POOR FUEL MILEAGE: I purchased my 2014 Elantra in August of 2014. Due to the recent settlement for fuel mileage I asked if the problems had been resolved and was told they were accurate now. They had lowered the highway mileage from 40 to 38 and that supposedly resolved the problem. At the end of September following my second tank of gas I stopped in to complain about the poor fuel mileage. The car is rated at 28 City/38 Highway/32 Combined, but I was only averaging about 24.5. I was told to wait until after the first oil change to break the car in. I did but it remained at about 24.5. After several more complaints I was told to wait until I took it on a trip. I took it on a trip and although I actually got 33mpg it was almost entirely highway miles using the cruise control. My average with 35% - 65% highway maintained about 24-25mpg. Following many complaints, including some to the Customer Service Department of Hyundai, they finally arraigned for me to come in and have the Service Manager at the dealership test the mileage. We topped off the tank, drove out ten miles on the highway and back on mostly rural roads. The actual mileage we got was 24.5 but the mileage readout on the dash was reading 39. I had noticed it was always high and the disparity between actual mileage and the computer estimate increased with more highway miles. I have not heard back anything from Hyundai and don’t know where to turn to. I have asked if they could clear and reformat the Engine Control Module which they said they cannot. I have asked if they could swap out the Engine Control Module to do another mileage test – answer no. I asked to check the shift points since it feels like it downshifts while going downhill and another no because there are is no check engine light on. After a number of calls and emails to the EPA they basically informed me that they don’t have anything to do with enforcement and in fact don’t test the vehicles. They just publish the numbers the manufacturers give them after they test the vehicles. On a recent trip to the Indianapolis 500 with 86% of the miles from the tank on highway using cruise control I achieved an actual mileage of 32 mpg. The computer readout was 41 when I cleared it at fill up. I have approached nearly a dozen other Elantra owners and all of them said they were getting good mileage, but all of them were just using the computer readout. It isn’t just that over 100,000 miles of use with fuel at the ten year average of $3.10/gal I will spend nearly $3000.00 more than planned, I am also contributing 30% more carbon to the environment than I should be.
I know very well that actual mileage may vary from the EPA estimate due to hills, wind, etc., but 30% is way too far to be off tank after tank.
If nothing else, I would like others to know so they can start checking their actual mileage in all HYUNDAI models and see if it is accurate.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
POOR FUEL MILEAGE: I purchased my 2014 Elantra in August of 2014. Due to the recent settlement for fuel mileage I asked if the problems had been resolved and was told they were accurate now. They had lowered the highway mileage from 40 to 38 and that supposedly resolved the problem. At the end of September following my second tank of gas I stopped in to complain about the poor fuel mileage. The car is rated at 28 City/38 Highway/32 Combined, but I was only averaging about 24.5. I was told to wait until after the first oil change to break the car in. I did but it remained at about 24.5. After several more complaints I was told to wait until I took it on a trip. I took it on a trip and although I actually got 33mpg it was almost entirely highway miles using the cruise control. My average with 35% - 65% highway maintained about 24-25mpg. Following many complaints, including some to the Customer Service Department of Hyundai, they finally arraigned for me to come in and have the Service Manager at the dealership test the mileage. We topped off the tank, drove out ten miles on the highway and back on mostly rural roads. The actual mileage we got was 24.5 but the mileage readout on the dash was reading 39. I had noticed it was always high and the disparity between actual mileage and the computer estimate increased with more highway miles. I have not heard back anything from Hyundai and don’t know where to turn to. I have asked if they could clear and reformat the Engine Control Module which they said they cannot. I have asked if they could swap out the Engine Control Module to do another mileage test – answer no. I asked to check the shift points since it feels like it downshifts while going downhill and another no because there are is no check engine light on. After a number of calls and emails to the EPA they basically informed me that they don’t have anything to do with enforcement and in fact don’t test the vehicles. They just publish the numbers the manufacturers give them after they test the vehicles. On a recent trip to the Indianapolis 500 with 86% of the miles from the tank on highway using cruise control I achieved an actual mileage of 32 mpg. The computer readout was 41 when I cleared it at fill up. I have approached nearly a dozen other Elantra owners and all of them said they were getting good mileage, but all of them were just using the computer readout. It isn’t just that over 100,000 miles of use with fuel at the ten year average of $3.10/gal I will spend nearly $3000.00 more than planned, I am also contributing 30% more carbon to the environment than I should be.
I know very well that actual mileage may vary from the EPA estimate due to hills, wind, etc., but 30% is way too far to be off tank after tank.
If nothing else, I would like others to know so they can start checking their actual mileage in all HYUNDAI models and see if it is accurate.
- Gregory W., Cincinnati, OH, US