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2002 Taurus gets 11-13 MPG, WTF went wrong?

I remember a car back in the 70's that I owned, it was a V-8 and smoked bad and used LEADED gasoline and I never went lower than 15 MPG

But I would have expected 20+ MPG with this 2002 Taurus????

I do the maintenance, the oil/air filter changing, drive the speed limit and barely put 300 miles on it per week. Maybe 1,500 in a month for extra trips on weekends.

Can you imagine what this 11-13 MPG was like back a few weeks ago with the gas in my area peaked out at $4.30 per gallon?

ALSO hilarious is those Emmision Tests we have in this area. It's required once a year and I've never failed it, in fact the number shows my car is in the top 1% meaning my emissions are lower than 99% of all cars they test in a year. Couldn't be that then.

Got any ideas or could someone explain a few scenarios that would literally cause 11-13 MPG month after month?

Reply to
Robert Blass
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I drive even less and get around 19-20 in suburban driving.

Other obvious checkpoints: Tires (pressure, and some tires have more drag than others), idle time, jackrabbit starts, not keeping a constant speed, transmission problems. It may not hurt to run a code check, even if the engine light is not on, just in case there is something not quite right.

Reply to
Andrew Rossmann

Do you drive mostly short runs?

Reply to
Mike Hunter

Most people don't using their cars when they run.

I would take the car to a mechanic and get it checked (or a dealer and get a new one in a few weeks - it sounds like there may be some sort of tax break for people who buy new cars).

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

Robert Blass wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@xxx.org:

You posted this a few months ago and you still haven't found the problem? I have a 2002 Taurus and it gets about 24 MPG on average hwy and city. Could the transmission be slipping. What RPM are you showing when you are driving 55 MPH in overdrive on level road. Have you checked your brakes for drag although they would soon overheat be gone at that rate. Then again you could be a troll.

Reply to
tango

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