2012 Volkswagen Golf TDI

Mk6, US. Bought January 7, 2013. Logged from Jan 23, 2013 to Feb 2, 2017. Diesel. Real-world fuel economy from 100 fill-ups: 37.0 MPG on average, 37.0 miles per gallon overall, at $0.086 per mile.

100

Fill-ups

48,011

Miles

1,299

Gallons

$4,127

Spent on fuel

37.0

Average tank MPG

37.0 overall (miles / gallons)

$0.086

Cost per mile

$3.18

Average $ per gallon

32.3

Miles per day

14.9

Days between fills

median 15

12.99gal

Average fill

The tank

14.5gal

Rated capacity

verified by the owner, 2026-09-13

12.99gal

Typical fill

90% of the tank

13.84gal

Deepest fill

95% of the tank, Dec 21, 2016 (Deep freeze)

1.5gal

Left in the tank at a typical fill

about 56 miles at the median MPG

541mi

Full-tank range

14.5 gal times the median 37.3 MPG

Every fill is treated as a fill to full, so gallons pumped is what the tank was missing. Left-in-the-tank and range are estimates from the rated capacity, not gauge readings.

MPG per tank

Each dot is one tank. The line is the trailing five-tank average; the dashed line is the median over all 100 tanks. Tanks under four gallons are still plotted but never count as a best or worst tank.

Price per gallon

Total paid divided by gallons pumped, one dot per fill-up.

Temperature and mileage

Each tank against the mean temperature over the days it was driven, at Atlanta. Fitted: +0.1 MPG per 10°F over 100 tanks, r = 0.08. Cold, under 50°F: 36.5 MPG (27 tanks). Mild, 50 to 75°F: 37.2 MPG (52 tanks). Warm, over 75°F: 36.8 MPG (21 tanks). Weather data by Open-Meteo.

Year by year

Year	Fill-ups	Miles	Gallons	Spent	Avg MPG	Avg $ / gal	Cost / mile	Miles / day	Days between
2013	27	12,902	348.3	$1,355	37.0	$3.89	$0.105	36.0	13.3
2014	30	14,564	386.8	$1,415	37.6	$3.66	$0.097	41.0	11.8
2015	23	11,490	301.7	$774	38.1	$2.57	$0.067	31.5	15.9
2016	18	8,166	236.1	$520	34.6	$2.20	$0.064	22.3	20.3
2017	2	889	26.1	$63	34.1	$2.40	$0.070	20.7	21.5
All	100	48,011	1,299.0	$4,127	37.0	$3.18	$0.086	32.3	14.9

Avg MPG and Avg $ per gallon are means over tanks, the way the old spreadsheet summarized a year. Cost per mile and miles per day are ratios of the year's totals. A year with a car change counts only this car's tanks.

Seasons

Season	Tanks	Avg MPG	Avg $ / gal
Winter (Dec to Feb)	27	36.4	$3.10
Spring (Mar to May)	26	36.8	$3.29
Summer (Jun to Aug)	25	36.8	$3.19
Fall (Sep to Nov)	22	37.9	$3.15

Records

42.1MPG

Best tank

Oct 21, 2013, 533 mi

32.8MPG

Worst tank

Apr 15, 2016, 421 mi

533mi

Longest tank

Oct 21, 2013

$1.90

Cheapest gallon

Feb 18, 2016

$4.16

Priciest gallon

Feb 22, 2013

30days

Longest gap

ending Dec 21, 2016

Notes and maintenance

Date	Miles on the car	Note
Jan 23, 2013	453	oil changeOil Change
Nov 13, 2013	10,553	oil changeOil Change
Jan 31, 2014	14,212	Winter Storm
Jun 17, 2014	20,538	oil changeOil change, fuel filter
Dec 21, 2014	27,466	Winter Storm
Feb 28, 2015	29,914	oil changeOil Change
Oct 14, 2015	37,024	oil changeOil Change, fuel-air-cabin filter
Dec 21, 2015	38,956	tiresNew tires
Feb 18, 2016	40,357	DSG Service / New Job
Jun 16, 2016	43,020	Hot > 90
Jul 2, 2016	43,481	Hot > 90
Jul 22, 2016	43,927	Hot > 90
Aug 10, 2016	44,384	Hot > 91
Aug 30, 2016	44,844	Hot > 92
Sep 16, 2016	45,246	oil changeOil Change
Dec 21, 2016	47,122	Deep freeze

"Miles on the car" is the sum of tank miles since purchase, which is the odometer for the Corolla and a running total for the earlier cars.

