Miles per gallon was only a small consideration when deciding what type of van I wanted to purchase. Interior space and height and vehicle mileage and age were the primary factors I used to narrow down to the Sprinter I bought however fuel consumption does factor heavily into the overall annual cost of the van.
My prepurchase research showed that I could expect about 17ish mpg, so I have been testing it out and keeping track.
I track all my mileage and keep all receipts to calculate mpg and take notes on the type of driving done. So far the 10 year old 3-liter 6-cylinder diesel Mercedes engine has performed adamantly.
The average over my last 7 fill ups is 18.4 mpg, with the highest mileage being 21 and the lowest being 13.4. I attribute the 13.4 mpg to idling for hours while working in the field during freezing temperatures so I don't take that one too seriously.
I was pretty pumped to get 21 mpg out of the van (made it over 400 miles on a single tank) it was mostly highway miles and could probably be better if only the van had cruise control.
I calculated the cost of driving the van to approximately 17 cents per mile, not great when you think of it that way. That also doesn't iclude insurance ($65ish dollars per month) and maintenance costs. All things to consider when buying and operating a van.
Apologies if this blog was boring, I kept it short for a reason.
10/10 would recommend not driving in NYC to get better gas mileage.
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