Poor MPG on a New Rabbit

[rjemery]

I recently purchased a 2008 Rabbit with Automatic Transmission. Government fuel economy figures for this vehicle are 21-29 mpg. In the first few hundred miles of driving, I find I am getting 22 mpg, much worse than I anticipated, and well off the 28-30 mpg I got from my 91 Golf 5-speed manual for the same mix of driving.

When I complained to the salesperson about the low mpg, he explained that I am still in the break-in phase, and it won't be until about 10,000 miles are on the car before I will see peak efficiency.

I am suspicious of that comment. In my experience, the best mpg comes when the car is new, but I don't have much experience with late model cars. By way of example, it was a surprise to learn that manual transmissions no longer offer much of an advantage over automatic transmissions.

Is the salesperson's claim true?