BfdLt

Just bought a '16 SL. Love it but one of the deciding factors was the amazing gas mileage for a 300hp car... once I got home I started going through the car and it's options. I then noticed what the vehicles average gas mileage has been for the previous owner.... 13mpg!!!!! This isn't even close to any advertised MPG.... I can understand when it says 22 city that it may be 18. But the AVERAGE shouldn't be 13!! That means city is like 10 and highway like 15.... that is CRAP...
any thoughts?
Oh. And I reset it to see what I will be getting

Richard66

Mabye the previous owner drove it with a heavy foot. That alone will drag your mpg down. The onboard mpg calculator is not the most accurate way to measure. Calculate it manually (miles driven divided by gallons used) over a few tanks of gas to get a true indication.

kasdepwel

If it was a city only driven car you'll get nasty numbers.

My new 2017 is getting 34-36 at 60 mph and around 28 mpg all around, no city though.

robtroxel

You have every right to be disappointed! How many miles does this car have on the clock? Have the service records pulled by the dealer and review them. Start by replacing the airfilter, have the fuel injection system cleaned, or use a gas tank based cleaner which has Techron as the cleanering element (Costco has a real deal on the black bottled techron fuel injection cleaners - 20 bucks for six of them). There is also a different cleaner made for the fuel injection air horn on top of the engine too. It is an aerosal based cleaner. Check your tire inflation. Finally, you might change out the spark plugs but be sure to replace them with the exact equivilant that came out.

Based on your mileage, have the dealer check all the specs relating to timing and any other fault codes the engine is giving. Where did the car come from? Was it a rental unit or was the car near any flooding? What rpm is the car turning @ 60 MPH?

Keep us posted on this. Good luck!

RickSmith

Isn't this a little premature? Why should he be disappointed? BfdLt did not say the he was averaging 13mpg.

Drive the car and see how your fuel mileage is before you listen to doomsday advice.

realmac

Reset it, check tire pressure. Put premium gas in. Mileage gets better over time. I see a huge difference between shorter drives (under 5 minutes) vs longer ones. When I was driving more spirited my total avg was 22mpg. Since switching to shell from Costco I'm around 27-28 overall. Below is from an all highway drive.

lightonthehill

I bet the original owner had some good track times. Of course elapsed time track runs suck gas. Just kidding (I hope).

This is a 3600 lb 300HP vehicle, and requires energy to get moving. If it was used mostly in brutal city driving conditions, I can see 13 MPG. I tend to get around that on my very slow runs through residential neighborhoods when checking houses for sale, stopping in front of many (without shutting the engine off) to write down details of the house and surrounding neighborhood.

But the first thing you need to do is make sure the tires are inflated to between 33 and 36 psi (both tires on the same axle should have equal psi), top off the tank, then go for a nice long (at least 150 miles, preferably 250) ride on the freeway or other open road, then top off the tank again (at the same side of the same pump as before you began your trip), and divide the miles driven by the amount of fuel used. I bet it will be well over 20MPG. My 2016 would get around 30 or more in that type situation.

robtroxel

Where did that come from? This guy is asking for help and that is what is being offered here "Doomsday" may be your light interpretation of a thorough examination. Lots of variables to consider. Mid to high 20s is a 50/50 mix of town and highway are my numbers with low 30s on the open road. I'd be unhappy with any less

Mason Hatcher

The OP was looking at the previous owner's mileage. When I drive really short trips with red lights and stop signs < 5 miles, I get terrible mileage.


OP should first reset the computer then see what HE gets.

RickSmith

Where did that “Doomsday” come from? I’ll tell you where it came from. Robtroxel tells him to replace 6 spark plugs, which is no easy, quick task on a V-6 Maxima. The intake has to be removed to gain access to the rear 3 cylinders. The plugs alone are going to cost $110.00 to $150.00, depending on which brand he buys…plus the labor cost of installation. Advance Auto Parts lists replace Denso Iridium for $16.49 each ($98.94 + tax or NGK for $22.91 ($137.46 + tax) for the 2016 Maxima.

“Based on your mileage, have the dealer check all the specs relating to timing and any other fault codes the engine is giving”. What “fault codes”? BfdLt didn’t mention anything about his car have fault codes displayed. Does robtroxel expect a Nissan dealer to check “all specs relating to timing” for free? Count on paying another hour labor for diagnostic time…$100 to $125.00.

I’ll stick to my original suggestion, instead of paying between $300.00 to $500.00 or more for robtroxels advice.

