Really Bad Mpg 1.25 Mk7 Cant Hit 40Mpg

[hula89]

I have an 09 mk7 1.25 (82) Style - See pics below/avatar.

I am currently getting a maximum of 38mpg and as low as 30mpg on one particular tank of fuel.

My miles are, apart from approx 1.2 miles a day (30mph in 5th gear town trip to and from the Girlfriend's), motorway miles sat behind lorries at approx 56mph. Now I don't expect to get near my old 107 (about 62mpg on the same run) but I expected to at least be getting above 40!! In my 206 (which should be less economical!!!) used to get over 40mpg and that would be doing the same journies except I was inexperienced (was my first car) and I used to be doing around 70mph on the motorway. Is there something wrong with my car? Should I go to the garage? Its only an 09 plate so has plenty of warranty left.

What are peoples typical MPG in this car? I know at least one friend (and she doesnt exactly drive like I do!) and she managed around 45mpg on her motorway journies to University.

[irononreverse]

If I've reset my mpg after refuelling, sitting behind a lorry at 50-60mph will tend to get me around 45-50mpg. Managed to get it above 53 when on premium unleaded.

Have you reset your MPG meter? Driving around town, I will get about 38mpg.

[hula89]

If I've reset my mpg after refuelling, sitting behind a lorry at 50-60mph will tend to get me around 45-50mpg. Managed to get it above 53 when on premium unleaded.

Have you reset your MPG meter? Driving around town, I will get about 38mpg.

Well its not the MPG meter I'm going off as I dont have 1. I have to take the mileage and fuel costs and work it out from that and the highest so far is something like 38.7 or similar. I know my mate has the exact same car and shes getting 40-45 doing 70 on the motorway so something must be wrong right? I just don't know what to even ask where they cant just say "its driving style"

Does anyone know if bearings play a part? I have a steering wheel wobble and its been in once and its still there and the garage (as in Ford Main Dealer) are claiming theres nothing mechanically wrong and just re-did the balancing and tyre pressures but still I have the steering wheel wobble and I think its either the bearings or the track rod ends maybe the CV joint but none of these should really go at 24,500 miles.

I will be very annoyed if there is something wrong as I had to wait over a week for the car while they did all their "necessary pre-delivery checks" to make sure I got a car that was "showroom condition".

[MRC89]

have you seen this thread? Although it's not engine size specific it might be worth a read through.

I'd suggest that something isn't right, my 1.6 petrol get's around 45-55 MPG at 70ish

I'd think at lorry speeds with them breaking the wind for you also, you should be well into the 50's.

Take it to Ford and tell them you're not happy, see what they say. You're never going to hit the official MPG figures but you should be able to get within ~10 MPG when you try

[iNath]

They may be a software update available for your car - could also get an Econocheck done for around £12 to prove it's not your driving style to help back you up when you go back to dealer.

[grin factor]

I'm always quite amused at MPG figures. You would think that with "technology" being so advanced it would be much better than it actually is. I've had numerous cars in the past, including a Rover 75 1.8T which was returning 39 on a run & 34 around town. For a big heavy car it was good. My 1.25 gives around 43 which is only ok in my book as I don't drive it hard.

It does sound like you should be getting more than you are, so good luck with the garage

[hula89]

Ok so it's booked in for 9am tomorrow. The guy on the phone even admitted that it was silly that its not hitting at least 45 never mind 40 driving how I am on the motorway. I told him about the steering wheel rattle that I've had that the garage said was ok before and there was "no mechanical issues" and he said that if there was nothing wrong it wouldnt wobble. I threw in that the door card rattles too for good measure just so they know. I am not impressed i've wanted this car since it was first shown at a motor show as the "verve". So I am a bit gutted that its been so poor so far. I have only ever heard good things about Ford reliability in the past so to have problems this soon is a little disconcerting.

Also does anyone elses MP3 CD player skip for a bit then seem to get used to the disk and be ok? ha

[Bashful]

I never got above 40mpg in my 1.25. Usually did town driving and was always around 30. Got above that on out of town drives. My 1.6 is more economical than the 1.25

[cyb]

Does anyone know if bearings play a part? I have a steering wheel wobble and its been in once and its still there and the garage (as in Ford Main Dealer) are claiming theres nothing mechanically wrong and just re-did the balancing and tyre pressures but still I have the steering wheel wobble and I think its either the bearings or the track rod ends maybe the CV joint but none of these should really go at 24,500 miles.

can't say I like the sound of that and personally I think I would try another Ford dealer, ask them to take the car (with you in it) for a test drive and see what they make of the 'wobble'

[yozzerhughes]

I got rid of a matiz i was given to get my fiesta (82) 1.25 and when i fill up now its roughly £10 extra a time, i also dont have that trip meter. i found with the stereo if you make your own mp3 discs you have too have a certain brand or they skip. Have you had the volume go up or down on its own occasionally.

