I have had this car for 2 days I bought it used and I am already at Half a Tank of Gas and I have only gone 125 miles. What is up with this?

Why is my gas mileage crappy? How do I improve it?

It has been hot the last few days so I have had my A/C on with Recycle and ECON (Still Don't know what this does?) on.

I know using the A/C Can hinder the Gas Mileage but this much?

Please respond on this matter is something wrong with my car? Shouldn't I be getting more Mileage even with the A/C on?

I had a 1989 Honda Civic LX that got 200 Miles on one tank of gas Why does this Hybrid I have seem like there is something wrong.

Please explain. I bought this 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid two days ago and have been driving it moderately. Shouldn't I be getting 51MPG on the Highway and 48MPG on the Street?

I feel like I might have got a bad one. Please explain.

Also how do I figure the MPG I am getting because there is a meter under trip A that has 0-120 and it moves up and down. How do I measure the Miles per gallon and What is Auto Idle Stop??

Please explain the best settings I should have to get the most out of my Hybrid.

 

Dumb question--was the tank full when you started? Since you just bought the car, it could have been down a decent bit below full. I would fill it up yourself to the first click of the pump so you know that what condition you are starting out with--then reset your trip meter.

While you are at the station, check your tire pressure. It might be low. I would suggest running at 40psi which is higher than most "normal" drivers do, but still well within the safety range.

There are literally dozens of posts like this on this site. I would suggest a little searching and read the advice regarding the AC, the trip meters and maximizing the HCH fuel economy. Once you've done some searching, post up with specific questions and a detailed description of your daily driving if you are still having problems. Good luck and happy driving!

 

Post again after you have driven at least 500 miles, or at least 2 full tanks...one or the other. Then let us know.

 

You may not have started with a full tank of gas, like Kristian said.

Auto Idle Stop is when you stop for a stop sign or red light, the gas engine will shut off to save fuel. This does NOT occur every time you stop, especially in summer with the AC on. The 2003-2005 Civic Hybrids have an ECON button. If you engage that button, I believe the AC shuts off when you stop, making it much more likely that the Auto Idle Stop will happen. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong, since I own a 2006, which does not have this button.) But it can get hot, sitting there without the AC for very long.

Miles per gallon is simply miles driven divided by the gallons used in driving those miles.

Just in case you've never done this before (surprising how many people haven't), here is step-by-step how most people measure MPG:

(1) Fill the tank up. I fill to the 2nd click, but many swear by stopping at 1st click. Just be consistent at your fill-ups, if possible. Record total odometer miles.
(2) Drive until you're ready to fill up again. Several hundred miles. I fill up shortly after the low-fuel light comes on, and this is usually around 500 miles for me.
(3) Fill the tank up again. Record total odometer miles.
(4) Record the gallons pumped into the tank (this is the gallons used in order to drive since the fill-up).
(5) Subtract the previous total miles (#1, above) from the current total miles (#3, above). This gives you total miles driven between fill-ups.
(6) Divide gallons pumped (#4, above) into the miles driven between fill-ups (#5, above). This is your MPG for that tank of gas.

Background - I drive pretty normally, although I've slowed down a little bit . My normal commute is 70+ miles round-trip. I do some around-town driving as well. I average nearly 47 MPG. This is my lifetime average, and I have 36,000 miles on the car. I've owned it since it was new.

Now, on to your MPG situation.
Tell us what TIRES are on the car, and check their air pressure. This IS important.

If you only got 200 miles out of a tank from an 1989 Honda Civic LX, then you have all extremely short trips, or are really driving aggressively, or something is wrong in your interpretation of your gas usage. If that tank held only 10 gallons, then 200 miles in a tank is 20 MPG. If that tank held more than 10 gallons (likely), then the MPG number is even worse. That's just horrible MPG, unless the car was extensively performance-modded.
I can't imagine getting gas mileage that poor in ANY Civic (except the new Si's ).

Either:
(1) Your expectations are entirely out of whack, expecting this new car to magically just "get 51 or 48 MPG," when you severely underachieved in terms of MPG in your old Civic LX. If your driving conditions are truly poor for good MPG, you should already know not to expect great MPG.
or:
(2) Something is inaccurate in the way you are measuring your gas usage.

Please do keep us updated on your progress. We may just need to know more about your specific situation. We can help!

 

I think its broken too - sell it to me for half price....

 

I have read (and re-read...) the manual, and they don't really explain the ECON function very well. I usually try to make sure the ECON is on (green light on) any time I am using the AC, so I will get an auto-stop as often as possible (as gumby said, the auto-stop saves your fuel by not idling the car at a stop).
The manual says that when the ECON button is off, the auto-stop function is disabled. Under certain conditions, like when you use the defroster, the ECON button will automatically go to off.
I'm not sure, but I think my AC still continues to work even when the car is in auto-stop. I will have to pay more attention to it, and get back to you on that. My attention is usually focused on whether or not I am in auto-stop. The car continues to still feel just as cool, so if the AC goes off, I haven't noticed it.
In my manual it does say that when the ECON button is on, the system will not cool as quickly when the AC is on.
Not sure what temperature you have your AC set at, and I'm not sure how much it affects the fuel economy, but maybe try not setting it at the absolute lowest temperature; set it up a little higher, maybe around 70.
I hope your car really isn't at 125 miles at a half tank. Usually the "top" half of the tank is the most optimistic. Hopefully it's just a miscalculation of how full the tank was when you began.

*Update: Today I fiddled around with the AC/ECON buttons while out driving. If I have the AC on and the ECON button is also on, when I come to a stop, the car will go into auto-stop (yay) and the AC continues to operate. If I disengage the ECON button, and try to do the same, the AC will be working, but when I come to a stop, the care does not go into auto-stop. I see no reason to have the car idling at a stop light, so I will always have the ECON button on when using my AC.

 

I'll say it again to avoid wasting other's time more...

 

Thanks for all your advice I will keep everyone posted...

 

That is your instantaneous mpg readout. It tells you at any given moment while you are driving what your miles per gallon are. It will vary, depending on how you drive, and what you are doing at the time. For example, if you are coasting, or backing your foot off the accelerator, you will see the readout move up to the higher mpg readings. When you are accelerating from a stop, you will notice the reading is a lot lower, but once you are up to speed, if you back off the accelerator a bit, you will see the mpg reading go up.
This guage gives you an idea of how efficiently you are driving. As you get used to driving your car, it will become a useful tool to help you monitor your mpgs.
Good luck.