Poor gas mileage

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I just took a trip to Vegas from the LA area. I drove in my fathers 02 PT Cruiser. His car was almost on empty when we arrived in Vegas. The trip was only 255 miles one way. When we filled up, the car averaged only 23mpg. The PT should be getting in the low 30's on the highway. I buy either Regane or Lucas injector cleaner every six months for my parents cars.

I got my mother to use Tier 1 stations only. I still can't convince my cheap skate father to use them. He only goes to Arco, or Valero to save $.02 a gallon.
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My father only drives his car maybe twice a week, and this is around town only. So I was thinking between the cheap gas, and short trips. The injectors are probably really clogged.

So what do you guys think I should buy to help the problem. I told him to stop going to those stations. I will be buying some Redline Fuel System Cleaner before I head back home.
 
I think those Cruisers are just bad on gas. My parents have one and my dad hates it because of how poor the gas mileage is. He was used to the good gas mileage they got with their previous '00 Buick Park Ave. with the GM 3800 engine.

There's only so much you can do for your parents in a situation like this...
 
I checked all the fluids and tire pressure before the trip. Everything was Ok.
 
I just looked up an 06 Cruiser on Edmunds and the non-turbo with auto trans is only rated 21 mpg city and 26 mpg highway.


As Clem said, check the tires first. Then maybe check the air filter and be done with it.

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The comment from mshu7 is correct, PT Cruisers are
just bad for gas consumption. If you do some
searching you may find the mileage you're getting
is typical. (Highest I've heard of is 25 m.p.g.)
 
23 mpg seems very low. Is there any chance that your transmission may have not have been engaged in the highest gear. What rpm are you reading on your tachometer at ~ 80 mph?
 
I did some checking around. The 02 2.4L auto only gets 19 city/25 highway. This is really bad for a four banger. No wonder the big three can't compete with the Japanese. The 2.4L in the TSX gets 21/30 mpg. The Nissan 2.5L even gets 23/28 mpg.
 
Quote:


The 02 2.4L auto only gets 19 city/25 highway. This is really bad for a four banger. No wonder the big three can't compete with the Japanese.




And this is exactly why I bought a Mazda 3i. The US cars get worse mileage and in some cases they are MORE expensive than their Japanese counterparts.
 
1.) What speed were you travelling and what were the engine rpms at cruise.

2.) Check your brakes for a hanging caliper or an emergency brake not releasing.

3.) Get some Redline SI-1 Complete Fuel system cleaner and dump a whole bottle in with your next fill and drive it. You WILL see a difference.

4.) How many miles on it and has a tunup been done lately?

5.) Is the check engine light on?
 
I have a 2004 turbo Cruiser. Gets 19 to low 20's even without foot in it. These guys were built for looks and not gas mileage. Also, winter gas formulas generally suck causing worse mileage. The other great thing about these cars is the low front end. Just let my kid drive it and he ran the front end up over the parking curb, tore it up, cost my 1000 big ones to fix it. Ya gotta love it!
 
Now there is an informative post.
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The Neon is a very good car for the money and handles extremely well.
 
The Neo Neon gets about the same as a ford ranger which is about the same weight and frontal area. Its neither light nor aerodynamic.
 
You mean the Dodge Caliber?

It gets better economy than a Ranger so don't try to pawn off that idea.
 
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