FuelFacts

1998 Mercury Villager FWD Wagon MPG & Specs — Real-World vs EPA, All Trims

Every trim takes regular — no premium needed.

18
MPG combined (16 city / 22 hwy)
$3,167
est. fuel / year (today's prices, 15k mi)
Regular
gas type

Is the 1998 Mercury Villager FWD Wagon good on gas?

At up to 18 MPG combined, the 1998 Mercury Villager FWD Wagon is about average for a Special Purpose Vehicle 2WD — that class averages about 18.4 MPG across 746 EPA-tested versions, so it's middle-of-the-road for its size.

Real-world MPG vs the EPA number

The EPA figures above come from a standardized dynamometer test, not the open road — real-world MPG typically runs a bit lower depending on your driving, climate and terrain. That's true of every car on this site, old or new.

This 1998 model was originally EPA-tested under the pre-2008 2-cycle method, which didn't account for highway speeds over 60 mph, air-conditioner use, or cold starts. When EPA overhauled the test for model year 2008, city ratings fell by about 12% and highway by about 8% on average industry-wide — and EPA retroactively adjusted every 1984-2007 rating to the stricter standard so old and new cars could be compared fairly. The MPG above is already on that modern scale — the window sticker on this car when it was new likely showed a higher, pre-2008-method number.

At today's AAA national average price — $3.80/gal for regular gas as of 2026-07-05 — the most efficient trim runs about $3,167/year (roughly $264/month, about $21.11 per 100 miles) at the EPA's assumed 15,000 miles/year, using an estimated 833 gallons a year. We don't estimate a cost-per-fill since exact tank size isn't in the public EPA dataset, but the per-100-mile figure scales to any tank. Current national average gas prices →

1998 Mercury Villager FWD Wagon trims & fuel economy

Trim (engine / transmission)FuelMPGFuel/yr (today's price)
3.0L 6-cyl, Automatic 4-spd, FWDREGULAR18$3,167

1998 Mercury Villager FWD Wagon specs

What the EPA test-car listings record for this model year — every combination sold is a row in the trims table above.

Engine options3.0L 6-cyl
TransmissionAutomatic 4-spd
Drive typeFWD
EPA body classSpecial Purpose Vehicle 2WD
FuelRegular

Other years of the Mercury Villager FWD Wagon

2002 Mercury Villager FWD Wagon2001 Mercury Villager FWD Wagon2000 Mercury Villager FWD Wagon1999 Mercury Villager FWD Wagon1997 Mercury Villager FWD Wagon1996 Mercury Villager FWD Wagon1995 Mercury Villager FWD Wagon1994 Mercury Villager FWD Wagon

Similar cars (Special Purpose Vehicle 2WD)

1998 Toyota RAV4 2WD1998 Toyota RAV4 Soft Top 2WD1998 Chevrolet Tracker 2WD Convertible1998 Chevrolet Tracker 2WD Hardtop1998 Suzuki Sidekick 2Door RWD1998 Suzuki Sidekick 4Door RWD

Cars that take premium · Cheapest cars to fuel · Where fuel grade depends on the trim · Fuel guides

1 trim(s) · EPA FuelEconomy.gov data retrieved 2026-07-24 · fuel prices AAA national average as of 2026-07-05.