Okay, feeling like a clueless wonder here but after the first ten days of driving when I went to fill up the tank for the first time we had an average of 23.9 mpg. Do not sneer, all of you with open road, but here in congested Connecticut I have to travel an average of 14.2 mph. This is AWFUL!
I might as well have got the Hypothetical Prius we were on a wait list for 3 months for before giving up or a gas Jetta sportwagen with the gorgeous sunroof and a comfy back area for the pooch. I have been telling myself that a daily five miles each way commute on the highway with much traffic and much intervening local driving (traffic also) and the occasional 12 mile trip to church (windy back roads, average speeds of 40 mpg) and 12 mile highway to grocery,etc -) are more what a Prius is best at getting good mileage on. Also that diesels have break in periods. ALso that car computers are unreliable, etc. But about 311 miles on 3/4 of a tank (we had a long road trip heavily loaded in the other car for a few days, not wanting to overload the new TDI, hence low mileage).
I LOVE driving this car during the brief minutes when the traffic moves. We got it because I plan to travel several hundred miles on highway on most weekends in future. The fantastic handling and performance relative to others we have driven (especially our SUV and the Prius we test drove) have probably already saved my life from two wacked out tired truckers on I95 veering into my lane, and helped a teenaged driver in the family avoid trouble on entrance ramps and turning too fast on winding country roads several times. So I am trying to tell myself things will improve mileage wise.
But this is way worse than the EPA stats. Could this be a sign of engine trouble? No lights or anything. Please don't write insultingly that I picked the wrong car. In an ideal world, many of us would have different cars. But sometimes one buys the set of four wheels that move well that one can afford that is actually available as opposed to hypothetical. My basic feeling is if I am getting 23.9 why did I pay 5K premium over the gas Jetta? And how much worse will this mileage be in the winter!!! (I remember my Mercedes diesel wagon gulping fuel all winter)
We did homework, have owned diesel before (Mercedes) but when we ran the numbers on whether it made economic sense to buy (as opposed to just "Cute car, fun to drive") we used the EPA figures and decided OK. But with 23.9? Horrendous. Love car, hate mileage and not independently wealthy enough to justify a sports car wannabe/midlife crisis car that isn't economical enough.
VERY DISAPPOINTED