8 replies to this topic

[Maria]

Is anyone out there having fuel consumption problems with their new Ford Econetics or have we just got a dud car? My husband and I bought ours a year ago as we looked around and decided that as we are high mileage users, the Econetic would be the best option as it can achieve 60 - 80 mpg. We purchased the vehicle a year ago and out of that year the car has been at the dealers in their garage of 6 months approx. We realised there was a problem with the vehicle within 2 weeks of buying the car as we noticed we were only getting around 50 mpg, this was on short runs around Somerset where we live and on long runs down to Cornwall. We have complained over and over to the dealer, who has also had 8 of it's employees also drive our car and they too only achieved 48 - 50 mpg!! At first the dealer tried to blame our driving - but after 8 of their guys achieved the same mileage they couldn't really stick to that one! Our car is now sitting in the dealers car park where it has been for the last 4 months - we have had a Ford Courtesy car with their writing all over it and the situation is so bad now that neighbours have started to think we are employees of Fords as we've had their car for so long! Our situation is now the sales manager of the dealer and the service manager both agree there is a problem with our car and they admit that it doesn't match up to spec, however when we contacted Ford Direct Head Office they didn't want to know - their argument is that because their computer doesn't register a problem then there is nothing wrong with the car!! We told them it was them who made the car and they should sort it out - but sadly they don't want to know and at the moment the dealer doesn't seem to want to know either. This whole process is causing us sleepless nights and unnecessary worry as we and the dealers know there is a problem. I managed to catch a guy locally who parked his Econetic in a local supermarket carpark and he was delighted with his Econetic's performance - he said he achieves between 67 mpg to 75 mpg regularly and is overall extremely satisfied. We have only ever seen that other Econetic so I haven't had the chance to ask anyone else which is why I'm posting this. Can anyone offer us any advice or suggestions as to what we could do next to try to resolve this awful problem! We would like to know if other owners are getting good mpg and we just have a dud car or is it a general problem?

[grin factor]

Its a sad fact that quoted mpg in the brochure is never achievable in the real world. Having said that, only getting 50 is a bit low, and I guess that as the garage have had your car for so long now, they cant find anything amiss. If the car is new, I would expect the consumption to be down as the engine will still be tight, and it should go up as the car loosens up.
Tell Ford Direct you are going to contact Watchdog, or Topgear, you never konw, it may chivvy them up a bit.
Good luck getting it sorted

[Maria]

Its a sad fact that quoted mpg in the brochure is never achievable in the real world. Having said that, only getting 50 is a bit low, and I guess that as the garage have had your car for so long now, they cant find anything amiss. If the car is new, I would expect the consumption to be down as the engine will still be tight, and it should go up as the car loosens up.
Tell Ford Direct you are going to contact Watchdog, or Topgear, you never konw, it may chivvy them up a bit.
Good luck getting it sorted

Thanks for that info - we'll let you know how we get on!!!

[jon_wood]

Hi Maria,

I too have a Econetic which is now 10 months old and done nearly 20000 miles but like you the fuel consumption is nowhere near what is claimed for the vehicle. When I approached the dealer and complained they listened but weren't interested and suggested it too was my driving style. That annoyed me as on my previous 2 cars I regular and with ease achieved or slightly exceeded the claimed mpg so I know how to eek the most out of a car but not this one - impossible!. My best mpg is 64 but mostly 58-61 and when the claimed 76 mpg was the main reason for buying the car to say i am !Removed! off is an understatement especially with the attitude and service of the main dealer added in. I reackon this car has cost me around £330-410 in extra fuel this year (avg. price £1.10 per litre).

If you can let me know how you have got on recently as I would be interested to see if you have got closer to getting it resolved.

