Poor Gas Mileage - 18mpg

[davidk]

Over the first 16,000 miles I only got 18mpg
I hoped that after a gentle break-in period it would get better, but it has stayed between 18 and 19 mpg for the whole 14 months since I got my PT. I do a 40 miles/day commute, mostly cruise control on 4-lane highway @65 mph.
2 tuneups at my 5-star Chrysler dealer have had no effect.
Is this normal?
Anybody have any help?

[CREWZIN]

David, That does sound kind of bad. I take it that your PT is a 2001. Some PT's made before a particular date (around Aug 2000) can be upgraded with a new computer chip from the dealer. Some owners have noticed quite a difference after the swap. Try your local dealer and see if yours falls into that category. You can call first, talk to the service manager and give them your VIN number. He/she should be able to look up the exact date it came off the assembly line and tell you if the computer needs upgrading. Good luck <img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle>

CREWZIN

[Tim DeRosa]

David -
Interesting... I ordered my PT in 2001 and finally took delivery in September 2002. I was told I had a 2002 model, but I have also noticed that even under the best of driving conditions I can't get better than 18mpg despite its being window stickered at 19-25mpg. I currently have about 5000 miles on the car. I had been blaming the poor milage on an underpowered car (4 cylinder), but will take Crewzin's advice to check on a computer chip when I take it into the dealer tomorrow to deal with the total failure of the instrument cluster tonight.