Why am I constantly at the gas station?

[Nance]

I own a Aveo LS Hatchback. I bought it brand new in 2007, I have always kept up on the maintenance and it has 51,000 miles on it. I am extremely frustrated with it because I have to put gas in it so often. So is there anyone out there that can explain to me why this car doesn't get good gas mileage? It really isn't very efficient if I am putting $40 of gas in it a week and I am not even leaving town...

Thanks for any replies to this matter

Nance

[Lola]

Aveo's have small gas tanks.

Push the Trip Mile reset Button next time you fill up. If you scratch about 250 miles for a full 10 gal refill for city drivin your fine.

[petrified.rabbit]

I agree with Lola 100%. How often you fill up when you don't know how far you are going actually has nothing to do with mpg.

But 7 years of ownership with a consistent steady driving comes to about 140 miles per week. If you are sitting in traffic, driving only in city, and re letting it warm up through winter, you might be getting a little less mpg than you should. But if you go on vacation even once a year for a week, you would be getting over 20mpg. which with heave city only driving is about normal.

I am also betting you have an automatic, so you probably are not locking the convertor in each gear based on the speed you are driving, there are threads about how this robs fuel.

[Nance]

I agree with Lola 100%. How often you fill up when you don't know how far you are going actually has nothing to do with mpg.

But 7 years of ownership with a consistent steady driving comes to about 140 miles per week. If you are sitting in traffic, driving only in city, and re letting it warm up through winter, you might be getting a little less mpg than you should. But if you go on vacation even once a year for a week, you would be getting over 20mpg. which with heave city only driving is about normal.

I am also betting you have an automatic, so you probably are not locking the convertor in each gear based on the speed you are driving, there are threads about how this robs fuel.

Thanks for your replies... yes I do have an automatic and I am not sure what "locking the convertor in each gear' means.. and I swear that when I have been on empty and fill the tank up completely.. I have never seen 10 gallons on my receipt when I purchase gas, the most I have ever seen when filling up on empty is 7 gallons or so...

[petrified.rabbit]

Well empty might mean your gauge is off slightly.. if your putting in seven gallons a week and going @ 140 miles, your getting at least 20 mpg. But you need to do more research with the odometer, explain your driving habits, etc.

[Thymeclock]

Thanks for your replies... yes I do have an automatic and I am not sure what "locking the convertor in each gear' means.. and I swear that when I have been on empty and fill the tank up completely.. I have never seen 10 gallons on my receipt when I purchase gas, the most I have ever seen when filling up on empty is 7 gallons or so...

Rabbit is right - but there is no way "you" can lock up the torque converter on your automatic. It happens (automatically) only when you reach 45 MPH, when the transmission is in highest gear. Below that speed, the best you will get is about 22-24 MPG - no matter what you do.

The fuel gauge and the warning light are rather conservatively set, such that you may think you are running out of gas before you actually are. When the warning light comes on, you have at least 1-2 gallons left in the tank, which holds about 12 gallons. Even if you have only 1 gallon left, you can still go at least another 20 miles in which to find a gas station.

So don't panic. Wait a bit longer before you refuel.

[JPD]

Why doesn't the Aveo get good gas mileage? I can't believe you've had the same car since 2007 - haven't you thought about trading it in?
I've got the 2010 Aveo sedan, I've put 22,000 miles on it. Here in Thailand it's sold with a 1.4 litre engine and I have a stick-shift. I've averaged only 32mpg, so even with a smaller engine and manual transmission it's not an efficient car.
In order to understand why the Aveo doesn't get good gas mileage it's helpful to look at a similarly-sized car that does. The new Nissan Almera is a sedan about the same size as the Aveo sedan, even with auto transmission it gets 47mpg.

Here are the reasons:
Aerodynamics; the Almera was designed to have a lower drag coefficient; note how the wing mirrors are smaller, they even did away with mudflaps on the Almera to reduce drag. The rear of the Almera tapers off like a boat; the most aerodynamic shape.
Engine: The Nissan achieves 47mpg with a 3-cylinder 79bhp 1.2l engine. The Aveo has a 1.4l 4-cylinder engine that gets only 94bhp.
Transmission: Compared with the Aveo's auto transmission that shifts too soon, the Almera has a CVT transmission.
Other: the Almera also comes with low-rolling resistance tires, a much lighter chassis and idle-stop technology to cut the engine at the lights.

[Nemasys]

I bought my Aveo brand new in 2004, and I never had good mileage with it, a fillup would yield between 350-400 kms (217-248 miles) on a 50 dollar fillup. It didn't matter if I babied it or drove it harder, most of it was city driving but even on the highway the mileage sucked.

My 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 gets 2x the mileage the Aveo did and it has 320 hp in the same driving conditions.

Don't forget that the Aveo used a daewoo engine with nearly 20 year old technology, it was simply inefficient despite GM's efforts to make it so. They should have produced a brand new engine for this car.

[festersays]

Agreed mostly with what Nemasys just said. This engine is ancient technology, I'm sure GM squeezed every MPG they could out of it but there's only so much you can do with old technology.

[Nance]

Wow thanks for all your replies.. great information... the reason I don't trade it in... is that I always give my cars to my daughter...