With gasoline costing over 3 dollars these days, a lot of folks are looking for mileage when they car shop.
But how much can you trust the mileage figures you see on the window sticker?
Apparently, not as much as you thought.
Well, at least that’s what the government and Consumer Reports say.
And the companies involved make some of the most popular vehicles on the market.
Last week it was Hyundai and Kia.
The Korean automakers were accused by the EPA of inflating their mileage numbers by 2 o 3 mpg for the last 3 years.
The companies agreed to adjust their window stickers and compensate owners who got disappointing mileage.
Now, Consumer Reports magazine says two new Ford hybrids, the Fusion and C-Max, don’t come anywhere near their advertised mileage.
“”We had experience just driving the cars routinely,” said the magazine’s Jake Fisher. “And we were all getting around the mid-30’s in our routine driving. So we weren’t surprised to see the testing reflecting what we were getting out in the real world. As opposed to the 47 miles per gallon in the EPA cycle.”
But what makes this different from the Hyundai case is, these are the EPA figures.
“It’s a larger discrepancy than we’ve seen in any of the modern vehicles,” fisher observed. “ 8 miles per gallon and 10 miles per gallon between the two Ford hybrids.”
“We can speak to what our customers are experiencing and a number of customers are getting fuel economy above 47 miles per gallon,” Wes Sherwood of Ford told us.
Fisher says the unfortunate thing here is that they are both terrific vehicles.
“These are excellent vehicles when it comes to fuel economy,” He said. “Absolutely right. In fact, in the case of the Ford Fusion Hybrid, this is the best fuel economy we’ve ever seen in a mid-sized car.”
“We work with Consumer Reports all the time,” Sherwood says, “and we’ll continue to do so. And we will work with our customers and any others who have questions about this.”