So, how far off is the 24/34 EPA mileage estimate when weighed against
real-world results?

I got quite a shock when I filled up my new 2004 Classic for the first
time Sunday morning. The gas mileage came to just over 23 mpg. Granted
this was my first fill-up and not all of the miles were on the highway,
but this is still not what I expected; also not I've come across in
Internet research. Not many people mentioned fuel economy figures when
reviewing their 2.2 Malibus/Classics, but the ones who did gave figures
from 27 to 31 mpg overall.

Estimates of 24/34 mpg for a 3,100+-pound sedan with a 140 hp engine
and an automatic transmission seemed a bit unrealistic to me, but I
hoped for better than this.

The car is doing great apart from this. Any advice or suggestions?

Thanks....ERM

I bought my 04 classic the end of August and love it. On trips we get 34 mpg
and i driver 42 miles a day back and forth to work and get 27-32 mpg. The
brakes squeek once in a while but that's normal. It's a smooth ride. I had
a 98 with a V6 and i got 34mpg on that too, so not much difference in 4cyn.
and V6. I would not trade this for anything.
<ericmark4 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

Highway mpg is all highway, consider city mpg mixed driving.
Driving like you have an egg between your foot and the pedal will raise the
city mpg a few mpg .
Didn't you read the fine print, on the bottom where it says "your mileage
may vary" LOL
Your in the ballpark, fuel mileage is always worse it the winter anyway. In
the summer you will pick up a few mpg's
The '01 & '02 V6's in the family that I maintain are a touch thirstier in
the city than the 4 but the Malibu has always been best on the highway fuel
wise.
My other half just did a stint in a Classic while her '02 was in the body
shop after a Bambi bumping.
She was happy to get back in her V6 car even though the 4 was a little
better on gas.
She commented on the buzzy weaker 4 and the skinnier rubber on the Classic
vs. the bigger rubber on her LS
I've been through the intake gaskets and Passlock ignition cylinders on both
my cars and the fuel pump on the '01. Both cars where used so I don't know
if the fuel filter was neglected on the '01 causing premature failure of the
pump. I've never had a fuel pump fail on a injected car I've gotten new and
drove to 150k + miles with on schedule filter changes.
Both cars are at 90k miles now and other than the above they have been fine.
Neither car uses any oil between the 5k changes they get and the tranny's
looked fine when I serviced them both at 80k.
Ceramic brake pads on the front hold up the best as the 'bu's are noted for
going through front brakes. The girls are heavy brakers and they last 40k
miles with them. Ceramic cost more but last twice as long in my fleet and my
disc warping problems have gone away also.

--
John
"some suffer from insanity, I choose to enjoy it"

<ericmark4 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

Kevin Smith wrote:

Good for you; this gives me hope. How many miles were on your Classic
when you got it? Also where do you live and what is the climate there,
if I might ask?

Something else occurred to me: Two days after I bought the car I had
four new Kelly snow tires installed. Of course winter tires will lower
fuel economy a bit, or so I've been told. (Never fully understood it,
at least for non-studded snow tires, as I've got, but it's conventional
wisdom).

That plus the fact I've driven a bit through town and also driven in
the one mini-storm we've had so far all mitigate against approaching
the 34 mpg----but I still hoped for better than I saw....ERM

Depends on your driving habits.

If I obey the city speed limits to the mile and do 50 MPH on the freeway I
can get about 29 MPG

at 65 MPH it goes down to 26 MPG

at 75 MPH it is about 24 MPG.

Aside from this you may want to change the transmission fluid and make sure
the tires are inflated to the reccomended PSI.


<ericmark4 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

"Scotty" <Scottp (AT) wowNOSPAMway (DOT) com> wrote

Also just remembered, if you change your oil, fuel and air filters you can
sometimes get a 15% increase in fuel economy.

Scotty wrote:

Thanks, Scotty. That sounds like accurate real-world readings.
Unfortunately.....

May I ask where you live and whether you have the 2.2 or the V-6?

Regards,
Eric M

<ericmark4 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

You asked about anyone else with a Classic, that is what I have, AFAIK no
Classics have the 3.1 L which is the V6. I live in Columbus, Ohio.

Scotty wrote:

Thanks. I suspect the gentleman who wrote to say he gets 34 mpg on
highway trips lives in a warm flat clime.

In re the Classic engine: I also can only find mention of the 2.2
Ecotech online, but there are listings out there for something called a
"Classic SIx," which I assume means the Classic with a 3.1, i.e. a
bare-bones 2003 Malibu but produced in '04 or '05.

Do you by any chance watch a TV news program from Columbus where the
meteorologist is named Ben Gelber?

Regards,
Eric M

<ericmark4 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

Sorry I don't have much use for TV news. I get all mine from the web.
weather.com for weather and usually msn.com for news as well as
columbusdispatch.com and usatoday.com.

I pretty much only watch television for entertainment. A little bit of
History and Discovery channels though.

I've never heard of a Classic Six. Just be lucky you dont have a 3.1L
though, my neighbor has a 2001 with the six cylinder and has had nothing but
trouble I see him working on it once a month at least. I'm surprised he
hasn't traded it in already but he does have a wife and two kids to support
and probably can't afford another car. I got mine from a Suzuki dealership
I was going to get a brand new Suzuki since they are very well priced and
come with a lot of features standard that are options on other cars, but
their fuel economy made me look at some used cars on the lot and I got the
Malibu for its price, I've always hated how plain they looked, but you know,
the darned thing has grown on me and I love it now. I only really, really,
really hate how much road/wind noise finds its way into the car though. I
was thinking of getting an Impala when this car stops running on me but who
knows, for all we know GM may not be around then lol.