Gas Mileage Experience

I am a retired chemical engineer and admittedly am very obsessive about maintaining my automobiles. I have owned 20 new cars in the past 36 years and have maintained a complete log book on all expenses associated with each car. My wife and I typically average about 16,000 miles annually on each vehicle. At each fuel fill-up, I enter the date, gallons of gas, and odometer reading, and then calculate the miles-per-gallon corresponding to the incremental distance traveled. At 5,000 mile intervals, I calculate the cumulative gas mileage which is ?all the miles divided by all the gallons? to that point. Additionally, I calculate the maintenance cost at 5,000 mile intervals to arrive at a cost-per-mile for maintenance. I do this over the entire period I own the car. I have never had a problem selling my cars to co-workers because they know that each of my vehicles has had meticulous care, and that complete service records are available. <br><br>A number of you have posted messages regarding gas mileage. Some have been as low as 12 mpg. I will share my experience to date. My wife is the primary driver of our Desert Tribute V6 ES 2WD. The majority of our miles correspond to a mix of about 60% traffic (frequent stops and traffic lights, and 40% non-traffic (fairly open-road, rural driving). My wife and I have always been conservative drivers, i.e., no jack-rabbit starts, we anticipate traffic lights and stop signs, etc. The 2WD Tribute is EPA-rated at 18 city and 24 highway. For the 60/40 mix described above, the overall average should be about 20.4 mpg. <br><br>To date I have recorded the following gas mileages together with the corresponding odometer readings: 19.03 @ 436 miles; 21.49 @681 miles; 24.93 @ 1030 miles (highway trip); 23.25 @ 1313 miles; 19.73 @ 1536 miles; 20.71 @ 1769 miles; 21.32 @ 2038 miles; 26.63 @ 2144 miles (highway); 20.77 @ 2440 miles. My cumulative mileage to date is 21.64, which, for my mix of driving, is fully consistent with the 18 to 24 mpg. EPA rating for this vehicle. <br><br>I hope this information is useful to those of you inquiring about the gas mileage experience of other Tribute owners.

I totally agree....mine is on target with yours. Those who live up North don't forget your mileage till the vehicle warms up is less as well as IF you start the Tribute in the driveway to warm up. I can say there are no adjustments on the fuel mix nor the idle...it is computer controlled. <br><br>bob

It's not really that cold in New England yet. <br><br>Regarding the fuel smell, the dealer called this evening, sounds like more silicone rather then a new gasket, since you are wating till Jan I can see why they are hesitant. Mazda says that you write to them at customer service if you think you are entitled to a refund or new car and this being the 4th attempt I'm getting primed for this. Incidently the 4cyl auto on the 626 is not shifting to smoothly lately. Is this another Ford Transmission?

Mazda DOES replace and buy back vehicles...but they first will send a FACTORY technician to work on the vehicle at a local dealer along side a dealer Master Technician. If they cannot resolve it then they will do that. <br><br>Your 626...what year...?? Some are Ford...AND some were recalled where they go beyond the 3/50K if you have serviced the vehicle properly.<br><br>Early models...93-95 had big trans. problems..they used the same transmission in the V6 and the 4cyl...the Hold light flashed too...If you have OD on the switch on the AUTO trans lever then you have the newer transmission. Typically far less trouble 96 and newer.

As to gasket...they are not what you would think a gasket looks like...they are gel filled. Not pumped full of silicone but a small gel inside the gasket. I just gotta wait till the intake (plastic top piece) for the engine to come in. <br><br>Read the Lemon Law in your state...mine is 4X in the shop followed by manufacturer gets a chance personally...OR 30 days then the manufacturer gets a chance. <br><br>bob

Hey Dave, I work in a planning department and I am doing the same thing with my LX-V6 4x4 Tribute. Unfortunately, after 700 miles on it, I haven't done better than 13 or 14 MPG. I am very careful on the way I drive (anticipate stops, red lights, ...) and I share your numbers of 60% traffic and 40% without. I live in Montreal where it is pretty cold but I don't think that explains the gap between your Tribute and mine. I will give it some time (another 2,000 miles or so) and then I'll see what I can do ... What is there to do? Complain and that's it?

I'm truly surprised at some of the low mileage figures I've seen posted by Tribute owners. We are generally satisfied with ours. We do have the fuel smell, but the dealer doesn't have a clue as to what to do. I've been cutting and pasting posts into a document to bring to the dealer to "help him out". I also find the engine and general noise level to be higher than I expected. But I've driven 4 other units, and they all sound the same. My other car is a '99 Toyota Avalon which is incredibly quiet and smooth.<br><br>I hope your mileage improves soon.

I'm truly surprised at some of the low mileage figures I've seen posted by Tribute owners. We are generally satisfied with ours. We do have the fuel smell, but the dealer doesn't have a clue as to what to do. I've been cutting and pasting posts into a document to bring to the dealer to "help him out". I also find the engine and general noise level to be higher than I expected. But I've driven 4 other units, and they all sound the same. My other car is a '99 Toyota Avalon which is incredibly quiet and smooth.<br><br>I hope your mileage improves soon.

Dave,<br> So we don't duplicate effort here, would you mind posting your complete text of the messages that you have compiled dealing with the fuel smell issue, and the possible fixes? I'm sure many (including me) would be interested in this document to take with us to the dealer.<br><br>Thanks