member Posts: 5
    Victorg009,

    What state do you live in?

    Does anyone who has posted on this forum live in GA or FL?
  • rjbladerjblade Member Posts: 14
    Hi yulan

    I just purchased a 2011 Acadia SLT2 with all the options. On Nov 16,2011 with 13,000 miles . I am experencing the same poor gas milage. Around 12 mpg.
    I have been reading post from another web site ( www.acadiaforum.net ) where nobody there seems to be complaining about poor gas milage. We need to get together from both web sites to form a strong voice to get GM to recognize the problem and assign tasking to there engineering group to research the isue. Until then nothing will be done. I will be bringing the car back to the dealer tommorrow to access the problem.
  • gmcustsvcsarahgmcustsvcsarah Member Posts: 1,964
    edited November 2011
    Rjblade,

    I'm interested in hearing what you learn at the dealership tomorrow. Thanks for continuing to work with us!

    Sarah
    GM Customer Service
  • klewis0906klewis0906 Member Posts: 12
    I"m beginning to wonder if the responses from customer service arent' automated. I work in customer support for a living. There is no way I would see this many complaints about the same problem, and not escalate it further. it just baffles me. Why do we have customer service reps on this thread if you can't do anything to help resolve, or point us in the right direction. Apparently the service department isn't the right place to go as we have all been there and received no help in regards to our problem.
  • kaydeejaykaydeejay Member Posts: 14
    Just an update from my previous post. (#132)
    4200 miles on the vehicle.
    Just got back from a 520 Mile round trip across Ontario. 100% Highway at 70mph (or less).
    Average 20.8mpg. (sticker says 24mpg for a FWD Acadia)
    My total average to date (2WD) with NO City driving is 19.1mpg
    I have NEVER before driven a GM product where I could not match the published numbers.
    This is shameful and the published ratings are utterly misleading.
    The dealers don't care!
    I'm stuck for 3 years (lease) but my next car will NOT be a GM, even though I'm a GM management retiree!
    What aren't the Customer reps reading this escalating it?
  • gmcustsvcsarahgmcustsvcsarah Member Posts: 1,964
    I appreciate your feedback, klewis0906.

    One result of our interactions on forums like Edmunds is that information is added into the database that GM uses to make decisions on their products. Additionally, we do document threads where there are multiple drivers who have the same concern (as in the case of the mileage on this thread) for further consideration. Starting cases with us and working with our dealerships continues to add to the information base that GM can use. Finally, when a Customer Assistance Case begins with us, it doesn't necessarily end with us.

    Our interactions are somewhat limited on the forum, giving off the "automated" appearance. I'm sorry that that impression was given.

    I hope that this helps to clarify our activities here.
    Regards,
    Sarah
    GM Customer Service
  • klewis0906klewis0906 Member Posts: 12
    Thanks for clearing things up Sarah. Has this information been added to the GM database? Is GM aware of this problem?
  • gmcustsvcsarahgmcustsvcsarah Member Posts: 1,964
    Each post we've responded to is in the database. Additionally, I will be adding the "gas mileage" conversation from this forum to a document that will be handled by those higher than myself within GM. From there, I can't make any promises with how the information will be utilized.

    Best,
    Sarah
    GM Customer Service
  • hsalinashsalinas Member Posts: 4
    I have already commented on this thread earlier. I just want to re-iterate that if there is anybody here gathering information to form a class action suit against GM or GMC then I would like participate. I purchased (2) 2011 GMC Acadia's, (1) Denali and (1) SLT2 for my company and I am really annoyed with the false information especially with the EPA labeled on the fuel mileage. The vehicles that were replaced are Toyota and I refused to buy foreign but DAMN I regret it, I don't even want to use these vehicles because it kills me to see the needle go down so quickly when I just drive around town.
  • obyoneobyone Member Posts: 7,841
    There seems to be a discussion regarding a class action lawsuit based on mileage people are gettting with their Acadias. GM is not responsible for the EPA label. It says EPA label so guess the EPA is responsible for THEIR label. :surprise:

    http://www.epa.gov/fueleconomy/
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited December 2011
    Well, yes and no. The number is the EPA's.

    But at least one court has held for consumers due to mpg advertising claims made by a manufacturer, even though those claims were based on the EPA number. Here's the settlement web page.

    Note that the lawyers will get well paid while Civic Hybrid owners will get $100 or $1,000 off a new Honda.

