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One of my employee's has a 2000 Focus wagon, automatic with 31K miles on it. He took it on a trip across Pa. on the Turnpike this past weekend. With the cruise set between 65 to 67 mph, he got 35.7 mpg across the state and back.

For cubic feet for the mileage of a passenger car the Focus wagon is a good one. Not bad mileage for a start! By the way, really low miles on that Focus.

The auto must really help on the highway. I avoid the HWY whenever possible in order to keep my mileage up. Also the cruise kills my mpgs in this car. I wonder what kind of mileage the OP car would've gotten without using cruise.

I had the same problem in my SVT Focus with cruise control. But my highway mileage without cruise was pretty good, I was always able to pull a solid 34mpg without really even trying. It was a bright spot as the SVT tune killed the mileage in-town.

FWIW, my first car was an '00 Focus with the DOHC Zetec (which I believe was standard in Focus wagons) with auto...and never bested 32ish on the highway. Then again, I was 16 and drove like it in a car I didn't want...so I would say that's pretty decent mileage in that Focus wagon! Also FWIW I have heard that the SOHC 8v Focus models are easily capable of 38mpg highway with no effort and well over 40 with just a few basic techniques.