Every tank

Search Year 100 tanks

Date	Miles	Gallons	Cost	$ / gal	MPG	Days	Notes
Feb 2, 2017	429	12.30	$30.88	$2.51	34.9	17
Jan 16, 2017	460	13.84	$31.75	$2.29	33.2	26
Dec 21, 2016	460	13.84	$33.22	$2.40	33.2	30	Deep freeze
Nov 21, 2016	460	13.10	$30.68	$2.34	35.1	24
Oct 28, 2016	471	13.20	$29.43	$2.23	35.7	20
Oct 8, 2016	485	13.50	$32.34	$2.40	35.9	22
Sep 16, 2016	402	11.72	$26.96	$2.30	34.3	17	oil changeOil Change
Aug 30, 2016	460	13.29	$31.61	$2.38	34.6	20	Hot > 92
Aug 10, 2016	457	13.06	$28.45	$2.18	35.0	19	Hot > 91
Jul 22, 2016	446	13.13	$29.66	$2.26	34.0	20	Hot > 90
Jul 2, 2016	461	13.44	$30.91	$2.30	34.3	16	Hot > 90
Jun 16, 2016	457	13.33	$31.44	$2.36	34.3	21	Hot > 90
May 26, 2016	429	12.82	$29.21	$2.28	33.5	21
May 5, 2016	441	12.98	$28.42	$2.19	34.0	20
Apr 15, 2016	421	12.82	$26.78	$2.09	32.8	20
Mar 26, 2016	449	13.23	$26.44	$2.00	33.9	21
Mar 5, 2016	466	13.35	$26.15	$1.96	34.9	16
Feb 18, 2016	447	12.87	$24.45	$1.90	34.7	20	DSG Service / New Job
Jan 29, 2016	486	13.17	$26.32	$2.00	36.9	21
Jan 8, 2016	468	13.21	$28.00	$2.12	35.4	18
Dec 21, 2015	480	13.15	$28.92	$2.20	36.5	15	tiresNew tires
Dec 6, 2015	473	12.93	$30.51	$2.36	36.6	16
Nov 20, 2015	491	12.91	$30.99	$2.40	38.0	16
Nov 4, 2015	488	12.78	$30.40	$2.38	38.2	21
Oct 14, 2015	509	13.36	$32.05	$2.40	38.1	18	oil changeOil Change, fuel-air-cabin filter
Sep 26, 2015	507	13.21	$31.16	$2.36	38.4	12
Sep 14, 2015	500	12.97	$32.41	$2.50	38.6	17
Aug 28, 2015	506	13.20	$32.99	$2.50	38.3	15
Aug 13, 2015	509	13.40	$34.82	$2.60	38.0	15
Jul 29, 2015	508	13.32	$34.63	$2.60	38.1	15
Jul 14, 2015	510	13.00	$34.06	$2.62	39.2	18
Jun 26, 2015	486	13.20	$34.67	$2.63	36.8	15
Jun 11, 2015	512	13.23	$35.70	$2.70	38.7	20
May 22, 2015	528	13.47	$37.17	$2.76	39.2	16
May 6, 2015	504	13.40	$37.24	$2.78	37.6	18
Apr 18, 2015	528	13.29	$34.54	$2.60	39.7	21
Mar 28, 2015	505	13.05	$34.71	$2.66	38.7	16
Mar 12, 2015	498	13.08	$34.66	$2.65	38.1	12
Feb 28, 2015	485	13.01	$35.88	$2.76	37.3	12	oil changeOil Change
Feb 16, 2015	500	13.23	$36.50	$2.76	37.8	16
Jan 31, 2015	499	12.66	$29.10	$2.30	39.4	15
Jan 16, 2015	457	12.75	$33.77	$2.65	35.8	13
Jan 3, 2015	507	13.10	$37.54	$2.87	38.7	13
Dec 21, 2014	448	13.10	$39.23	$2.99	34.2	12	Winter Storm
Dec 9, 2014	495	12.90	$43.52	$3.37	38.4	18
Nov 21, 2014	487	13.04	$42.90	$3.29	37.3	15
Nov 6, 2014	500	13.01	$43.70	$3.36	38.4	14
Oct 23, 2014	513	13.21	$45.18	$3.42	38.8	14