    Such a deal. :P
  • obyoneobyone Member Posts: 7,841
    Yes, I can understand how a class action lawsuit could help an Acadia owner's plight. :shades:
  • gcwhite1gcwhite1 Member Posts: 4
    I will always have it. No matter even if it was new. With that said. In regards to the MPG. As some one has noted in an earlier post is that if this unit had a larger engine it would likely be better on the fuel. Here's my theory. When you have a power-plant built to run 3000 watts and another that is built to run 1500 watts running the same load at 1000 watts, the unit that is only designed to run 1500 watts will general run harder and have worse performance than the one built to run 3000 watts. Now I am not excusing GM on this in no way, because they are very aware of this line of thought as well. But with everyone clamoring for more fuel efficient vehicles, some (GM) have opted for a sales ploy to get people to thinking that a V6 is more fuel efficient that a V8. And as many folks know that just ain't so.

    Now with that said... I just bought a 2008 Acadia w/ 67k. I suspected that the mpg with be worse but I will let you know if I am successful in getting anything better.
  • dudleyrdudleyr Member Posts: 3,469
    A large engine helping fuel economy is only true if the vehicle in question is underpowered. I don't think that is the case.
  • gcwhite1gcwhite1 Member Posts: 4
    Isn't that the deal here? You have a vehicle that has horrible MPG (at least compared to what OEM states. And it seems to be just enough to do the things its suppose to do without any room to spare. Which in my view is working way too hard. I may be missing the boat here. But it seems if they put a larger power plant in this unit, it would not work quite as hard as this one a be better at the MPG. I bring this up because I had a 1981 Buick Park Ave. This was the motor switching phase of GM. Mine had a 307 Olds engine. I successfully got more than 25 - 27 on the highway and about 20 in the city. Now this was done by some effort on my part but it was done. And one of the things I concluded was that the engine was much more than the unit needed, so did not work nearly as hard to do what it needed to do.
    Now I may be missing the boat on this theory of mine and if you can shed some light on it I am all ears.
  • kaydeejaykaydeejay Member Posts: 14
    edited December 2011
    Not necessarily true. The 3.6L in my Acadia is rated at 288HP, while the 5.7L V8 I just got rid of (in a Roadmaster wagon) was rated 28HP LESS at 260HP.
    That being said I CONSISTENTLY got 24mpg Highway with the Buick at the same speeds I drive the Acadia.
    The fact I can't match that 16 year old car with a new Acadia is what has got me all ticked off. Best yet is 21.2, average (mostly highway) of 19.1.

    Now a couple of questions for the techs.
    1) My A/C compressor seems to run at all times. I can hear it kicking on and off, even when the A/C button is not pressed. I expect it to run (above freezing) when the defrost is selected but not at all positions on the heater dial. Even my old '96 Buick had a "vent" setting that shut the compressor off.

    2) The Torque converter clutch very rarely engages, I can see rpms going up and down a little even at highway speeds.

    Neither of these situations can help fuel economy. Of course, my dealer says "It's normal"!!! How can you get past these people???
  • gcwhite1gcwhite1 Member Posts: 4
    Not to necessarily rebut what you just said, but the Roadmaster wagon is lighter (buy about 200 - 300 lbs) and more aerodynamically shaped vehicle. And it sits lower to the ground. With less ground clearance the more fuel efficient.
  • kaydeejaykaydeejay Member Posts: 14
    edited December 2011
    So 16 years of development of variable valve timing, 4 valves per cylinder, Direct Gas Injection and a 6-speed auto didn't offset the very small weight penalty and perhaps a larger frontal area?? It's frontal area combined with the drag factor that affects aerodynamic drag, not ground clearance. Hopefully that same 16 years of development also resulted in a reduced drag coefficient, which should somewhat offset that larger frontal area.
    Either way, what I'm saying is I almost obtained the (prior to 2008) more optimistic fuel economy figures with the old Buick. It was rated 25 Hwy, which is probably more like 22 under the new regs. I consistently got 24.
    The Acadia is rated 24 (under the new regs) and I can just about scrape 21.
    I bought the Acadia fully expecting to see 25 or 26, exceeding the EPA ratings, which had been my experience with just about every GM product I drove as Company cars for almost 20 years.
  • silverdenalisilverdenali Member Posts: 1
    I was shocked myself with my 2012 Denali. After 300miles I am getting 13mpg driving to and from work. However, I also realized that my average speed is only 15mph - so many stop lights and waiting. I think I am suffering from the idle time at the lights. Now that I am on my second tank of gas I went on the freeway and drove 58 mph and reset the mpg gauge. I was happy to see the mileage reading move to 26+ for a 10 mile drive. This gives me hope. I went to the EPA site and looked at the duty cycle used for the EPA and average speed for the city was around 21mph. Here is a link to the EPA duty cycles.
    link title
    My conclusion so far: this car uses excessive gas at idle, uses excessive gas during acceleration (even if mild and light on the foot) but tries to make up for it with low gearing at cruising speeds.
    This seems like a gimic to get good EPA numbers while others are making cars that fundamentally more fuel efficient.
    The dealer service gave me the same story about waiting for 3k miles. I don't believe it but can only wait and see. I am concerned about 2 things.
    1. Is my car defective? I will check this by trying to duplicate a the EPA duty cycle and see if I get more similar results.
    2. Is the less than what I was lead to believe? I still expect my gas mileage to be better than my 1996 SUV just as all of you have stated. If it gets good mileage in fake driving but poor in normal conservative driving then I will join in on the complaints to GM.

