Very poor mpg at 21.5 mpg

[chrisdc]

Originally Posted by chrisdc
These items all sound expensive.... if any of the above were faulty or on their way out, wouldn't the OBC know about this? (logged error code)

Not necessarily, it is even possible to get codes but not get the management light as well.

Good to know.

Ok, sticking callipers won't generate a code but this type of problem usually occurs on older cars that have not been serviced properly (regular brake fluid changes). Correct?

You can get almost brand new cars that develop sticking callipers, there is instances of people on here with nearly new cars and even less than 1yr old that have had to have replacements.

Will take your word for this one. Never heard of it happening to anyone I know and never read of it happening to such new vehicles in any of the motoring / technical journals I've looked at over the years. Perhaps its more of a problem in colder climates? Would the tolerances be more critical at low temperatures? The callipers would contract of course but so would the pistons.

Tyres are Dunlop 6060 series. I'm not a Dunlop fan, preferring Michelin myself, but they had just been fitted a few days before I got the car - so couldn't refuse them. Have inflated as per owners manual.

You may want increase the pressure slightly by about 3 or 4 PSI above standard or onto the pressure settings if the car was fully laden - you should find this will increase MPG slightly. This is
also known as ECO settings.

Good idea. Looking at the car level and unladen the front tyres look flatter than the rear. I suppose its to be expected because of the weight of the engine but why not compensate with a little extra pressure? I'll give it a go and keep a close eye on tyre wear.

I had to strip and clean the EGR valve on my Renault van - lots of black smoke, but it doesn't have a DPF so I was able to see the smoke. Would you know if cleaning of EGR is part of standard Volvo service procedure?

Cleaning of the EGR is not a standard Volvo Service procedure. Volvo would be more interested in just replacing an EGR. It is a very simple job and there is guides on here to follow so definitely one you can do yourself if required.

Thanks, I'll read the guides.

I'm worried that as my car is so close to the end of its Maintenance
Plan, Volvo might choose to "ignore" any potentially expensive problems (especially if they are not obvious failures) in an attempt to buy some time and save themselves some money.

Unfortunately if there is nothing detected and also no codes after a check then as you say Volvo are not going to be interested in any in depth diagnostics to find your MPG loss, especially if it is going to cost them. Unfortunately you are going to have to do the leg work and then if you find anything wrong then you can get Volvo to sort it whilst you are still under warranty.

Noted.

I feel a bit bad saying this of them - they've had to do a transmission repair recently (just before I bought the car) and they're about to replace a faulty deadlock on a rear door so my experience so far has only been good..... still reading the forums, lots of people have not been so lucky. (It took more than a month to get the transmission fault authorised and repaired by the way) The car was "in-between owners" at the time but still.... its a long time to be without a car if its your only transport.

All I can say on this one is; do they not supply a courtesy car whilst yours is in for a repair? The other thing is, as long as you have taken the car to the dealer and ANY fault has been identified and 'Logged on Volvo System' along with all the information required to prove at that point in time it is still under warranty (as you are now very close to being out of warranty) then even if Volvo cannot fix it there and then they will (or should ) honour the warranty if had to take the car back a couple of weeks later to be fixed but in reality may now be 100km outside the warranty?

I'm at Volvo right now having the deadlock replaced so I asked them. In a nutshell, no courtesy car while the car is waiting for authorisation but they will provide one while the actual repair work is in progress. In the case of my car, authorisation took about 5 weeks and the repair 1 day. (The car stood at Volvo for the 5 odd weeks because it was undriveable)
With regard to the warranty, I’m sure you're right about the fault & warranty time frame. If its identified in time it should be covered. My guess is they're legally liable – and its probably covered in the small print of the maintenance plan.

And thanks for the tips on posting quotes etc. Will give it a go.