Oct 9, 2014	483	12.67	$45.10	$3.56	38.1	14
Sep 25, 2014	507	12.94	$46.58	$3.60	39.2	14
Sep 11, 2014	517	13.44	$48.10	$3.58	38.5	12
Aug 30, 2014	490	12.83	$46.94	$3.66	38.2	11
Aug 19, 2014	489	12.76	$47.28	$3.71	38.3	13
Aug 6, 2014	505	13.27	$48.01	$3.62	38.1	11
Jul 26, 2014	481	12.86	$48.07	$3.74	37.4	14
Jul 12, 2014	498	13.03	$47.42	$3.64	38.2	10
Jul 2, 2014	515	13.32	$48.49	$3.64	38.7	15
Jun 17, 2014	464	13.19	$48.01	$3.64	35.2	10	oil changeOil change, fuel filter
Jun 7, 2014	477	12.56	$47.73	$3.80	38.0	9
May 29, 2014	500	13.07	$49.65	$3.80	38.3	13
May 16, 2014	490	12.85	$48.82	$3.80	38.1	7
May 9, 2014	486	13.02	$50.78	$3.90	37.3	11
Apr 28, 2014	484	12.93	$49.14	$3.80	37.4	13
Apr 15, 2014	499	13.41	$52.27	$3.90	37.2	11
Apr 4, 2014	516	12.96	$49.74	$3.84	39.8	11
Mar 24, 2014	493	13.35	$52.04	$3.90	36.9	9
Mar 15, 2014	463	12.51	$48.27	$3.86	37.0	10
Mar 5, 2014	490	12.99	$49.35	$3.80	37.7	9
Feb 24, 2014	490	12.85	$48.82	$3.80	38.1	14
Feb 10, 2014	474	12.70	$46.52	$3.66	37.3	10
Jan 31, 2014	430	12.26	$45.33	$3.70	35.1	12	Winter Storm
Jan 19, 2014	458	12.00	$44.85	$3.74	38.2	10
Jan 9, 2014	422	11.73	$43.15	$3.68	36.0	9
Dec 31, 2013	472	12.55	$46.18	$3.68	37.6	12
Dec 19, 2013	439	11.91	$46.42	$3.90	36.9	7
Dec 12, 2013	488	12.74	$49.67	$3.90	38.3	8
Dec 4, 2013	448	12.15	$47.37	$3.90	36.9	12
Nov 22, 2013	502	12.98	$50.60	$3.90	38.7	9
Nov 13, 2013	502	12.98	$50.60	$3.90	38.7	13	oil changeOil Change
Oct 31, 2013	522	13.23	$51.59	$3.90	39.5	10
Oct 21, 2013	533	12.67	$49.41	$3.90	42.1	17	Ultra conservative driving habits
Oct 4, 2013	510	13.62	$53.09	$3.90	37.4	15
Sep 19, 2013	505	13.37	$52.12	$3.90	37.8	11
Sep 8, 2013	493	13.29	$51.82	$3.90	37.1	19
Aug 20, 2013	500	13.48	$52.55	$3.90	37.1	19
Aug 1, 2013	484	12.94	$50.45	$3.90	37.4	13
Jul 19, 2013	448	12.91	$50.35	$3.90	34.7	13
Jul 6, 2013	497	13.62	$51.73	$3.80	36.5	12
Jun 24, 2013	465	13.28	$50.44	$3.80	35.0	15
Jun 9, 2013	437	12.04	$45.76	$3.80	36.3	14
May 26, 2013	469	12.65	$48.06	$3.80	37.1	12
May 14, 2013	475	12.89	$48.97	$3.80	36.9	9
May 5, 2013	463	12.88	$48.93	$3.80	35.9	12
Apr 23, 2013	491	13.03	$49.51	$3.80	37.7	14
Apr 9, 2013	457	12.71	$49.56	$3.90	36.0	14
Mar 26, 2013	451	12.33	$49.32	$4.00	36.6	17
Mar 9, 2013	469	13.17	$52.66	$4.00	35.6	15
Feb 22, 2013	457	12.74	$52.99	$4.16	35.9	14
Feb 8, 2013	472	13.25	$52.98	$4.00	35.6	16
Jan 23, 2013	453	12.94	$51.73	$4.00	35.0	16	oil changeOil Change