[hula89]

can't say I like the sound of that and personally I think I would try another Ford dealer, ask them to take the car (with you in it) for a test drive and see what they make of the 'wobble'

He did take me for a drive and he claimed it was just balancing and they "perfected" the balancing and its still there. I'm sure I wont find many that say their steering wheel wobbles on the motorway so I dont think its just how the car drives.

I got rid of a matiz i was given to get my fiesta (82) 1.25 and when i fill up now its roughly £10 extra a time, i also dont have that trip meter. i found with the stereo if you make your own mp3 discs you have too have a certain brand or they skip. Have you had the volume go up or down on its own occasionally.

I thought it might be that. Which brand do you use? And I have had the volume go up and down on its own but only through the aux if the thing feeding it is set to too high a volume. I think thats possibly a speaker protection device or something like that.

[HA06ZZA]

Mines shocking

[chrsmi]

person with the matiz, the extra cost is due to the Fiesta's bigger tank..

[grin factor]

person with the matiz, the extra cost is due to the Fiesta's bigger tank..

Dont think tank size comes into it here. It costs him £10 more each time he fills up, so the car is using that much more petrol

[antman99]

Those who say "my car doesn't do as good anymore i put the same £10 in" don't seem to grasp that £10 is not linked to litres back last year maybe 12 litres now a days thats 8 so nearly a gallon less so if you are doing 40mpg thats nearly 40 miles less out of your tenner.

Iv been through a 1.25, 1.4 and 1.6tdci all fords. The 1.4 done much better than the 1.25 simply because you have to work it more to get to the m-way speeds and it revs higher at those speeds than a bigger engine.

In my mk6.5 I got around 40mpg in the 1.25 and 43 in the 1.4 on the same style roads.

Just for reference my first ever fiesta 1.25 MK5 was getting and still is easily 50mpg and thats on very short trips.

of course nothing beats the current 1.6tdci which I achieved 69mpg last tank.

Iv posted before but if anyone wants to use it I have a simple MPG calculator at www.alloyditservices.co.uk/MPGCalc

Ant

[hula89]

So its been the garage and I went to work last night and the needle appears to have moved less than normal but I can't really say until I get to the fuel light and can reset and go again (don't have a proper trip computer so need to work off miles between refills and do the sums.)

However the steering wheel wobble and vibration from the door card are still there (he told me he'd fixed this but he hasn't even had the door card off as the cardboard that I lodged in to stop the noise is still there!!!.)

As for the steering wheel wobble they are claiming its because my front tyres are winter tyres and thats why it wobbles but I looked them up and not only are they actually summer tyres like the back ones but I find it highly unlikely this is the cause of a steering wheel wobble. They claim to have re-done the balancing again but I think they've found something pricey and want me to give up until it goes completely when I have no warranty.

I'm not sure where I stand but these faults have been on the car since I picked it up and I took it in the day after straight after the first time I went on the motorway; so does anyone know my rights? I don't want to get rid of the car but I feel that if I threaten to if I have the right to then it may scare them into actually getting their acts together and sorting it. I am gutted at the minute as, like I said earlier, the Fiesta is the only car I've actually wanted for the past 3 years. (you know within reason I'd like an Aston Martin too but realistically! haha)

[blade]

What have they done to the engine? new software maybe,or something else?

[mark t]

Coz I'm a numpty and instead of coming back here, I closed Chrome down, I'll start again!

As I've said before, the basic weight with out engine is the same, the engines will weigh a bit more dependant on engine size, so a 1.25 is going to take more effort to get the car moving than a 1.6 would.

Also just getting the car you will have to get used to how it drives, I've had mine since Jam 13th and have filled it 22 (23) times.

Fist tank gave me 29.95, latest 35.98, but I usually don't drive far, and as little as possible really.

My highest mpg is 38.54 with a longish run at the start, but the last 2 back to backs to London and return from, gave me 38.54 down, and 35.98 back and few days after.

Average is 35.1795 up a little from the 35.1414 before.

You don't have average mpg, but I always find resetting this on the fly helps, then you get it high, and it stays there for longer.

I did this on the current tank, and for the first half to work and back it was between 42 and 44 for the first time ever, but having to go to the post office round town for a parcel killed it, and at present it's on 41.1, but at one point tonight 41.3 (anyone else find it sometimes goes up in odd 2's? 41.1-41.3?)