BfdLt

Sorry for the delay.. was working nights. The car has 15k miles, and was a rental out of Canada.... which is another story... climate control is in Celsius and I can't switch it. I can switch everything else but it to Fahrenheit.
Anyways... I reset it and haven't checked yet because I've only driven like 70 miles. Probably 50/50. Like I was saying... the car through all the reviews by all the media outlets confirmed the mileage for city and highway driving. So no matter what 13 is unacceptable unless half the time the car was running was at idle...
Additionally... have you read the report for Consumer Reports about this car specifically and premium gas?? They ran test with regular and premium and there was not a single difference. Not in mpg, engine knock, rpm... nothing. They contacted Nissan about it and Nissan said that they only recommend it to get the advertised performance numbers... the results were that there is zero benefit to using premium.
I will keep posted on the MPG after this tank of gas.
Thanks for all the replies. I love the car thus far. I just hope it was the right decision. I took a HUGE hit trading in my Range Rover for this and did so primarily for the gas saving ......

robtroxel

A rental unit does live with many drivers who would normally not care about any glitches the car may show in it's first year. Once you get some personal MPG experience, hopefully it will improve. If your car is under warranty, I would get the dealer to check our the car and read the cars' computer. (Also any past warranty repairs) The fault codes that were reset or existng fault codes should be in the history as well showing on the dash info . If there is any bad news, it should be fixed by the dealer free of charge. Meanwhile, I'd definately use fuel injection cleaner with Techron, change the air filter for sure, and check tire pressures. Then run the car for a couple tanks of gas. If there is no improvement, then proceed with the plugs and the fuel injection air horn cleaning. As Smith points out, this part is much more expensive but hardly a "doomsday scenario". The dealer has the right tools to do these advanced tasks easer and quicker than you or I can. Take it one step at a time.

DJMaxFan

Originally Posted by BfdLt Sorry for the delay.. was working nights. The car has 15k miles, and was a rental out of Canada.... which is another story... climate control is in Celsius and I can't switch it. I can switch everything else but it to Fahrenheit.


You mentioned that some vehicle settings were set to Canadian measurements. Canada uses metric measurements so the car may be displaying Km/L instead of Mi/Gal. 13Km/L = 30.5Mi/Gal. Just a thought...

stodge

Or 13L/100km? We don't use km/L.

stodge

I test drove an SL today and the screen showed 15l/100km after resetting the statistics. This was in mixed driving in the burbs.

lightonthehill

Are you saying 15 liters per 100 kilometers? 15 liters is approximately four gallons, so you are getting around 25 MPG, which is very good for a new vehicle in suburban driving.

You need to put one of these Maximas in your driveway.

stodge

I think your numbers are a bit off, that's 19mpg.

25mpg is about 11.5l/100km.

So I guess that 15 is probably normal for the driving I was doing in this car but nowhere near the published figures for mixed driving. As is typical of manufacturer numbers.

lightonthehill

When I was living 'out in the country' (actually, rural suburbs), I was getting around 25 MPG overall. and over 30 MPG on freeway trips. Now that I have moved into downtown, and am within a mile or two of everywhere we normally go, I am getting between 13 and 15 MPG, which is exactly what I expected in this congested little burg in which I spend most of my time sitting at loooong traffic lights.

As for fuel efficiency, this Maxima is definitely not at its best in city traffic, and, at 3600 pounds and 300 HP, that is to be expected. But to get over 30 MPG on our freeway/vacation trips with this normally aspirated 300 HP engine is everything I had hoped for.

By the way, Consumer Reports is correct that octane is NOT TIED TO MPG. Octane is tied to Acceleration/power. Correctly measured, this car gets exactly the same MPG with premium gas it gets with midgrade. I haven't tested it with regular octane yet, but if the onboard systems are working correctly, it should be able to adjust to regular and get the same MPG as with premium.

DjinAC

I picked mine up Thursday afternoon and after a weekend of mixed city/highway I am averaging 27.9 mpg. I will have to actually calculate it over the next few tanks of fuel but it's already better than my Escape.

EdOz

I recently started a thread detailing my mpg experiences with my 2016 SL.

Bottom line...don't trust the Maxima's mpg calculation. Actual mpg in my SL is ALWAYS 1 to 2 mpg less.

No mpg advantage to using 87 vs. 93.

No performance differences either in normal climate & driving conditions.

Do use Top Tier certified gas though. Costco is one retailer that sells TT gas & it's cheaper than other brands, at least in NJ