    Taking a longer trip over the holidays and will give an update">link title
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 236,760
    I always hesitate to comment on MPG stories, as one can never know the driving habits of someone else...

    But, if you are averaging 15 mph, then I'm not surprised at your mileage.. My car measures average MPH, and I'm right around 34 mph.. I have a suburban commute of around 21 miles each way, and plenty of around town errands, as well... 15 avg mph is really, really low... The Acadia is a very large, heavy vehicle... I think the mileage you recorded on the interstate points the finger more at the type of driving you are doing than a problem with the vehicle (just looking at the info given).

    regards,
    kyfdx

    Edmunds Price Checker
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  • bdylan4771bdylan4771 Member Posts: 2
    I purchased a 2011 Acadia slt1 about 6 weeks ago. It had 13,000 miles on it. I have already taken it to the dealership for repairs twice and am getting ready to take it to a third place. Both times I mentioned the extremely low fuel economy and that the transmission shifts hard or is never in the gear it seems like it should be. Both times they told me that everything is normal with those issues. I can't believe that my experience is normal! The sticker says 16/23 for all wheel drive. I get 13/18 and the best I can get when trying hard is 14.5 average with 50/50 highway and city. From the EPA numbers I would expect an average to be somewhere around 19-20. I also own a 5.3L V8 Silverado and I get better mileage in it. In the Silverado I get exactly what the sticker says I should get and I am sure my driving habits are the same for both vehicles.
    Part of my decision to buy the Acadia was that we thought we would get slightly better mileage than the vehicle we traded, but in fact, we get worse.
    The shifting issue might be better for a different topic but it is driving us crazy too. I can't believe it is designed to be performing so poorly!
    The worst part is that the service managers and techs talk to me like I don't KNOW what factors affect fuel efficiency and that they pretend I am the only one having these issues.
    I am disappointed by these issues. At this point I wish we could send it back. Can anyone help us with these issues?
  • gmcustsvcsarahgmcustsvcsarah Member Posts: 1,964
    I am sorry that, from the sounds of your post, you are not having a satisfactory experience. I see that you are heading in to your dealership a third time - is this for your transmission and fuel economy, or a different concern?

    We're available to assist, if you like. Please send us an email with more information on your current concerns.

    All the best,
    Sarah
    GM Customer Service
  • gcwhite1gcwhite1 Member Posts: 4
    Sarah,

    While all the good will you wish upon us is great. It is never the less unfruitful. I am a new Acadia owner of a 2008. It has 67k on it and I have yet to have issue with anything on it as yet, EXCEPT, the mileage issue that everyone here is having. And while I would love a one-on-one response I would truly prefer that you give a solution or suggestion or something to the group because buying a vehicle with false claims of higher fuel mileage is crap. I just went on a trip from Kansas City, MO to Topeka, KS. You cannot get any flatter of a landscape than that and I was not gunning it. I set my cruise for 77 and took off. The best I could do (and this was resetting the average mpg calculator to 0 while driving 75 mph) 18.1. I have a 2002 Dodge B1500 conversion van that will do that on the highway and its at least 1500 lbs heavier.
  • kabjohnskabjohns Member Posts: 1
    I have 8500 miles on my Acadia but have an AWD and is making 14 mpg, most my driving is highway, with about .5 miles in town. GM customer service has me to go to two different dealers and hook the computer up to it and nothing. I am going to go get something different.
  • rjbladerjblade Member Posts: 14
    I bought a 2011 SLT2 in Nov 2011 with 13k miles. Todate with 18k miles the gas milage is horrible. Went as far as getting the northeast regional zone office involved located in Argentina. That was a waste of time. There technical solution was to let the dealer take it for a day, so that the service manger could drive it around for the day to verify the poor gas milage. Since no service codes were shown when a computer scan was done. I was told by the dealer to live with it. I too was told by the northeast regional manger to bring to another dealer to be serviced.
  • hsalinashsalinas Member Posts: 4
    I was told the same thing and took the car back to the dealer and let them use if for the day which did absolutely nothing. GMC needs to step up to the plate and realize that by adding the additional weight to the vehicle to give it the more plush feel gave it horrible fuel consumption. The Traverse LTZ which is identical and with the same HP motor with my Acadia Denali, was getting 18-20mpg all day long around town. Always saw the Avg MPG above 17mpg and the best I got on the highway was 23-26mpg. Why does the GMC Acadia get such bad mileage and all the Posts to prove???????
  • gmcustsvcsarahgmcustsvcsarah Member Posts: 1,964
    I see that you've been working with Customer Service - do you have a Service Request number? If you wanted to send that our way, we'd be happy to look into the progress of your case and provide you any available updates!

