2012 ES City Mileage
 

I've had my 2012 ES 350 for 2 months now and I was expecting a little better gas mileage than I seem to be getting. I leave it on the "average" screen and so far it's not going much higher than 16 mpg. It's supposed to get 19 in the city. Is this normal or does it indicate a problem?

P.S. Mine is more "suburb" driving, so technically it should be a little better than strict "city" driving. I drive like a grandma in terms of acceleration.

My 2011 is averaging 16 mpg in suburbia too.

Have you tried using the Tank Average creen as a reference? The Average is an ongoing record and doesn't change until you reset it, so it can cover a wide variety of driving conditions over a long period. The tank average resets at each fill up and gives a snapshot of the mpg's with the current tank for gas. Just a thought.

My 2007 averages between 21 and 22 city driving. You should be getting better mileage. A lot of things can affect your mileage; tire pressure, driving habits, etc... but you should be getting at least 20 mpg. I've never gotten worse than 20 mpg since I bought my car new in November 2006.

I hadn't looked at mine for quite a while and just checked it. Currently the Average is 29.6 mpg and the Tank Average is 27.6 mpg. That's a mix of suburban and expressway driving.

But, as mentioned, so much goes into each persons mpg's it's really hard to compare. Especially driving style and traffic conditions. I agree though, it should be over 20 mpg's in suburban driving.

Aw, the flatlands. Here in Northeast PA, we have hills, upgrades and mountains all over the place.

Yeah, the flatlands do have some benefits. Plus most of my driving in the Lexus is during non-rush hour periods so the traffic flow is usually pretty good.

Do you use premium or regular grade of gas?

I've been using regular since the car was new 01/10.

My 16 mpg is actually a tank average. I forgot that I had a dedicated tank average measure, so I've been resetting the odometer manually each time I gas up. Now, if I take one trip on a highway my mpg will improve drastically, but I get 16 mpg with straight suburb driving (average speed probably around 35 mph and fairly flat - northern VA).

16 Mpg feels really bad to me - like I'm driving a Hummer bad. I use regular gas. Because I have tried to see what the absolute best mileage is I can get, I have purposefully been driving around with very conservative acceleration and deceleration.

If the consensus is that I'm getting abnormally low gas mileage, what should I do? Should I bring it into the dealer? Thanks.

Regular gas will give you worse fuel economy compared to premium gas. These engines are configured (e.g. timing) to run on 91 octane fuel. Using regular fuel will not damage your engine becasue timing is adjusted by the computer, but the change in timing will reduce engine efficiency as a result. Plus, the advertised fule ecomny values established by the manufacturer are with gas that does not contain ethanol. Most states require 10% ethanol in gas which also decreases fuel econmy.

2011 and 2012 ES350s are configured to run on 87 octane gas.

Proof: http://pressroom.lexus.com/article_d...rticle_id=2027

Personally for me - I drive in a very mixed suburbia style driving everyday (Relatively hilly, not flat but not pure stop and go city driving, more ~50-60mph sprints with stops at red lights) in my 2011 ES350 (I only use 87 octane gas) and I regularly get 22mpg city, which I personally thought was bad compared to my previous car where I was regularly getting 24mpg (2003 TL Type S) - but I guess weight and engine size are playing a factor.

I actually tried driving one time feathering the gas the entire time and also coasted with my foot off the gas more and tried one time just driving "normal" (normal for me is generally speaking shifting around 3000rpms for the first 3 or 4 gears). Even though the car told me I had gotten 25mpg on my "feather" drive and about 22mpg on my "normal" drive - when I calculated the gas mileage, I actually averaged around 22mpg in both cases! I think the ES over-estimates your mpg when your foot is off of the gas pedal. So - it is normal driving for me :)

It could come down simply to different driving situations, but 16mpg seems a little low. I would check on tire pressure first and then also perhaps try a different gas station in case you're getting bad fuel at the gas station you're regularly using. You can try 91 or 93 octane, but like I said - the 2011 and 2012 ES350s are designed to use 87 octane.

The EPA ratings for the 2010 on premium and 2011 on regular are the same at 19/27/22.

The 2012 on regular is rated at 19/28/22.

I haven't checked on my current car, but on my 2007 ES350 the car's computer was about 1 mpg or so higher than manual checks.

I use premium and mostly Shell 93.
I feel the ES runs at it's optimum level using premium like recommended in the past.The Camry and other Toyota's had the same engine and the Lexus was premium and the Toyota regular.The only difference was 4 HP and a bit of torque.
I don't do the average miles per so the extra cost isn't a big deal.

I'm getting about 20 mpg even here in Houston where it's bumper to bumper traffic