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Driving habits sure can put the chomp on fuel. So can basic maint.
I know of a golden mile (mall row) where traffic lights are spaced 1/2 mile apart for many lights. The local habit is to get to 70 MPH in this 45 MPH zone. Everyone of those drivers are wasting fuel to run up to 70 and then brake sharply for the next red light.
Well if she's like a lot of the chicks I know, it's probably due to her jackrabbit starts and then slamming the brakes 50 feet away from the red light. And at least 2 of her tires are at 22 psi.
Really, most chicks are clueless with car maintenance, and the young ones drive like maniacs. 14 mpg is normal
BTW a few months ago I went out with a female friend. I immediately noticed an underinflated tire on her car. I checked it with a tire guage: 14 psi!! I told her you must immediately inflate this because it's dangerously low and she said OK I will. A week later I saw her again and the tire was the same.
I didn't read all the responses so please forgive me if this is already been mentioned...but a bad O2 sensor can cause bad gas mileage.
I had a small truck once that usually got 19-20 mpg putting around town. O2 sensor went bad which then told the ECM it saw a lean condition and to dump more fuel in the engine. My mpg went down to 12-13 mpg.
Of course it went back to 19-20 mpg once I replaced the defective O2 sensor.
I have a 2004 Focus with a 2.0 ztech. I was experiencing poor gas mileage. The engine ran fine but had a rough idle. I bench test the coil and found the resistances was high on the 1st bank of terminals. I changed out the coil. She runs great now. 30 mpg.
List goes on but, perhaps some easy, routine maintenance, some fuel conditioners, might do the trick. Sound awful at 15mpg as you claim but, then again, does she drive in bumper to bumper traffic for the entire trip?
I drive a mix and my 99 Camry, which I take impeccable care of mechanically, only gets 21-24mpg. 1/2 of the trip is a country road doing 45-50 with a few stops. I go through a township on each end. Total? 25 miles each way. 1 hour.
Still, that focus should be doing roughly what I do if given a chance...what's the route like? How many lights/stops?
1. Are the tires inflated to the correct pressure?
2. Is the air filter clean?
3. When was the last tune-up?
4. Put some BG 44K in the fuel tank. It will remove carbon build-up.
No one considers that she may have a new boyfriend that lives 35 miles away that the OP doesn't know about?
You re bad bro. But that was a good one.
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