    Sarah
    GM Customer Service
  • klewis0906klewis0906 Member Posts: 12
    I did take my Acadia back to the dealer a couple times. I had posted regarding this issue a month or so after I bought my Acadia. I bought a 2009 with 25k miles. Initially I was seeing 11 - 13mpg. I then began to chart everything so I would have documentation. Whenever I filled up my tank, I would clear all of the readings so i could track MPG, as well as how many miles per tank. I was only getting 227mile per tank. The first couple of tanks, I was still at 13mpg. I am now seeing 17 - 19mpg. Not as bad as it was, but better. I still think I got comparable miles on my Ford Expedition. I really think this may be a computer issue. I'm still testing. Good luck. Please continue to post your findings. As you can see there are many of us experiencing this same issue.
  • epaul1276epaul1276 Member Posts: 1
    Hi, I am new to this forum and discussion but very happy to see that there are many others this this issue. I had a 2008 Acadia and was very happy with it and I then traded it in for a 2011 Acadia in July 2011. When I went to the dealer the first thing they told me was how they "improved the gas mileage". This could not have been further from the truth!! Your sticker says 16/23 which to means that the absolute worst I should be getting is 16mpg (or 13mpg if you read the small print below). Well, I would absolutely KILL to get 13mpg. I am nowhere near there! I have called numerous times and no one does anything. The dealer told me to bring the car in for them to check and then when I got there they told me that is not really something they can check for but looked at it and said they didn't see anything wrong with it. I have heard every excuse including the ridiculous "breaking-in period" nonsense. If that is true then how could I be getting worse mileage at 8,000 miles then I was getting at 1,000 miles?? I always re-set every indicator when I will up my tank and I just got 9.8 mpg on my last tank. My brother got the same car 2 weeks before me and he drives his car to a train station and back and he gets 13-14mpg. If anyone knows of any class action suits or other legal options please let me know.
  • gmcustsvcsarahgmcustsvcsarah Member Posts: 1,964
    I understand why you are frustrated, epaul1276, and am sorry that your Acadia is not performing as you had expected.

    The EPA's fuel economy estimates are designed to allow consumers to comparison shop. Your fuel economy will almost certainly vary from EPA's fuel economy rating, which is based on a number of factors, such as weather, road conditions, your driving and maintenance habits, and your use of air conditioning. I don't know if you've been there already, but for more information on how your fuel economy can vary, or tips to improve your fuel economy, you can visit "Your MPG Will Still Vary" and "Gas Mileage Tips" on www.fueleconomy.gov.

    If you would like further assistance, please contact us via email at the address located in my profile.

    Regards,
    Sarah
    GM Customer Service
  • anribaanriba Member Posts: 2
    I just purchased a brand new Acadia slt2. Only 100 miles. 2 wheel drive. Traded in my suburban with a 5.7. The Acadia s getting 16 mpg. Where my bigger heavier suburban averaged 19.1. Same drive to work. There is something to all this posting. I believe in Texas I have a few days to return the product. I wish. GM would step here and I wish this was the first time experience. We should have gotten a Honda or Toyota
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    I believe in Texas I have a few days to return the product.

    I doubt it. I don't know of any state that has a "cooling off" period for a new car purchase, unless there's something specific in your contract.

    Some people get the EPA rated mileage right from the first, but many don't see "okay" mileage until several thousand miles. 100 miles isn't nearly enough to go by.
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