03 Accent LOUSY fuel economy

  • Thread starter Thread starter Don Holton
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Don Holton

Have an 03 Accent automatic 2 dr, had it since new and it just turned
42,000 miles and the best fuel economy I can get out of it is 30 mpg
more like 28 on a regular basis and this is not acceptable to me, Any
ideas-tricks what ever to get this thing to drink less!
 
Have an 03 Accent automatic 2 dr, had it since new and it just turned
42,000 miles and the best fuel economy I can get out of it is 30 mpg
more like 28 on a regular basis and this is not acceptable to me, Any
ideas-tricks what ever to get this thing to drink less!
Click to expand...

go buy a honda and figure out how much you save after adding in the
price differential.

;-)
 
Jody said:
how heavy is your foot?
maybye you have a bad o2 sensore or somthing
Click to expand...

I run 65 mph on highway except when I go through the nightmare town of
"Ithaca" as far as the Honda comment hmmmm Id' rater my Festiva! As of
now I would not buy another Hyundai! As far as the fuel economy goes my
88 Thunderbird Sport 302 got just about what I get now at 26-28 on the
highway so this car has been a big let down!
 
Don Holton said:
Have an 03 Accent automatic 2 dr, had it since new and it just turned
42,000 miles and the best fuel economy I can get out of it is 30 mpg
more like 28 on a regular basis and this is not acceptable to me, Any
ideas-tricks what ever to get this thing to drink less!
Click to expand...

do you run the A/C constantly, obese, or a combination of the two?
 
Paradox said:
do you run the A/C constantly, obese, or a combination of the two?
Click to expand...

ah lets see this is Upstete NY so no the AC is not an issue, Obese well
I guess weighing almost 600 lbs I would not have thunk that to be the
problem lol but really I guess if I want I will just put the Festiva
back on the road and sell this thing off!
 
I have an 03 Accent with a manual transmission. During the winter I
get about 30-32. In summer, it's closer to 35. My best was 38 during
a day of highway driving. Other than trying to hold my max speed down
to 70, I don't do anything special.
 
I had a 2003 Accent w automatic. Bought it new. Bargain. Usually got
29mpg, day in and day out driving around northern Indiana. After I moved
to Cambridge, Mass, the mileage dropped to 19mpg. Also day in and day
out.

Irrelevant comment: I loved that car. Good basic transport; good cd
player; comfortable; acceptable handling; braking and acceleration.

Alas, no cache.

My daughter has it now. I replaced it with a bimmer.
 
Don said:
Have an 03 Accent automatic 2 dr, had it since new and it just turned
42,000 miles and the best fuel economy I can get out of it is 30 mpg
more like 28 on a regular basis and this is not acceptable to me, Any
ideas-tricks what ever to get this thing to drink less!
Click to expand...

Has it always been this way, or is this something new?

When was the last time you replaced the plugs, wires and air filter?

What are the tire pressures? Although the factory specs equal pressure
front and rear, you'll get better fuel economy and more even tire wear
if you run more pressure in the front, where most of the weight is. For
an Accent, I'd try 34/30, front/rear.

What are you using for oil? Synthetics help increase fuel mileage,
particularly in winter. In your area, 5W-30 should be fine year round,
either natural or synthetic. Heavier oils cost you fuel mileage without
protecting any better.

Driving habits are the single biggest factor in fuel economy. If none of
the above maintenance items help, the problem is most likely you, not
the car. Simple things like starting smoothly and anticipating stops so
you can coast up to them make a big difference. Shut off the engine when
you're waiting at lights or the ATM or any other time you'll be sitting
still for a significant period of time. Use the cruise control whenever
possible.

You say you're keeping your speed down to 65 on the highway, which is
good, but how do you handle the traffic jams you elude to? If you try to
force the pace with constant accelleration and braking, your mileage
will suffer badly. Adopting a more Zen attitude can really help, but it
can be challenging to do so.

FWIW, my experience has been that automatics often have a hard time
reaching their EPA numbers in the real world, but manual transmission
cars often exceed them. My Elantra GT 5 speed exceeds the mileage you're
getting by a pretty large margin (35-37 highway @65 mph, 32-34 mpg
combined)and it's a significantly larger car.

Have you taken the car on any long highway drives? If so, what
did you get for mileage?
 
Brian Nystrom said:
Has it always been this way, or is this something new?

When was the last time you replaced the plugs, wires and air filter?

What are the tire pressures? Although the factory specs equal pressure
front and rear, you'll get better fuel economy and more even tire wear
if you run more pressure in the front, where most of the weight is. For
an Accent, I'd try 34/30, front/rear.

What are you using for oil? Synthetics help increase fuel mileage,
particularly in winter. In your area, 5W-30 should be fine year round,
either natural or synthetic. Heavier oils cost you fuel mileage without
protecting any better.

Driving habits are the single biggest factor in fuel economy. If none of
the above maintenance items help, the problem is most likely you, not
the car. Simple things like starting smoothly and anticipating stops so
you can coast up to them make a big difference. Shut off the engine when
you're waiting at lights or the ATM or any other time you'll be sitting
still for a significant period of time. Use the cruise control whenever
possible.

You say you're keeping your speed down to 65 on the highway, which is
good, but how do you handle the traffic jams you elude to? If you try to
force the pace with constant accelleration and braking, your mileage
will suffer badly. Adopting a more Zen attitude can really help, but it
can be challenging to do so.

