These days everyone that goes to buy a car is always looking to see how many miles per gallon they are going to get from the car they are considering to buy. Most people will just look at the information on the window and see if that fits with what they would want to get. But what happens after you’ve had the car for a few years? Has your gas mileage stayed the same, gone up, or gone down? In most cases as the car gets older the gas mileage tends to decrease as well.

There are several reasons why your fuel efficiency will decrease over time. Combustion inside the engine can sometimes leave small carbon deposits that may decrease the overall efficiency of your engine. There are many other things that can happen over thefirst few years of the life of a car that can also impact its fuel efficiency. So let’s talk about how to check and see what your current fuel efficiency is.

Here are some simple steps you can follow to check how many miles per gallon you are currently getting from your car:

Fill up the tank
This is probably the most obvious step, but that’s also why it’s the first step. Fill up your tank. You don’t even have to fill it up all the way if you don’t want to, but I personally think its better if you do.

Reset the trip odometer
If you car has a trip odometer, go ahead and set it to zero. If your car doesn’t have this option, then just write down your current mileage on a piece of paper that you can keep in the car.

Drive until you need to fill up again
You don’t have to drive until your tank is completely empty. Just drive until its time for you to gas up again.

Fill up the tank again
So far we’ve probably followed your normal routine, only I put in the step to reset your odometer.

Write down the amount of gas you put in your tank
Don’t throw your receipt away just yet. Take note of how many gallons you just put in your tank.

Make the calculation
You now have enough data to calculate your miles per gallon. Remember that this number is just a bably the most obvious step, but that’s also why it’s the first step. Fill up your tank. You don’t even have to fill it up all the way if you don’t want to, but I personally think its better if you do.

I would recommend that you follow this process for a few weeks in a row to make sure that you are getting a consistent number. It may fluctuate a little bit, but overall your ratio should stay about the same. Now, go and check with some online source to see how your current gas mileage compares with when the car was manufactured.

If there is a considerable difference, you may want to consider using a proven fuel additive such as DurAlt to help clean out the engine a bit and make it run better. You also might want to consider taking the car in for a tune up to also help it run better. If you take better care of your car you’ll get much better results from it.

We hope this tip helps. Happy driving and be safe out there!