Got my Mountaineer: nice ride, but how do I pay for gas?

I finally went back to the dealership that quoted me an insane price for an
01 2wd Mountaineer, and actually got a much better price. Then I gave it a
good looking over and wow! Turns out the first price they gave me a few
weeks ago was pretty reasonable after all...this thing is nice. I called
previous owner, everything checked out ok there, so later that day I went
back and brought it home.

Methinks I made a good decision. With the 302, it downright boogies for that
heavy a vehicle. It has something called the "Premier" option package,
whatever that is. Anyone know?

Only drawback so far is the mileage. Holy crap...the computer says I'm
getting about 13 mpg around town. Ouch. I mean, I've read that the v8
explorers and mountaineers got bad mileage, but I was thinking more like 16
around town. Can anyone comment as to what they're getting? (and yeah, I
know, lay off the gas pedal, get better mileage)

My '96 EB with the 4 liter V6 gets around 14 in the city, and close to 20 on
the highway. I generally obey speed limits around town, and on the highway
I usually set the cruise for 3 or 4 miles over the limit. My wife and
friends tell me I drive like an old lady (exaggeration!), but I believe that
my driving habits get as much mileage out of the truck as possible.

Your mileage doesn't sound too bad to me. It's certainly better than the
1990 F-250 with the 460 V8 that I almost bought last year, until I read on
that newsgroup that I could expect 6 to 8 mpg. Yikes!!

Good luck!
Kevin

"wabbitslayer" > wrote in message
. ..
>I finally went back to the dealership that quoted me an insane price for an
> 01 2wd Mountaineer, and actually got a much better price. Then I gave it a
> good looking over and wow! Turns out the first price they gave me a few
> weeks ago was pretty reasonable after all...this thing is nice. I called
> previous owner, everything checked out ok there, so later that day I went
> back and brought it home.
>
> Methinks I made a good decision. With the 302, it downright boogies for
> that
> heavy a vehicle. It has something called the "Premier" option package,
> whatever that is. Anyone know?
>
> Only drawback so far is the mileage. Holy crap...the computer says I'm
> getting about 13 mpg around town. Ouch. I mean, I've read that the v8
> explorers and mountaineers got bad mileage, but I was thinking more like
> 16
> around town. Can anyone comment as to what they're getting? (and yeah, I
> know, lay off the gas pedal, get better mileage)
>
>

wabbitslayer wrote:
> I finally went back to the dealership that quoted me an insane price for an
> 01 2wd Mountaineer, and actually got a much better price. Then I gave it a
> good looking over and wow! Turns out the first price they gave me a few
> weeks ago was pretty reasonable after all...this thing is nice. I called
> previous owner, everything checked out ok there, so later that day I went
> back and brought it home.
>
> Methinks I made a good decision. With the 302, it downright boogies for that
> heavy a vehicle. It has something called the "Premier" option package,
> whatever that is. Anyone know?
>
> Only drawback so far is the mileage. Holy crap...the computer says I'm
> getting about 13 mpg around town. Ouch. I mean, I've read that the v8
> explorers and mountaineers got bad mileage, but I was thinking more like 16
> around town. Can anyone comment as to what they're getting? (and yeah, I
> know, lay off the gas pedal, get better mileage)
>
>

First of all before you get too concerned, if you really want to know
the mileage you should be calculating it manually!

My eighties vintage fuel injected 4600 pound 302 Bronco got 12 MPG
everywhere...

Rule of thumb with any SUV or pick up... don't check the fuel mileage if
your last vehicle was a car..... you stand more chance of being disappointed
than pleasantly surprised. I haven't seen a "mileage minder" that was as
accurate as it could be.

Congrats on the purchase..... hope it delivers many dependable miles for
you.


"wabbitslayer" > wrote in message
. ..
> I finally went back to the dealership that quoted me an insane price for
an
> 01 2wd Mountaineer, and actually got a much better price. Then I gave it a
> good looking over and wow! Turns out the first price they gave me a few
> weeks ago was pretty reasonable after all...this thing is nice. I called
> previous owner, everything checked out ok there, so later that day I went
> back and brought it home.
>
> Methinks I made a good decision. With the 302, it downright boogies for
that
> heavy a vehicle. It has something called the "Premier" option package,
> whatever that is. Anyone know?
>
> Only drawback so far is the mileage. Holy crap...the computer says I'm
> getting about 13 mpg around town. Ouch. I mean, I've read that the v8
> explorers and mountaineers got bad mileage, but I was thinking more like
16
> around town. Can anyone comment as to what they're getting? (and yeah, I
> know, lay off the gas pedal, get better mileage)
>
>

My 98 Mountaineer V6 gets 14-15 mpg in local driving, 19 mpg on trips
(65-70 mph average speed). I have a fairly light foot and this is about
what I expected to get when I bought it.

