Seems blantant cheating as why else would you anyone buy Hyundai/Kia except for MPG and slightly less MSRP vs Toyota/Honda. The funny thing was Hyundai sold near MSRP where Honda/Toyota was discounted enough that average selling price was less.
“Seems blantant cheating…”
Businessmen cheat the public? Hogwash! Any simple citizen with half a brain and half a million dollars worth of equipment could refute their assertions in a few hours.
Actually, here’s an article about this problem, including a discussion with an SAE representative. He’s almost at arm’s length from the issue.
“We’re extremely sorry about these errors…” they say. Ha. That was no error; it was a deliberate act and not hard to see why.
High gas prices + desired higher sales totals + pressure on top execs to achieve those goals = BS
Errors = meaning we got caught. 
I know this thread is mostly dead, but I feel some relief knowing that Hyundai cheated on the MPG and it’s not my driving. They owe me about $100 on a debit card. But I agree with some statements, the Elantra was selling near sticker when I bought my 2011, and the MPG estimates had a lot to do with my decision to buy it. I have found their dealership network and national Customer Service to be incompetent for the most part. But I don’t even know if I can sell the car now at a decent price since the news of the MPG is out. Hyundai came out with some pretty good cars but in my eyes they are killing themselves with bad PR on the MPG and with the service I’ve gotten at dealerships (3 so far). I won’t be buying another one, that’s for certain.
I tend to disagree that it was a deliberate “error” on Hyundai’s part. I just don’t think they’re that stupid. They know cars get randomly tested. They know they’ll be caught if they fudge the mileage figures. And they know that if caught, it will be a PR disaster. I think this probably was a genuine screwup, and I think their response to it is pretty good - you get a debit card from them that they load with money every year based on how many miles you drive and the average price of gas. There’s really not much more they could reasonably do to make up for the problem.
As for bad service at dealerships, that’s universal. Every car company has good and bad dealerships. The Acura dealership I got my TL from sucks. So does the one close to my house. On the rare occasion I need dealership services, I take it to one that’s 20 miles away rather than those two because the far-away one is much better. And Acuras are at a price point that should guarantee stellar service from every dealership.
Meanwhile, the Hyundai dealership my SO got her Veloster from has been excellent both to buy from and for service appointments (she gets free oil changes for 3 years, so we’ve been there several times since she bought it).
In short, it really comes down to the individual dealership.
Guys, check out this website. It should answer a few questions.
It will tell you how to check your fuel economy, what the official figures, are, etc.
And it is an official US department of energy website.
@SBD, I suggest you spend some time reading the official method of measuring your fuel economy.
I’m not doubting anyone’s abilities, but I know a lot of people that don’t know how to do this and believe that their cars are far more miserly than they actually are.
For the record, I’ve measured the fuel economy for my personal car using the methods on this website, and they were spot on.
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=31216&id=31217
@db4690, the original issue is that Hyundai did a few things differently when preparing the car used for the mileage tests. This improved test mileage significantly over real world mileage. The errant mileage numbers were carried in the EPA fuel economy web site.
Sorry if that website was no help.
But the website I posted was from the department of energy, NOT the EPA.
I’m familiar with the web site, and use it often. I only wanted to point out that Hyundai improperly prepared some cars, which led to inaccurate results. It’s not something the Feds did. They reported faithfully the test results.
I’m sure some of these Hyundai buyers wouldn’t have bought the cars had they known what the real numbers are. I’m aware that in most cases the difference wasn’t astronomical, but nevertheless . . .
40 MPG highway sounds so much better then 38 MPG highway. Gosh, a little innocent mistake.
The owners were give some kind of compensation by Hyundai for the error.
Old thread, but here’s my 2 bits… or 39+mpg average with my 2013 Elantra w/15% city driving & all tanks used over periods from 3 to 7+ days… no tanks used in a few hours in continuous highway driving. Last 5 of 7 tanks have been 40mpg or better. All tanks have used 100% gasoline(ethanol-free) & causes Elantra to be smooth & engine quiet.