Granted my issues haven't been bad as some of the ones that other folks have posted on this board. But it seems like everytime I get my car back from the shop new problems pop up.

But my three issues that I was curious how common they are (I've poked around the forum a bit) are as follows:

It seems like the seals around the door are worthless. My car is constantly fogging up. If my vent isn't on defrost my windshield fogs up; if my vent is sent to the head and foot setting my other windows constantly fog up.

The last time out I managed to get a whopping 8 MPG after averaging about 15 MPG for the last 4 tanks (She's got nearly 8k miles on her). I drive around town a lot but it seems I should be getting closer to 16/17.

The last two are paint and the drivers seat. My drivers seat has started squeeking like a stuffed pig for some odd reason. It also seems like my paint chips off very easily. The drivers side door has chips across 1/3 of the doors edge and now my rear fender is picking up chips. Could this be an industrial fallout issue?

I plan on calling my local Ford dealer and have all this checked out ASAP. Anyone else have these problems and what seemed to be the fix?

 

The paint chips sound typical from road debris being kicked up by your front tire or from oncoming traffic. I got a stone chip right behind the drivers door 2 days after buying the car. I heard a stone hit it and thought, great, a chip already. Now the side of my car is covered in chips. As for paint quality, I don't think they did the best job in the world. A little after getting my body kit installed I was on the highway and the MTO decided to cover it in a fine gravel. Well, couldn't turn off for a few miles. The car is covered in stone chips, however, the aftermarket paint on my body kit held up a lot better than the factory paint.

The windows fogging up is always a tough one. Where you live, the temps are starting to drop (good ol' winter is right around the corner). On my way to work in the morning, everything is covered in dew. Of course my windows are going to fog up, that is normal. If they fog up in the afternoon, well, that is not good. Not sure what to tell you there.

So you are only getting 8 mpg on a V6? That sure doesn't sound right. Aer you just going by what the computer says or have you worked it out yourself? Definately have the dealer look at that one. If your mileage is that bad the car must be running pretty rich. I'd expect the exhaust tip to look pretty black.

 

Problem with the chips in my door is that they aren't were rocks can get to them from the road and I'm **** about opening my door in close quarters. I have 2 rock chips I need to have fixed by a body shop (First day I had the car I saw a rock fly up in slow motion and nail my hood leaving a small chip!).

I live in Washington so mornings now are in the low 40's and we've had a lot of rain lately. It just seems like to fogging is excesive. When you buy a new car you don't expect that to be an issue.

As far as mileage goes I don't generally keep track of it myself. But this last time I looked at my trip meter and it noted I had gone 88 miles and I checked the gallons used and it was at 10.6. When I filled the car up it filled it with exactly 10.6 gallons. According to the guages I was getting 16 MPG which is not possible based on the afformentioned (I did take into account that I didn't reset my gauge until 20 miles after the prior refill).

The crazy thing is that I'm averaging close to 30mpg on the highway.

 

Often, the air in the car will be warmer than the air outside the car (this happens in winter here). Moisture will condense on the inside of the windows if the outside air is cooler than the dew point inside the car. In this case, running both the air conditioner, the heater, and the vents for defrosting the front window worked very effectively. The air conditioner dehumidifies air because water condenses inside it when the air goes past the cold tubes with the refrigerant inside. Heating it up way past its dew point makes it feel dry, and it is dry -- it'll help evaporate any condensation that's on the windshield -- and even more quickly the hotter it is because heat is needed to cause the liquid water to change phase to a gas. I know when I drive to work in the morning, if I do not turn on the air, heat or roll down a window, after about 10 minutes my windows all start to fog up. That is just from breathing out, warm moist air. I just open the window about an inch and within seconds the windows are no longer fogging up.
So, having windows fog up is not a problem with the car.

 

If it makes you feel any better, my 2000 V6 can't even get 15 mpg. More like 12 mpg.

 

Wow, my 2006 V6 (auto trans) is getting 18 to 19 mpg city and 28 to 29 mpg highway. Something is definitely wrong with yours... Either that or you are beating the heck out of it.

 

I don't have the lightest foot on the planet but for the most part I take it easy on her :R: . Me thinks I have sensor issues or something along those lines.

Looks like I just need to find the best combination of anti-fog solutions offered up by adrenalin (thanks!)

 

In addition to what adrenalin said, I've seen (I think) a liquid anti-fog product at Pep Boys/Autozone. It might be worth a try.

As for gas mileage, how much time do you spend idling in traffic? Stop and go, and sitting kills gas mileage. If you sit long enough any car can get 0 MPG.

As for the chips....doesn't Washington use volcanic pumace "sand" on slippery roads? I was told by someone up there it's good for metal but heck on paint. And the body contour/tire offset...while it looks aggressive, the tires seem to kick up a lot of debris along the side.

 

i have a v-6 manual and i am averaging around 25 mpg city/hiway. 8,000 on car. never have gotten below 22 mpg a fillup.

 

Thats awesome, my GT gets about half of that!!

 

Sounds like you need to recalibrate the computer. Disconnect the positive battery terminal for about 15 min., then reconnect. Drive it normally for a couple of days so the computer can 're-learn' your driving habits. If that doesn't fix the problem, I'd take it to the dealer and have them check it out.