Ken

my 2000 limited (Explorer), which I believe is the same as the "premier"
will get about 15-17 around town. but my wife calls me 'lightfoot'.

on the road i can get 20-22 mpg.

2000 explorer limited
V8 5.0-most all power
2wd

"wabbitslayer" > wrote in message
. ..
I finally went back to the dealership that quoted me an insane price for an
01 2wd Mountaineer, and actually got a much better price. Then I gave it a
good looking over and wow! Turns out the first price they gave me a few
weeks ago was pretty reasonable after all...this thing is nice. I called
previous owner, everything checked out ok there, so later that day I went
back and brought it home.

Methinks I made a good decision. With the 302, it downright boogies for that
heavy a vehicle. It has something called the "Premier" option package,
whatever that is. Anyone know?

Only drawback so far is the mileage. Holy crap...the computer says I'm
getting about 13 mpg around town. Ouch. I mean, I've read that the v8
explorers and mountaineers got bad mileage, but I was thinking more like 16
around town. Can anyone comment as to what they're getting? (and yeah, I
know, lay off the gas pedal, get better mileage)

"Kevin D" > wrote in message
news:M2wVd.27671$uc.6743@trnddc09...
friends tell me I drive like an old lady

At least I'm not the only one!

It's certainly better than the
> 1990 F-250 with the 460 V8 that I almost bought last year, until I read on
> that newsgroup that I could expect 6 to 8 mpg. Yikes!!

My '78 F350 Crew Cab gets around 8 and it doesn't seem to matter if it's
fully loaded going uphill, or empty on the highway. You'd think that will
all this new computer technology and fuel injection and lighter frames and
all that they could get 11 or 12 mpg out of 'em.

Wabbit..



I'm wondering. Did the dealer give you any hassle about providing you with
the former owner's name? Did he notify the former owner you might call or
did you call cold. What was the former owner's reaction?


--
Regards,
Anthony Giorgianni

The return address for this post is fictitious. Please reply by posting back
to the newsgroup.
"wabbitslayer" > wrote in message
. ..
> I finally went back to the dealership that quoted me an insane price for
an
> 01 2wd Mountaineer, and actually got a much better price. Then I gave it a
> good looking over and wow! Turns out the first price they gave me a few
> weeks ago was pretty reasonable after all...this thing is nice. I called
> previous owner, everything checked out ok there, so later that day I went
> back and brought it home.
>
> Methinks I made a good decision. With the 302, it downright boogies for
that
> heavy a vehicle. It has something called the "Premier" option package,
> whatever that is. Anyone know?
>
> Only drawback so far is the mileage. Holy crap...the computer says I'm
> getting about 13 mpg around town. Ouch. I mean, I've read that the v8
> explorers and mountaineers got bad mileage, but I was thinking more like
16
> around town. Can anyone comment as to what they're getting? (and yeah, I
> know, lay off the gas pedal, get better mileage)
>
>

Anthony Giorgianni wrote:
> Wabbit..
>
>
>
> I'm wondering. Did the dealer give you any hassle about providing you with
> the former owner's name? Did he notify the former owner you might call or
> did you call cold. What was the former owner's reaction?
>
>

FYI:
The former owner's name is a matter of public record...

Hello 351 Is that your real name :O)

Actually there is a debate about whether the name of the former vehicle
owner is a public record. As a journalist, I know it can now be very tough
or impossible to get DMV records. I actually interviewed lots of attoneys
and officials about this recently and got conflicting answers. Privacy laws
vs. freedom of information laws.

DMV records are much more restricted these days, beginning with California
(years ago an actress or model was tracked down through DMV records and
killed or hurt, I think it was. My memory is going). The law has since
spread to the federal level via the Drivers Privacy Protection Act.

To wit: http://www.accessreports.com/statutes/DPPA1.htm

Some dealers take the position that they legally cannot show you the records
without getting permission of the owner. There is some conflicting legal
opinions on this because the federal law also requires showing the buyer the
odometer statement which can appear on the title or a separate document.
Some state laws require that you be shown the ownership documents at the
time of purchase, though it is not clear to me exactly when that is.
Obviously as a buyer of a used car, you would like to be sure the dealer has
settled any former lien and has the title in hand. But that sometimes is not
the case. Sometimes liens aren't settled until after the trade-in is resold
(very scary), sometimes not even then (imagine the repo man taking away you
new used car even though you're up to date on your payments!). So asking to
see the title is important for that reason alone.
--
Regards,
Anthony Giorgianni

The return address for this post is fictitious. Please reply by posting back
to the newsgroup.


> >
>
> FYI:
> The former owner's name is a matter of public record...