very bad MPG on 2004 TB

Sorry to hear this. MPG like that is expected for the first few hundred or even thousand miles, but obviously not for a year.

I suggest you take the car to another dealer, and approach the dealer with this line (my favorite):

"I've taken this to dealership X, but their mechanics have been unable to identify the reason for my poor fuel economy. I heard from a friend that your mechanics are the best and so I thought I'd bring it here to see if you could help me out and win my business in the future."

you might add:

"I've followed all of the advice on how to improve my fuel economy, such as laying off the gas at stoplights, cruising whenever possible, windows up on the freeway, vents instead of A/C on a good day, etc., and I've even driven my friends Trailblazer to confirm that it isn't me with a lead foot who is causing the poor fuel economy. Their vehicles get much better MPG with the same engine." (Just want to cover your bases here and take away possible excuses - I would also probably not mention that your wife drives it, if you want to say you were the one making the comparisons in friends cars -- my girl is constantly on either the gas or the brakes....)

If you approach the other dealership's service mechs with a positive, non-confrontational attitude - I think they should be eager to find the source - or a possible source - of the problem.

Sorry I was on a vacation. We rented a SUV not made by GM and it got 19.5. To the Duh. We know what we bought and we reseached every SUV on the market. Like I said we could have bought any one of them at a discount. (I work for Johnson Controls, and no I am not in the automotive divission). The TB was the most comfortable out of all of them! At least some of you can read. I think we will do a trade in soon due to the MPG and as was mentioned the sensors. We have also had problems with lights and controls the come about AFTER having the car in the shop. The TB has been seen by four different dealers and had some district gooru look into it. Some posted the best comments. It is what it is, nice comfort for being a POS. Oh yea to anyone who thinks it's the way we drive your FOS. We have driven our friends and got better milage than they normally do. I like the slap problem to cuase that what my *** feels every time we pass agas station.

Originally posted by penske@Apr 19 2004, 08:26 PM
I have had a 2002 Trailblazer, a 2003 Bravada, and a 2004 Ranier-I was never able to get better than 14-16 mpg. Unfortunately, that is what it is. And even more unfortunate is that if the computer shows nothing wrong, such as sensors out of range, etc., there is no way to find any improvement.

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My 2004 Rainier V8 gets 18.5 mpg regularly, 20 mpg if I keep it under 75 on the highway.

The 14 mpg truck. What axle does it have? They are available with a 3.42, 3.73 and 4.10 gears. 4.10 gears will give you the worst FE of course. Have the brakes checked for abnormal brake drag. Make sure you are running 30/35 psi front/rear as recommended. What speeds are you running for 14-16 mpg. Time of year? I see a big drop in MPG on some of my cars when running the "oxygenated", ethanol blended winter fuels. I went from 15 on my wagon to 18 in a week. Why, Michigan goes from winter to summer fuel 4/1. I was amazed, and the last three tanks have shown the same improvement.

What other stuff is in the truck besides the driver. If you often run with 4-5 passengers, that is a lot more weight to haul around, especially if you figure 100-150# per passenger (small child factor lowering the average weight)


Just some thoughts. Correct inflation and correctly operating brakes is a big deal. If you also run in A4WD mode instead of 2wd, the front diff , half shafts, and front prop shaft all are engaged and spinning needlessly..