Niscur32

We are 1600 miles into our ES. It's been great so far and we have no problems. However the Distance to empty/Driving Range estimate is either off or just not accurate. The dummy gauge shows MPG of about 23.5 for last fillup/22.6 lifetime. Taking a 17.2 gallon tank into consideration we should be getting around 400 miles of driving range.

However, after every fillup, the range resets between 350-360 miles. And when the range drops to about 10-12 miles and the gas light comes on it NEVER takes more than 14 gallons to fill up a to couple of clicks at the pump.

Shouldnt the range update a little more exact to the current mpg and does this car have a 3 gallon reserve once the light goes on? That would leave about 75 miles worth of driving. Or maybe the range is based off the level light leaving the reserve in the tank out of the equation? I'd hate to run to the dealer and have them say "all is well".

Mike728

Yes, there's a 2 to 3 gallon reserve on most Japanese cars. My wife's CR-V is the same.

atoyota

There hafve been several discussion threads over the past couple years including this one. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...-capacity.html

I try not to game it too much because I've read in places that modern gas tanks, for fuel emissions purposes, have a collapsible rubber membrane that can contract and expand differently at different ambient temperature which can impact the maximum amount of fuel you can put in from fill-up to fill-up and is also why it is not recommended to top off the tank to completely full. It also means that there might not really be 3 extra gallons still in the tank when you ad the 14 to make the nozzle turn off at the first click. If you are only routinely putting in 14 gallons (as I do as well), I would fill up before I went way over my estimated tank mpg.

Mike728

You seem to contradict this in the other thread?

I can say from experience, that my ES's displayed range is off by as much as 3 gallons, as are others. Filling the car up until the pump stops, for the most part, is an accurate gauge of how much gas you've used. Knowing the capacity of the tank, you can pretty much determine the reserve capacity. This reserve seems to be unique to Japanese cars, at least from my 2 cars experience. I've not noticed this issue on any other cars that I've owned, which were not Japanese.

atoyota

it's very possible, I do drive differently now than I did a few years ago.

toyotatom

I live in the northeast and my wife has an 2014 ES350, I monitor the gas mileage and during the warmer months the MPG averages around 27 or so. When we fill up the range shows around 420. Now that its very cold out here, the MPG is down to 24.5 or so. The driving range now shows around 375 after filling up. In my estimation you can only reach the cruising range only if you drive way into the reserve after the gas light comes on. Highway mileage in warmer weather averages around 33 mpg. Being in Florida I would expect your car to get much better mileage than it is.

Niscur32

Thanks for the replies and the link to the older thread.

As far as our gas mileage goes I am actually not too concernd averaging 23mpg. For the first two months of ownership first 800 miles or so we primarily drove locally and not on our normal route due to new baby and constant errands. We have just finally begun our more normal routines of about 50/50 split city/highway and its never even been on a consistent interstate cruise yet. Plus we drive it like we stole it so heavy foot is the norm hence why we didn't look at the hydrid.

mrBillFL

like most cars today, I would guess the fuel pump is inside the tank. gas keeps the pump cool. hot pumps burn out. replacing one is a PITA.