Resetting it on the go can give odd results too, I briefly had it few a couple of minutes at 64.4, although it soon went down!

Btw, I always work it out from miles to litres

[hula89]

What have they done to the engine? new software maybe,or something else?

Supposedly yes. Lets hope they got at least this bit right and I dont now break down to add insult to injury.

[Fiesta Studio]

I've got a 2011 1.25 (82PS) Fiesta. I've done about 5000 miles since it was new, and put all fuel purchases into a spreadsheet. The average fuel consumption since new is 50.5mpg, based on the petrol station pumps and the odometer. I probably drive more slowly than most people though.

Most of these miles were done in warm weather. I suspect the fuel consumption may worsen during the winter.

[hula89]

I've got a 2011 1.25 (82PS) Fiesta. I've done about 5000 miles since it was new, and put all fuel purchases into a spreadsheet. The average fuel consumption since new is 50.5mpg, based on the petrol station pumps and the odometer. I probably drive more slowly than most people though.

Most of these miles were done in warm weather. I suspect the fuel consumption may worsen during the winter.

Thats how I do it. And I drive at 50-odd mph behind lorries as I have always tried to save fuel even when I had my 107 that I could have driven at 80 and still got about 46mpg I drove it behind lorries.

[yozzerhughes]

He did take me for a drive and he claimed it was just balancing and they "perfected" the balancing and its still there. I'm sure I wont find many that say their steering wheel wobbles on the motorway so I dont think its just how the car drives.

I thought it might be that. Which brand do you use? And I have had the volume go up and down on its own but only through the aux if the thing feeding it is set to too high a volume. I think thats possibly a speaker protection device or something like that.

I use maxell cd-r 80's for mp3's stops any skipping.

Mick

[hula89]

Ok forgot about this thread in the whole anger of it all.

When I got to back I noticed that there were no fingerprints visible where they could have taken the wheels off as well as, get this, a cable tie that had been on one wheel and one wheel only (not sure as to why but I didnt see the point taking it off) was still on the wheel keeping the wheel trim on. This meant that they had spent the whole day with my car checking why my wheel might wobble and done absolutely nothing whatsoever as they hadnt even removed the wheel!!

So I am now in the process of rejecting and returning the car as I am simply not happy any longer and, even if they did manage to fix it, I wouldn't want it as it has been ruined for me now.

Not sure what I am going to get there wasnt anything I liked nearly as much but I aint buying another fiesta now. I don't think I could be happy. I just hope I get my money back. At least it was a genuine Ford owned dealer that has ruined fords for me and not some used car garage. Theyve done it themselves.

I also forgot to mention that in my test drive they wouldnt let me on the motorway as they "couldn't put more fuel in and it will run out of fuel if I go on the motorway." I never thought it through at the time but alarm bells should have rang there and then but I liked the car too much to think about it. Im gutted tbh but what can I do?

They want to send a mechanic out with me (btw they did this the first two times too) so that he can try and find what it is but tbh why should I let them if theyre only going to pretend they cant feel themselves shaking about pretend they cant feel the steering wheel shaking out of their hands and pretend they cant hear the humming thats consistent with wheel bearing failure? I cant be bothered letting them lie to me again. I will let you all know how it goes. I hope I'm not stuck with it I am completely unhappy with it now the car has been spoiled for me.

[PumpkinSteve]

Sorry to hear about the hassle you've had :( I had this kind of trouble with a car I bought.

As you've said yourself, when things like this happen it totally ruins the car for you, even if you got everything repaired the experience of owning it would be tarnished. In my case I just traded the car in, trying to get the garage to accept faults and repair them was so much of an uphill struggle it was ridiculous.

[hula89]

Sorry to hear about the hassle you've had :( I had this kind of trouble with a car I bought.

As you've said yourself, when things like this happen it totally ruins the car for you, even if you got everything repaired the experience of owning it would be tarnished. In my case I just traded the car in, trying to get the garage to accept faults and repair them was so much of an uphill struggle it was ridiculous.

And sadly thats all ahead of me. I just wish it was behind me. Ive never wanted a car out of my life as much as this before.

An addition I think there may actually be a steering rack fault after all (would explain them trying to avoid fixing something pricey!!) I was accelerating to overtake a lorry on the motorway last night when the car suddenly pulled to the left. I felt the esp or whatever its called in the fiestas brake to correct it but it was nearly too late as it did it just as I was about to pull past the lorry and I missed it by less than a foot and went on the hard shoulder where it straightened up. This car is a death trap and I no longer feel safe driving it.