zmwu

I bough a used 2013 es300h about a year ago and drive mostly city. My average speed is about 11mph in new york. I always keep the driving mode in ECO. Yet I cannot get my gas mileage to be better than 25MPG. Official MPG is at least 39MPG. I have taken it to the dealer twice on this. The first time they reset the computer and make me drive it to see if it gets better. After about 2 tanks of gas it is not better. The second time they keep the car for many days and apparently run many tests and found nothing wrong and they also found the same MPG. I eventually called lexus directly to make the complaint. They replied to me with a voice mail saying that it's normal and depends on my driving habit and that i could try changing the type of gas I use to be 89 or higher. This octane advice is supposed to be useless based on my own research online; it's only going to emit more pollutants. In any case I tried 89 (instead of recommended 87) and gas mileage improvement is zero.

I am very disappointed with this car. If I get at least 30MPG I would be satisfied but getting just 60% of advertised MPG is simply unacceptable. Our driving habit is not out of the ordinary and in fact is always more to the style of little-old-lady like. Others do not have seem to experience this kind of horrid MPG for this model from online database I checked. Any idea on how I can get lexus to do something about this?

azipod

It sounds like you are in bumper to bumper traffic if you are only averaging 11-mph. Do you also do short trips as well?
I'm sorry to say but I think 25 mpg is normal if you are in fact driving in these types of conditions.
The EPA or the auto makers come up with MPGs under controlled conditions in a lab. They are in no where any close to the conditions we experience in real-world driving. Therefore, you can never rely on the MPG stated on the window, nor should you ever expect to get that.
Stop and go traffic are harsh conditions for ANY car -- and that is reflected in the MPG. It's just like picking up a lightweight 8-lb dumb-bell.
If's easy doing repetitive lifts initially, but your arm will quickly give out when you start doing that 100+ times. It's the same for the car accelerating from a stop in stop and go traffic. Sorry for the bad news!

zmwu

Hybrid are especially supposed to be good for stop-and-go bumper-to-bumper traffic, no? I wonder what MPG and average speed other owners of es300h are doing.

jollick

My 2013 ES300h commute is 14 miles each way with an average speed of 25 mph according to the car. A portion of the trip is bumper to bumper and some is at 50 mph but with traffic signals.My average mpg tracked on fuelly since new is 35.9 mpg. If you are in constant bumper to bumper, the battery will need to keep recharging once it is depleted and hence the depleted mpg. IMHO.

azipod

This is not true. During initial stop-and-go, your vehicle does very well because the engine can remain off while the vehicle can glide forward using just the battery -- you get very good gas mileage during this phase because the engine is off. However, after you deplete your battery, the engine has to go into another phase where it now kicks on 100% of the time not only carrying the load of the vehicle, but also the load to charge up the battery. This is where your MPG will fall miserably. And no, the two phases do not compensate and average out things. Charging up the battery takes a huge load on the engine --- the only exception is if the engine is already running at a good speed (ie. cruising on the highway).

norakat

Try increasing your tire pressure to 34-35 psi. Tire pressure makes a big difference if you can handle the harder ride.

Check your air filter to make sure it's clean. Also makes a big difference.

Maybe check battery condition if it's cheap to do.

I also heard some people finding their transmission oil levels low from the factory.

TechNut

Our drive and conditions are very similar, as is our mileage. Our best tank has been 40.9 and our worst tank was this winter when we had heavy snow and temperatures below zero. We got 31 MPG.

The driving conditions you described are where hybrids are at their best, but you have to be able to have enough time with the internal combustion engine running to charge the battery. It still seems like you should be able to get better mileage than you are seeing. Perhaps a different dealer for a diagnosis?

400to300H

50 miles round trip with a mix of traffic and at speed. My 13 with 110k miles on the clock averages about 32mpg, if i use eco mode and really granny it i might get 35.

chromedome

I'd get the dealer to check the battery pack condition. You could also do it yourself using a Bluetooth OBD adapter, the Torque app on Android and log individual block voltages on a short drive.

With smooth traffic and low speed limits, I've seen 50-60 mpg at 50 mph. On my usual 15 mile commute at max 50 mph I get 45+ mpg in Eco mode, 50 mpg if the gods are happy and the lights are all green.On highways at 70+ mph I only get 35 mpg. It's possible to get 40 mpg on highways but you'll be going 60 mph, more like a mobile chicane.

nrmekosh

We have a '13 es300h with 60K miles that my wife uses for work daily. The trip is 20 miles up and down the hills of PA. She typically average 37 -38mpg, In the winter, it drops to 34-35. We have taken it on trips and average 39-43, driving +5-10 above the speed limit. I have not notice any negative effects with stop and go traffic unless the temperatures are extremely hot or cold. Rabbit acceleration driving habits do have a major effect on the mpg.

jollick

Just for clarification, are your mpg numbers calculated manually or from the car's display?

nrmekosh

Just an FYI, a dirty air filter does not after gas mileage. On modern cars with air flow and oxygen sensors, the computer compensates for the reduction of air flow caused by dirty air filters. In older carbureted cars, dirty air filters did increase gas consumption but this is not the case in modern cars. A dirty air filter will reduce top end power since max air flow is not possible.

nrmekosh

The mileage numbers are calculated. I document every time I fill up the tank (done this for years) and calculate the actual value. Toyota vehicles calculated MPG readings typically read higher than actual by 2 or better. Our Prius was similar, displaying higher than actual. Our 2004 Camry often displayed 36 or 38 mpg on trips when actual numbers were in the 30-32 range. When question under warranty, Toyota stated in was in the computer and would not change it.

I use the MPG readout as a guide and calculate the real number. Sometimes I question the accuracy of the car's odometer. The car's actual speed display also reads 2 mph higher than actual when compared to my Garmin GPS. (I never compared the miles of the Garmin to the odometer) I recently used a 2017 Lexus SUV and it's mph reading was right on. Maybe they finally got it right.

jollick

Thank you, I do the same. My 2015 ES350 calculates it very close to actual calculated mpg but my 2013 ES300h usually reads 1 to 1.5 mpg higher than calculated. Great mpg for a car of its size.

nrmekosh

"Great mpg for a car of its size." ,,,, absolutely agree.