FWIW, my experience has been that automatics often have a hard time
reaching their EPA numbers in the real world, but manual transmission
cars often exceed them. My Elantra GT 5 speed exceeds the mileage you're
getting by a pretty large margin (35-37 highway @65 mph, 32-34 mpg
combined)and it's a significantly larger car.

Have you taken the car on any long highway drives? If so, what
did you get for
Click to expand...

Hmmmmmmm lets see, fuel economy has always sucked! Thought it would get
better when it broke in but alas it is the same as day one! Run 35 lbs
front and 32 rear on 4 recent Green Diamond tires (yep it is upstate
NY). Oil changed every 3,000 miles regular 5W-30 product not synthetic!
Cleaned and re-gapped plugs at 10,000, 20,000 miles when I put platinum
plugs in at 30,0000 miles, cleaned and re-gaped at 40,000 and cleaned
(130 lbs air blown through) air filter or replaced regular air filters
as needed till I put a K&N Filter in at 35,000 all with NO change. Ah
the crummy town of Ithaca is a 30 mph 5 mile stretch of road during the
60 mile trip I dirve one way to work daily. Town has no less than 16
redlights to slow ones forward progression. Usually there is no way to
jack rabbit start as there are cars in front and next to you so that
does not seem to be the issue. I have even taken to coasting down any
and all hills in a hope that will help the fuel economy situation no
change. As far as long highway drives Yes and it is in the 30-31 range
tops at 75!

Not knowing anything about these cars (Ford Service Manager for 3 years)
I figured someone on this list might just be able to help out here and
that there would be some trick to making this thing less of a pig than
it is but alas I see that is not the case as most automatic cars are
getting the same mileage. To bad was not thrilled with it from day one
still am not thrilled with it 18 months and 40,000 miles later! Anyone
interested in a very well taken care of 03 Accent 3 dr with 42,000 miles
of maintained car and 17,500 miles of warranty left feel free to contact
me!

Thanks for all the help!
 
Don: Do follow the suggestion above re air filter and sparkplugs. I
have a 2000 Accent with the 1.5 litre engine and 5 speed trans. and
get 41-42 mpg (US gallon) doing about 60 mph.
I have followed manufacturers recommendations re filter and plug
changes. I know there was a decrease in mpg when Hyundai switched to
the 1.6 litre but you should be getting better mpg than you are.
Bob
 
festivas were great lil kias, ford should never had stopped selling them...
you obviousely have soemthing wrong with your car, its still under warranty
so bring it in..
we average abot 500 kms to a tank..
thats in town driving.
 
Well, it seems that you're doing everything right, so I don't have much
else to offer. Since I know that the 5 speed cars get good mileage, I
would wonder if there may be a transmission issue. Perhaps you're
getting excessive slippage? If it was like that from the beginning,
perhaps it would be easy to overlook it. Since you've done everything
else in terms of maintenance, I hesitate to ask, but have you changed
the tranny fluid? I don't know if there are any adjustments that can be
made other than re-programming, but perhaps there's something that can
be done in that regard.
 
Brian Nystrom said:
Well, it seems that you're doing everything right, so I don't have much
else to offer. Since I know that the 5 speed cars get good mileage, I
would wonder if there may be a transmission issue. Perhaps you're
getting excessive slippage? If it was like that from the beginning,
perhaps it would be easy to overlook it. Since you've done everything
else in terms of maintenance, I hesitate to ask, but have you changed
the tranny fluid? I don't know if there are any adjustments that can be
made other than re-programming, but perhaps there's something that can
be done in that regard.
Click to expand...

Brian

Thanks, actually the Tranny started acting up at around 30,000 miles
slamming into gear bout snap your neck when it was cold. With the
approval system for Hyundai being what it is,it took the dealer till
40,000 when the tranny got to the point until it finally died and a
reman tranny was finally approved by Hyundai. I have had the car to the
dealership numerous times on the fuel economy issue but there is nothing
that shows up as out of the ordinary. Guess this is a hopeless issue
trying to improve on something that designed not to be fixed!
 
Don Holton said:
Brian

Thanks, actually the Tranny started acting up at around 30,000 miles
slamming into gear bout snap your neck when it was cold. With the
approval system for Hyundai being what it is,it took the dealer till
40,000 when the tranny got to the point until it finally died and a
reman tranny was finally approved by Hyundai. I have had the car to the
dealership numerous times on the fuel economy issue but there is nothing
that shows up as out of the ordinary. Guess this is a hopeless issue
trying to improve on something that designed not to be fixed!
Click to expand...
==
I have a '94 Accent % speed. I don't drive more than 30 miles on a trip and
I get 46 in the summer and 40 in the winter. That's Imperial gallons BTW. a
little bigger than the small American gallons.
Geoff.
 
<<the best fuel economy I can get out of it is 30 mpg more like 28 on a
regular basis>>

They only claim 26 / 35 for the 2005 on their website, so you are not
that far off.

John Cowart
 
bo peep said:
<<the best fuel economy I can get out of it is 30 mpg more like 28 on a
regular basis>>

They only claim 26 / 35 for the 2005 on their website, so you are not
that far off.

John Cowart
Click to expand...
--\Are we talking Imperial gallons or the smaller US gallon?
Geoff.
 
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