2 days ago I purchased a new 2011 Chevy Express 1500, that's getting 12.5 MPG, according the the digital read out on the instrument cluster. A big reason I purchsed this because I was suppose to get 15-20 mpg vs 13mpg on my 2003 Ford E-250 with the same cargo space. I'm very disappointed this van with a V6 and 1/2 ton with ZERO cargo in it, gets less miles mpg than a fully loaded 3/4 ton V8 5.4L motor. WTF!!?

 

I'd suggest that you give it a bit more time and make sure the technology is correct before you do anything rash. If it is truly new, it needs to break in. And that could take 3k to 5k miles.

 

Hang in there and let it break in. It will improve for sure. I have the 5.4 2011 with 18,000 miles. My average is 16.2 per the onboard.

 

I reset the MPG guage, and took a little trip, part in the city, part on the freeway. Got it up to 17.4 MPG. An employee at the service department said it had something to do with it needing to be reset off the factory line.

 

And in time, it will improve even more. I've never trusted onboard computer mileage info until I checked it manually the old fashioned way. Most check out fine. more so in recent years, not so much in the early days.

 

There you go... Now you like you van, I hope. Don't forget, you can reset the MPG at any time.