2010 Model 1.8 Petrol. Awful Fuel Consumption

[johnstitch]

Hi,

First post so hoping to get some advice...

I have recently bought a 2010 MY Focus 1.8. Petrol, Manual, 5 door. I use the car for work and do approx 6000 miles a year. I love the build quality, ride and space but the fuel economy is shocking for a modern car. I am averaging 20 -21 mpg around town which is nearly 9mpg below what the brochure states. I know test figures are done in controlled environments and are usually a tad higher than day to day use but not 35% out.

I went for a petrol engine as we have had Focus pool cars at work and they seem fine on fuel plus I don't do sufficient miles to make a diesel's extra costs worthwhile (or so I thought...).

Do any other owners find their Duratec 1.8s are thirsty? I have the car booked into the dealers next week and they have asked me to keep a table of mileage and trip comp readings from today 'til then....

[Maria]

Hi John

I sympathise with you! We bought our Fiesta Econetic 1.6 a year ago and it has been in the garage for 6 months of the year and to date we are still in a Ford courtesy car which we have had for the last 4 months!! We noticed very quickly our car didn't achieve the mpg that they advertise which I believe to be 60 - 80mpg, we only ever got around 50 mpg on short or long runs! We purchased the Econetic as we are high mileage users with our business and this particular model seemed to be the best. Fords are now saying because their computers cannot identify a problem then there is nothing wrong with the car! They said this after 8 of their own employees have driven the car on separate occasions carefully monitoring the fuel consumption and they all only achieved between 48 - 50 mpg on short or long runs too! The sales director and service director at the dealership both agree the car doesn't match up to the expected specificataion and yet nothing is being done about the car - when we last saw it, it was still sat in their car park. Good luck with your visit to the dealers and I only hope Fords are more helpful with you than they have been with us - I would like to know how you get on as we are at a loose end right now and don't know what to do next!

best wishes

Maria

[jeebowhite]

Surely on that basis you can claim a replacement vehicle? on the basis that the car is not as decribed, maybe even not fit for purpose? I would look into your rights and certainyl utilise them!

[hillmangimp]

Was the car bought brand new? if so let the engine run in before you judge fuel economy properly. 20-21 town mpg may not be too bad depending on the commute. I work 3 miles from my home and in the evening it takes up 30 mins to get home cos of stop start nose to tail traffic and I get 25-30 mpg from a 1.6 clio which is lighter and smaller than a Focus. If you get ok motorway mpg I woult not worry too much at this stage unless you are having other probs with the car.

[starfield]

Hi,

First post so hoping to get some advice...

I have recently bought a 2010 MY Focus 1.8. Petrol, Manual, 5 door. I use the car for work and do approx 6000 miles a year. I love the build quality, ride and space but the fuel economy is shocking for a modern car. I am averaging 20 -21 mpg around town which is nearly 9mpg below what the brochure states. I know test figures are done in controlled environments and are usually a tad higher than day to day use but not 35% out.

I went for a petrol engine as we have had Focus pool cars at work and they seem fine on fuel plus I don't do sufficient miles to make a diesel's extra costs worthwhile (or so I thought...).

Do any other owners find their Duratec 1.8s are thirsty? I have the car booked into the dealers next week and they have asked me to keep a table of mileage and trip comp readings from today 'til then....

i have got a mk2 of the same car, mine is 56 reg.

I average 25 mpg around town and 38 mpg combined.

I would say, it has a lot to do with your style of driving and also especially the petrol you put in it. I stopped using supermarket crap, car underperforms with very bad mpg, 20ish. I now use only Shell, the returns are better.

[johnstitch]

Think I'll try the Shell Option, must admit to using Tesco or Morrisons as my main fuel stations.

