Hyundai Repair: hyundai santa fe fuel economy poor, hyundai santa fe, fueleconomy gov

Question
We have an 04 Santa Fe - and love every aspect of it except we barely get 19 MPG.  We drive carefully, a combination of city and country road driving to and fro work, change the oil and filter regularly and do everything we are supposed to do but the fuel economy is not very good.  

Is there anything we can do (or have done) that will improve the efficiency?

Thanks for any advice.

Answer
Chances are everything is working normally.  The Santa Fe is a fairly large and heavy vehicle.  Depending on which engine/transmission you have and whether you have 4WD, the fuel economy you report is in line with EPA estimates, which are typically higher than actual MPG.  Here are the links to the fuel economy listings for the 2004 Santa Fe:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/compx2005f.jsp?year=2004&make=Hyundai&model=Santa...

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/compx2005f.jsp?year=2004&make=Hyundai&model=Santa...


Of course, the things that always help improve fuel economy apply.  Accelerate gently.  Slow early.  Keep steady speed when possible.  You can also inflate the tires to a higher pressure (no higher than the maximum listed on the sidewall), but inflating to more than about 35 PSI will likely cause premature treadwear.