sad mpg,s==

2003 vibe,base model, approx 85,000 miles, automatic transmission, 17 inch stock alloys. running with the original plugs and wires. motor runs smooth with the exception of noise after putting it into gear cold. constantly getting 16 mpg,s city with the a/c on. even for an aggressive driver shouldn,t the mpg,s be much higher?

I've heard of people getting varying MPGs on this car - from the mid 30s (for freeway driving) to as low as your numbers. I get around 28mpg on an 07 bought 3 months ago. However, this may improve as the engine breaks in - I have not looked at the numbers recently. My mpg is based on approx 50% freeway and 50% city - many times with ac on. Occasionally agressive. Also the terrain around here is pretty hilly so I'm that costs a few mpgs.

It may be worth having a few checks done to see if anything could be killing the mpgs. Checking for dragging brakes, tire pressure, and engine compression are some ideas. Also if there is a noise when it is put into gear it may be worth checking the stall rpm in case there is problem with the stator in the torque converter or some other problem in the transmission.

Wow,

My 05, which was a base W/Auto would get 35-38 hiway when I drove with common sense. Even when I jumped on it, in city, the worse I saw was about 22. 18? I suppose it's possible but does seem a bit far fetched.

I'd ease up for a couple tanks and see if things come into line. If they don't then IMO it would be time to check things out including a full diag. scan.

No magic answer here without being able to drive it. Your mileage is getting to the point where I've seen some that were heavily short tripped in need of a major tune including valve adjustments.