[valleyboy]

hi

we have a 57 reg 1.8 zetec, bought quite recently. the wife uses it for the commute and we were not at all happy with the MPG, 21-23 on short runs and only 27-28 on longer dual carriagways.

it pains to say it but there was a marked difference going form tesco fuel to Shell.

it happens to other manufacturers aswell, its modern engines for you!

again driving style pays in th elong run aswel, learning when to brake and use the gas etc, it sound silly but it does work.

i use wyns injector cleaner every couple of fill ups aswell, seems to help aswell but it could just be a placebo ;)

[artscot79]

hi

we have a 57 reg 1.8 zetec, bought quite recently. the wife uses it for the commute and we were not at all happy with the MPG, 21-23 on short runs and only 27-28 on longer dual carriagways.

it pains to say it but there was a marked difference going form tesco fuel to shell.

it happens to other manufacturers aswell, its modern engines for you!

again driving style pays in th elong run aswel, learning when to brake and use the gas etc, it sound silly but it does work.

i use wyns injector cleaner every couple of fill ups aswell, seems to help aswell but it could just be a placebo ;)

sorry folk but i have a mk1 1.8 zetec and dont get mpg like that dual carriageway is about 40 ish back road driving commute to work 10 miles at 60mph i get at least 35-38 mpg town driving at least 30-32 so summats wrong with youre car if its using that much fuel worst ive had is 29mpg

[jeebowhite]

I find every now and then its good to disconnect the battery for a half hour or so, that tends to reset the trip computer, and the ECU. I then find that when I start driving the MPG isnt the best, but then after a tank or two, my MPG increases above what it was before the reset! may just be pure luck, but I wont complain! it does the job, although after my last battery reset, I am on tank #2 and the MPG isnt as good as it was, so I think I will invest in some BP fuel for the next tank, and will take that out and see.

[Parko]

Hi , I have a 2010 Focus Zetec 1.8 Petrol . I average about 27 mpg around town. A recent motorway /"A" road trip of 120 miles returned 37 mpg , that was traveling 70-80 mph most of the way. I think your "around town" mpg largely depends on how much time you spend standing still at traffic lights etc . My "around town" traveling does not entail lots of standing still , but if I were to spend a lot of time driving around Liverpool city centre and surrounding area , where you can't drive more than 500 yards without stopping , I think my mpg would be a lot less. I use supermarket fuel but in light of this thread I might try some Shell to see if it makes a difference !

[starfield]

Just another observation:

I recently filled up with Shell V-Power and I managed to get 427 miles out of the tank. I admit to driving a bit with the fuel light on (probably, 20 miles). This is a combined driving, the trip computer before reset says 26 mph. All in all the average consumption with V-Power was a decent 39.3 mpg. The tank was filled before the recent price hike and overall it returned £0.15 per mile.

It pays to put decent juice in the tank.

[artscot79]

Just another observation:

I recently filled up with Shell V-Power and I managed to get 427 miles out of the tank. I admit to driving a bit with the fuel light on (probably, 20 miles). This is a combined driving, the trip computer before reset says 26 mph. All in all the average consumption with V-Power was a decent 39.3 mpg. The tank was filled before the recent price hike and overall it returned £0.15 per mile.

It pays to put decent juice in the tank.

youre wasting cash v power does nothing in non turbo high performance engines standard Shell unleaded wil do the same job for less money

[Wizz]

I've done 11,000 miles in my 59plate Zetec S 1800.

My consumption has been from 27-32mpg throughout it's life.

The average rises considerably after a few long motorway journeys.

[johnstitch]

It's going into Arnold Clark this Friday. Driving as gently as poss round town today and sitting on a shocking 20.9 mpg. I used to own a 150bhp Primera GT and that was better round town than the Focus!

[starfield]

youre wasting cash v power does nothing in non turbo high performance engines standard shell unleaded wil do the same job for less money

this is not what the data i have been collecting shows. generally i get better mileage with V-Power.

[starfield]

It's going into Arnold Clark this Friday. Driving as gently as poss round town today and sitting on a shocking 20.9 mpg. I used to own a 150bhp Primera GT and that was better round town than the Focus!

let us know how it goes

[greggp]

Just a thought - but if its going into a dealer - get them to check the vehicle computer fuel parameter settings. my fuel consumption was considerably low so I took it in to Ford for them to look and they told me the computer was set with the incorrecttyre size setting to what was fitted to the vehicle. I have the sportspack 18" alloys on my model. they changed the setting and I Noticed a difference in comsumption immediately. However it is still generally poor around town - approx 27-30 mpg - motorway driving 35-40 mpg.

[Apex]

20 to 30 mpg around town is bout right for a 1.8 petrol engine.