It's a 1.4 petrol 2005 with a low low 24,000 miles. I sold my 2003 Zetec 1.4 petrol at 194,000 miles in October. He did well into 40 mpg never under 40 mpg for eight years. Now this "new" beast is doing 29 mpg on a bad day! It must be the 1980's since I had any vehicle that thirsty. I've got a list as have you all of the factors that could cause this - but is it the engine type? Am I stuffed because it's a Ghia? I don't want to tinker around or even worse pay a garage for the various fixes to no avail. The old car had a Duratec engine I think - any ideas why there is this Zetec to Ghia thirst-gap. Can I identify the engine if I take off the airfilter to see underneath? 😪

The Ghia trim level makes no difference to the MPG. I would think the car is in need of a good service, new air filter, new oil & filter and above all a full set of plugs. If it has only done 24000 miles I would think they were all short stop/start journeys. Maybe even think about putting a fuel cleaner additive in the tank.

The mk2 focus is a heavy lump, and the petrol engines were never great on fuel. Getting 30mpg "on a bad day" sounds pretty normal.

So its only trim, engine-wise the cars are roughly the same? I'll have to start replacing bits and hope its not the cat. Since he just passed my MOT last week I assume its nothing drastic.............

1 hour ago, fastrack1966 said:

So its only trim, engine-wise the cars are roughly the same? I'll have to start replacing bits and hope its not the cat. Since he just passed my MOT last week I assume its nothing drastic.............

Engine wise they're exactly the same.

Don't start replacing bits willy nilly when there's nothing wrong. Read my reply again where I say it's perfectly normal for a petrol.

Yes but I'm baffled why a 194,000 mile car does 10-15 mpg more than a 24,000 mile car. If the MOT part of gov.uk is reliable then the mileage is genuine 24,000

Are we talking about a 1.4 Fiesta or a Focus ?

At the risk of repeating myself do a basic service, change the filters and put some new plugs in. Stick a bit of fuel cleaning additive in the tank and then see how it goes.

After all you are talking about a (2005) 16 year old car that has done 1500 miles per year, the engine needs a good blast to clear the crap out of it.

My first Fiesta was a 2006 Ghia 1.4 and it regularly returned 40 mpg in and around Nottingham.

 

Regularly get over 40mpg with a 1.6 petrol in 2007 Fiesta and 2010 Fusion.