Cross-Country Trip MPG With Badlands 2.0L Engine

[Glamdring70]

U-Haul is just about the worst for honoring reservations. They don't spend enough on maintaining the fleet^ and they don't have enough people to return equipment to back to the popular side of the moves. We had a 22' reservation and the best the guy could do was get us a 17" AND a 12'. So I got an extra seven feet (which I actually made use of) truck but boy was that a lot of extra fuel.

^ See. Uhaul owns the fleet. The independent rental stores each are responsible for performing scheduled maintenance on fleet equipment that is returned to their location. In other words, that costs the independent store money. So instead of actually pouring in oil, they check a box that it was done and make it the next depot's problem. My father rented one and the wheel literally fell off. The lugs were shot and so was the bearing. How many skipped inspections did that take?

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[Elegance]

U-Haul is just about the worst for honoring reservations. They don't spend enough on maintaining the fleet^ and they don't have enough people to return equipment to back to the popular side of the moves. We had a 22' reservation and the best the guy could do was get us a 17" AND a 12'. So I got an extra seven feet (which I actually made use of) truck but boy was that a lot of extra fuel.

^ See. Uhaul owns the fleet. The independent rental stores each are responsible for performing scheduled maintenance on fleet equipment that is returned to their location. In other words, that costs the independent store money. So instead of actually pouring in oil, they check a box that it was done and make it the next depot's problem. My father rented one and the wheel literally fell off. The lugs were shot and so was the bearing. How many skipped inspections did that take?

Yeah, it was insane. They sent us to 4 different pickup locations. We show up to our assigned location just before going to get my family from the airport...we had just enough time to get the truck home and go get them. The location wasn't open even 30 minutes after our pickup time. We stared at our truck through a locked gate for about an hour waiting for someone to show up, then had to drive another 2 hours to a different location to pick up the 26 footer. The rental cost me $5800, by the way. It physically hurt to hand my card over after that ordeal.

I think I'm done moving. I finally own a house and love where I live. Just going to stay here forever and never deal with Uhaul ever again.

 

[thekingprawn]

Good data. Glad you made it through the storms to NC. You'll have to update us when you're settled in with the new place and job.

I hit the coast here fairly often (when it's not raining sideways, which it's been doing since November) and get 28-29 mpg over the 125 miles trip. There are lots of slowdowns as it's over state highways and through small towns, but I'm very satisfied with the fuel efficiency of my BS. I'm sure it would be even better if I hadn't discovered how awesome it is to drive with a turbo.

 

[Bucko]

Yeah, it was insane. They sent us to 4 different pickup locations. We show up to our assigned location just before going to get my family from the airport...we had just enough time to get the truck home and go get them. The location wasn't open even 30 minutes after our pickup time. We stared at our truck through a locked gate for about an hour waiting for someone to show up, then had to drive another 2 hours to a different location to pick up the 26 footer. The rental cost me $5800, by the way. It physically hurt to hand my card over after that ordeal.

I think I'm done moving. I finally own a house and love where I live. Just going to stay here forever and never deal with Uhaul ever again.

Forever is a long time. I said I would not move again once. After that, I moved once more. I'm now saying I will not move again!

 

[Elegance]

Forever is a long time. I said I would not move again once. After that, I moved once more. I'm now saying I will not move again!

Okay, maybe not forever. But my time in Arizona has taught me that I am an East Coast girl through and through. I survived the 2 years there and did what I needed to do to secure my future, but I prefer this side of the country. I'll never do another cross-country move again, just between towns or a couple of states.

 

[Escape2Bronco]

Glad to hear you made the trip safely. My daughter made the same trip a few times when she was about your age. She was dating a helicopter pilot in the army and when he came back from Iraq, he was station at Ft. Bragg. She was in Scottsdale at the time. I always worried when she made the trip.

How was the truck ride for your mom? I had the same one coming from south central Texas back to Wisconsin and after I dropped of the first 1/3 in Chicago, it bucked like a Bronco all the way back to Wisconsin.

That was pretty decent gas milage you got. I’ve only taken one trip of any real length and was able to get 28mpg but getting 30+ Is impressive IMO.

Enjoy your time in NC.

 

[O Nelly]

Great write-up, Elegance! I just want to know if you are an English teacher, journalist, or author!

 

[Elegance]

Great write-up, Elegance! I just want to know if you are an English teacher, journalist, or author!

Thank you! Very flattering. I guess I'm technically an author. I wrote and published my graduate thesis just a couple of years ago and now I'm a federal employee, so my writing skills stay pretty sharp.

 

[doctorwho23]

Yep, sorta’ mirrors my experiences, 19-21 mpg around town (21-22 in eco mode) and 30-32 on the road (keeping it @ 70 or less). Have had 3-4 trips with similar results on ‘21 BSBL with roof bars Installed.

Hi,
Color me impressed with those numbers! I have a 2023 Badlands and I'm hitting 15k miles with an average highway of 23-25 mpg and city at 19 mpg.
What all have you done to yours to get 30+mpg?
Granted I have 245/65/17 tires.. but I keep the speed between 65-70 with eco mode on.
I also keep to a 5k maint schedule and fuel cleaner every 3k miles. .

 

[Bill G]

Hi,
Color me impressed with those numbers! I have a 2023 Badlands and I'm hitting 15k miles with an average highway of 23-25 mpg and city at 19 mpg.
What all have you done to yours to get 30+mpg?
Granted I have 245/65/17 tires.. but I keep the speed between 65-70 with eco mode on.
I also keep to a 5k maint schedule and fuel cleaner every 3k miles. .

Was running 235/65 Falken AT3’s, everything else stock. My roof bars are low profile, not factory. Just put new tires on (235/70’s) and my around town mileage is showing a small dip — haven’t gone far enough to be sure just how much.

 

[NMhunter]

Wow! I reset my long odometer by mistake about 2 years ago, and my average since then has been 27.3 mpg. I take a weekly 100 mile round trip, going 30 mph for about 50 miles, 70 mph for 40 miles, and 50 mph for 10 miles. IOn the trip trip up I carry 450 lbs. of water in a tank, and empty on the way back. I average about 33 mpg on that trip.

I'm an old man and drive in Eco mode most of the time, and I use the Stop/Start system. I have Falken 235/65R17 tires on the Steele rims.

 

[Bill G]

Wow! I reset my long odometer by mistake about 2 years ago, and my average since then has been 27.3 mpg. I take a weekly 100 mile round trip, going 30 mph for about 50 miles, 70 mph for 40 miles, and 50 mph for 10 miles. IOn the trip trip up I carry 450 lbs. of water in a tank, and empty on the way back. I average about 33 mpg on that trip.

I'm an old man and drive in Eco mode most of the time, and I use the Stop/Start system. I have Falken 235/65R17 tires on the Steele rims.

Your lifetime, or overall mileage, is above mine which sits between 21-22 mpg. Difference is most of my driving is in SoCal traffic, either idling along the freeway or bouncing from traffic light to traffic light. The only time I get great mileage is on trips outside of the LA basin, just don’t do that often enough to make up for the stop-n-go.

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