This might be a dumb question.

My 2013 is new to me, I've only recently had the low fuel light come on. Just the amber light on the gas gauge. Is that all it does to indicate low fuel? Or is that just first warning? With my BMW, it would chime and light at about 60 miles, then chime again and pop a text warning on the dash at 30 miles.

I didn't hear any chime and just happened to notice the light was on in the LS. Curious if its going to be more obnoxious if I miss the little light and get lower. I've gotten kinda used to the car warning me in a little louder voice when its low on fuel, but I can learn to pay better attention if all I get is a little light in the LS.

 

On my 07 when you get to the last 2 gallons or so the light comes on. I do not see or hear anything else. I drive a Mercedes Sprinter for work it chimes and flashes the fuel pump icon.

 

Hey Shad, our 2013 is also new to us. It FEELS like only 2 gallons left, like johnnyg said but I think technically there is a good 4 gallons left (not that you want to run it that dry). I say it feels like two gallons because that gas needle drops fast once the light comes on. In our old Sienna it had so much leftover once the light came on that I could confidently travel 75 more miles in the city (and have done so). With the LS, I get paranoid after 30 miles past the light coming on. If I recall correctly, when filling up as soon as I see the gas light it will need about 17.5 gallons. The LS 460 has a 22.2-gallon tank and I filled mine today with 21.391 gallons. Based on my MPG, I can probably safely travel 50-60 miles at the onset of the gas light. However, I am trying to get into the habit of filling up once I reach the 1/4 mark.

 

Manual says it comes on about 3.4gal left in the tank. I'm just annoyed that all it does it light up a tiny little light. I've gotten accustomed to not having to pay attention to such things on this level of car. If it needs something, it should do something more than just light up a tiny light.

 

Oh, good catch. Perhaps it really is closer to 19-gallon fill-up at the light and what I'm mistakenly recalling is 17-ish gallons at the quarter-tank mark. Thanks for the official numbers. I haven't spent much time in German luxury cars and didn't realize they monitor fuel level to that degree. Interesting feature. I always wondered why BMW had window controls at the center console area. It seemed more natural to have window switches near the actual windows.

 

On my 2009 LS600h the light will come on at about 100km's range left.



At about 50 km's range left it says "Low Fuel" on the display.

 

I believe once it gets to a certain point it does also say "LOW FUEL"

That little amber light for low fuel is a classic LS touch. My 400 and 430 had the same thing, other Lexuses don't

You should always pay attention to your gauges and not rely on lights or warnings. I can tell you how much fuel is in mine right now, it was a little below 1/2 a tank when I shut it off 5 hours ago. Checking them is just automatic for me.

 

Wish I could honestly answer this question, but my OCD-ness never lets myself have fuel less than half a tank, especially in the winter.
I also do not like the fact of making my fuel pump working hard than it has to when it's that low on fuel.

 

Good to know the low light on display. I have never let it get that low. But the light does come on around the 70ish miles cruising range too.

 

For me the light come on with about 70 miles left. Then after around 39-42 miles left it says Low Fuel. I've never tried to see how far I can drive with it saying Low Fuel, but you definitely can't miss it when it says Low Fuel.

 

Alright, now that's what I was hoping to hear. I want a little more involvement from the car that just a little light. It might sound elitist, but at this level of car, I expect it to do things that lesser cars do not. One of those things is have alerts that do not require me to monitor gauges. Its got tons of computing power and graphic displays, it should use them.

One of the things luxury is all about is having the car do things for you that you have to do for yourself in other cars.

 

I don't agree with this at all. Its still a car, and a reasonable level of driver involvement is required to operate it safely and keep it in good condition. People rely too much on lights and such nowadays. Yes it has a low oil warning, doesn't mean I don't check the oil once a month, which I've done since I was a teenager. Doesn't mean I don't eyeball the fluid levels I can see (lots of plastic under there lol). It has brake wear indicators, but that doesn't mean my mechanic doesn't measure the thickness of the brake pads. It has blind spot monitoring, but I still look to see if a car is there. It has rear cross traffic alert, I still look to see if somebody is coming.

These things are there to smack you in the head when you're being a dolt, but if you rely on the smacking as the first indicator of trouble, you're asking for trouble. Do you wait for your gas grill to run out of gas in the middle of grilling dinner before you check the level? Do you wait for your smoke detectors to tell you your house is on file or do you monitor a frying pan on the stove?

Case in point, why do none of us seem to know for sure whether the car says "LOW FUEL" on the screen in between the gauges when it obviously does? Because we never let the fuel get that low. I've only seen that screen warning maybe one time, and the little yellow light, maybe 3 times in the 3 years I've owned an LS460. When it gets around 1/4 a tank, I get gas. Letting the tank go really low isn't good for the car, the fuel pump is cooled by the fuel running through it, etc. Getting gas when I still have enough gas to get me places allows me to choose the right station, brand, and price of fuel as it becomes available to me instead of sputtering into whatever is closest out of fear the things going to die with all the warning lights on. Who wants that stress?!?

"Lesser cars?" EVERY car today has these warnings.

 

Agreed. Does not make any sense to wait to put gas in. I do the same, right around 1/4 tank find a good station.

 

On 2015's and newer Lexi go into "Detailed Navi Settings" and turn "On"
low fuel warning. You will get to chose a nearby fuel station from the pop up
that appears when the low fuel light and message appear.

 

Respectfully, I disagree. It is a car, this is true, but its also a very high end luxury car that has a price tag to match. One my expectations of such equipment is that it does stuff for me so I don't have to do it. If every car has something then it ceases to be a luxury and becomes commonplace. A flagship vehicle should be just that. I don't check my oil, I don't check my brake pads, I don't check my tire pressures and I rarely pay attention to the fuel level. The car has systems in place to do the work for me, that's why I spent that kind of money on it. If it didn't have those systems, I'd have to do it myself.

There is no question that these things needs to be monitored, my point is I shouldn't have to be doing that manually on this car. The technology onboard the car has an infinitely better view into the data pertinent to the maintenance of the vehicle. I paid for that level of tech, I want it to do its job and inform me in a manner appropriate to the circumstance.

As to your other points, I lack a monitoring system for my propane tank and frying pan on the stove. Therefore, I have to manually monitor those. However, I don't check my pools chemical balance after my pool guy has come and I don't inspect the soil fertilizer levels after my landscaper does his work. I have something else monitoring those and alerting me of issues.