Bought a 1995 GS 300 six months ago and am still trying to get to the bottom of its poor fuel consumption.

I'm getting 12.5 mpg (US) on local journeys. My normal journeys are anything between 3 and 12 miles. I don't sit in traffic with the engine running and I don't drive like a boy racer.

On longer journeys, even at high speeds, fuel consumption is twice that, which is OK.

When I start up from cold, I get a really strong smell of neat fuel from the exhaust. It's powerful enough to smell inside the car with the window down. I don't get the smell when the engine is at its normal operating temperature, but it's there if I start the car with engine warm.

I've already discussed this with Lexus UK, whose technical people were not able to suggest anything. The car has also spent a day with the local Lexus dealer, who said there was nothing wrong. But he didn't even bother to check the car when it was cold. I won't go back there again.

I've had two emissions checks on the exhaust which showed that emissions are OK. I reset the ECU, which seemed to improve the smoothness of the engine but didn't improve the consumption.

Gasoline costs something like 6 dollars a gallon here and I'd really like to get this fixed some time soon. I intend to take the car to another Lexus dealer and don't want to be fobbed off again.

Any suggestions?

Stevie

 

you might have a faulty oxygen sensor, but if your engine light is not on, then it could be something else. have you changed your air filter? spark plugs? fuel filter?

 

The car was serviced by the (Toyota) dealer the day before I took delivery.

A dirty air filter etc. would also affect the emissions and the fuel consumption on long journeys, which are perfectly OK.

I think the fuel smell points to the problem, but I'm not an expert.

Stevie

 

By the way, the car starts, idles and runs fine.

Stevie