Jon

[poshpawsfiesta]

I agree too, that is very low mpg from an econetic, the standard 1.6 tdci engine in the foucus will do 58 mpg.
But we to had problems with its mpg when new we could only avarage 48 mpg on a 55 litre tank, but after its first service at 12500 miles the mpg *massivly* increased to an avarge of 56-58 mpg on a tank. but bearing in mind the foucus has a more powerful engine, wieghs alot more than a fiesta and has 205 wide alloys.
i remeber our old car a 2009 59 mk7 fiesta 1.4 tdci would do 63-65 mpg on a full 45 lire tank of deisel.
So basicly get the car back! bear with the mpg till 12500 miles, get it serviced and the engine should be propally worn in then aswell and if thinggs dont improve then,
Get as much proof and facts dates and times etc, in writing as possible signed by ford and go to citezens advise

[stephenrhys1955]

My econetic is 10 months old and has no where near got close the claimed consumption figures. I had a data recorder fitted by the dealer which was under my dash for a week. I was hoping it would give some insight into the problem so I agreed to it, but as I suspected when the e-mail came from Ford it was a total critique of my driving. It came in PDF format, all very slick and low and behold right in the middle of the report was an advert for the econetic range:

“The CO2 emissions on Ford Fiesta ECOnetic and Ford Focus ECOnetic are under 100g/km making them exempt from road tax and both return over 74mpg.”

What a silly place to put an advert !

It summarised with the news that if I changed my bad driving habits I could save 8% on my fuel consumption. Well over 14 trips to the fuel pump it has turned in an average of 59.6mpg. 59.6mpg + 8% = 64.4mpg that’s not 74mpg is it FMC.

[Amberes]

Its a sad fact that quoted mpg in the brochure is never achievable in the real world.

Sorry, this isn't true at all.

In fact, it IS possible to do better than advertised. But then again, you have to find pleasure and satifsfaction in driving very very economical wich takes a big effort.

It is indeed a matter of driving style.



This is part of a listing with fuel consumption of a german driver (as example of very very economical driving).

3.25 liters / 100 km. = 87 MPG.

It takes off the fun of driving as we used to do but it is possible.


http://www.spritmoni...tic&powerunit=2

click on a car and you'll get the results from new till now.


Never say never.

[yetiman]

my non eco 1.4 tdci 28,000 miles is getting a smidge under 55 mpg around town on 20-30 min journey. wasn't though until i put Forte advanced cleaner through it.

i and my dad (has a s max 2.0 tdci) notice diesels juicy when cold and on hills. has been coldest winter for ages so that could have a part to play. only real way to tell is take in a flat ish run keeping in rev range of max torque mine in 1750 ish as see what you get on the instant mpg read out once warmed up. i'd lay money on it being better then you getting and ford quoted are on rollers so dont simulate real world driving. don't know how many miles you done but tight engines may not loosen up till 10,000 plus miles especially diesels. Audi's used to have this problem

[Richi]

I have my Fiesta Econetic for more than 18 months and just a week ago had a second 25k mil service. They updated the ECU software and... nothing changed:
Date MPG L/100km 09-Jan 60.80 4.65 14-Jan 61.95 4.56 23-Jan 59.24 4.77 30-Jan 57.76 4.89 05-Feb 57.32 4.93 11-Feb 54.57 5.18 13-Feb 60.77 4.65 15-Feb 63.05 4.48 18-Feb 56.76 4.98 25-Feb 59.83
4.72

I have about 25 mil to work so doing about 50 a day and 200 over the weekend... everything Extra Urban.

I took my ford to TC Harrison in Derby last weekend. They checked the ECU Software and did 10mil test and said that everything is ok with my car. I quoted the official MPG and said that over 70MPG was the main reason I bought the car. They said that there is nothing they can do.

The 54MPG - was when I had a real fun with my car... but on daily basis I'm doing close to 60MPG... most of the time doing approx 50Mil/h avg.

Fair to say - manufactures are taking !Removed!. Have anyone of you read about Urban (U) and Extra Urban (EU) consumption. Cutting to the chase during U test the car is doing 12mil/h on something like 5 mil run (from cold)... and EU, the car is doing in average 39mil/h on approx 7 mil run.

Anyone doing 39 on a Motorway... yeah thought so. In fact Manufacturers are making us (customers) look like idiots.

Anyone have any good tips on how to safe fuel?

PS: Previously I had 1.4 Petrol Titanium - and It did more that U stats and much less than EU.

PS: I know I can pay about £250 to get my ECU remapped which should increase Economy by 10% at best.