Lifetime mileage guage: Is it really lifetime mileage?

[Balboa]

How would you know if it's the lifetime mileage if you really don't know if the previous owners had reset it?

[Eli]

Good point.. I suppose a lot of us don't.

One way to tell though is how fast it changes, though I don't have a way to quantify that. With the 447k mile car, the LMPG was 48.8 when we bought it. It's now up to 49.1. After over 6,000 miles.

It was only owned by one person previous to me, and he didn't seem like the knowledgeable type regarding our cars... so I think it's a fair assumption that it hasn't been reset.

Insight #1 I bought in 2007 at 86,000 miles from the first owner. I think it's a reasonable assumption that it hasn't been reset either.

Insight #3, I am not so sure. The owner was definitely fairly knowledgeable by extension, since he read the forums. It's dropped from 70.2 to 68.8 in only a few hundred miles, so I think it's possible it may have been reset.

[Leeper]

No way of telling. If it were recently reset then you'd notice the variance but that is not likely

[Need4Speed]

Based upon how slow mine is changing I believe it is really the LMPG and that the previous owner did not reset it.

[pennyduke]

How would one go about resetting the LMPG? Just curious...

[02insight]

i'm sure there is probably some calculation that could be done using the number of total miles, the miles it requires to change the reading, the mpg avg for those miles. I think it would be too complicated to be worth finding out.

[Need4Speed]

From the 2000 owners manual available in pdf on this site:

To reset this display, turn the
ignition switch to ON (II). If the
engine is running, make sure the
transmission is in neutral and the
parking brake is set. Use the Trip
button to display the odometer. Then
press and hold the Trip button until
the Lifetime Fuel Mileage Display
begins to blink (approximately five
seconds). Release the Trip button,
then press it again while the display
is blinking and hold it until the
display clears to dashes.

[randerson0248]

Originally Posted by Need4Speed

Based upon how slow mine is changing I believe it is really the LMPG and that the previous owner did not reset it.

Here is my prediction for your car:

At 22,222.2 miles the lifetime average will be 22.2
At 33,333.3 - 33.3
At 44,444.4 - 44.4
At 55,555.5 - 55.5

Or something like that.

[Need4Speed]

I can't wait until I hit 200k miles.....

[gilbertguy]

I bought my car with 240K on the odo and a LMPG of 49 MPG, the guy had been driving it for 3 years with the check engine light on so there was no way the car would ever be able to get into lean burn for higher MPG. Once I fixed the issue it was once again getting lean burn, I wanted to know what my LMPG in this vehicle was so I reset it.