how come l am only getting 18MPG (based from the MPG monitor), as oppose to most reviewers' 24-28 MPG?... mostly drive 60-65 mph on highway.Is the monitor unreliable or is there something wrong with my vehicle... already.Thanks to all who will respond.
It is an 09 Forester XL.

No one ever gets the gas mileage that is on the sticker.In order to do that you must drive at a steady mph with the windows closed, no AC running, and maybe downhill with a tail wind. If your vehicle is all wheel drive it will use more gas then 4 wheel drive. You might want to start off slower, use the AC, then having the windows down that makes for drag.

Review your driving technique, Subarus are fine cars but have a reputation for being thirsty.

Take ur foot off the right pedal! Its a turbo, so be gentle on the gas or u will be paying for it at the pump. l found that if u r gentle when accelerating u can get 24 mpg, but the heavy foot = more gas & bad mileage. The other thing l have found out from the Subaru community is that one u get about 30k miles some people have reported seeing an increase in mileage. l think they were saying it was because the engine finally settled in, after all, they r pretty tight right from the line. Dunno if its true, but in 12k more miles l guess my Legacy will find out! Good luck man, & remember u got a nice ride...so take care of it!

First off most of those above r wrong & the X isnt a Turbo the XT is, but if u do have a turbo try to keep out of boost (below 3000 RPM's) if ur always using the turbo u will suck gas bad. Anyway..

To answer ur question:

1. The monitor on the dash is based off ur Trip A & Trip B that can be reset by pushing the odometer knob, the MPG indicator works off of this & is not accurate until at least 300 miles or so is on. So if u have reset this it will start off at 0MPG & slowly work up as u drive.

2. If its an automatic make sure the shifter is to the right (normal drive) if its to the left (Sport Mode) this will use more gas & if u push up or down to the left u r in Manual mode, often we see drivers accidently go to Manual instead of Drive & r running around town in 1st gear.

3. If its a manual try to shift at lowest RPM is possible.

4. Check ur actual MPG wait until ur on E & fill ur tank & reset ur Trip A wait until ur back on E & look at ur miles, then divide those miles by the number of gallons u used, this will give u a rough number, see if they jive.

You should absouletly get between 25-31 MPG combined driving, any less & YES there is something wrong, but no worries it would be under warrantee Im sure. As far as the ''nobody gets the advertised miles'' Why would we have EPA estimated mileage on EVERY car sold if they where not accurate. These where just revamped in 08 to be MORE accurate & actually give a range of expected range. In Subaru this number went down a few from previous years but we r actually seeing about 2-3MPG increase with most of our 09 Forester customers showing 28-31MPG vs 25-27 previously. This is in New England which is a very hilly area.