I think I am missing something. How is this a big deal for anyone? I never get down to the warning to fill so I never see this as a problem. I do not see the real world implications?

 

It's a pain in the fanny to stop and fill up. An additional 3 -4 gallons AS ADVERTISED by Lexus in your tank when you fill up at the gas station will save overall time, especially over the lifetime of the car.

 

I still do not get it. Do you only fill when the warning comes on? Fueling is not an inconvenience from my perspective, so I cannot relate.

 

The there is no use beating this dead horse. I don't enjoy or look forward to going to the gas station and spending quality time with the pump. "Oh, good, I think I'll stop and top off my tank for a couple of gallons" said no one.

 

I will help qualify why it is a pain. First, the car is sold for having a 17.2 gal. tank that gets 27/28 mpg. The implication is that the range should easily be 450 miles if the car performs as advertised. That will catch a consumer/buyer's attention- very impressive for such a large vehicle. Lexus is using that data as a selling feature. If you are on a long trip, it is a very convenient range when driving. It also is very convenient when you do not have to fill up as often with less capacity. My big grievance is that Lexus is falsely advertising the implied range of the car. Lexus is very aware of this situation. Personally, I feel the published information is fraudulent for our car. We just filled our car up today and the DTE stated 387 miles. That is quite a difference from the 450 mile range implied on the sticker. We are not going to go the entire 387 mile to DTE which means we are probably filling up when it has gone about 350 miles. It is a pain when you know that the car should have a greater range. The warning light is very unpredictable and I do not trust it. It has shown with as little as 9 miles DTE and up to 20 miles DTE. I'm never sure how much gas we have in the tank because we can never fill up more than 13 gallons. If you can only fill up 13 gallons where are the other 4.2? I am not sure. I assume the fuel is in reserve. That sure is a lot of gas for reserve. Normally, you want 1 1/2 to 2 gallons. The gas capacity makes no sense on this car. If one is not sure about the reliability of the readings on the gauges then you really fill up sooner than later. We put at least 15,000 - 20,000 miles on the car a year. The amount of times you need to fill up does make a difference. I also agree about pumping gas. The last thing I want to do is be in line to fill up my car at a gas pump. I hope this helps make some sense of the situation.

 

Perhaps the TX500h is your first car? From your description you seem to be struggling the most basic ownership skills, including fueling and trip/range planning. Maybe an older mentor could help.

A few pointers based on my own TH500h experience ...

The TX500h will easily take 16 to16.8 gallons when run to zero range in my use and it manages 25 to 27 MPG (65-75 MPH) on long highway trips which means the practical highway range is at least 400 miles, which is at the high end of average for ICE cars.

It's sold as having 17.2 usable gallons fuel capacity on level ground, at which point it simply STOPS, per SAE testing.

By EPA guidance, highway MPG is tested at an average speed of 48 MPH and is limited to 60 MPH max. ALL cars are rated to this standard. Do YOU drive that way on the highway? Probably not. So 25-27 MPG at 70 MPH in a 2-1/2 ton six passenger vehicle that can do 0-60 in 6.1 seconds and hit 94 MPH in the quarter mile is ... remarkable.

File that away for reference.

"Range" is a COMPARATIVE METRIC not a practical one and is always calculated by multiplying max EPA highway MPG by "drive until dead on road with empty tank". I'm guessing you don't do much of that either. So don't expect it - in any car.

Based on my experience with my TH500h, you're "stuck" with a pretty normal 400 mile PRACTICAL highway range and should probably even refuel at 350 miles if you're "out in the boonies". Better than MANY cars, and a bit worse than some. The GAS cars I have today have practical ranges of 200 to 425 miles on reasonably flat highways. The best practical range in cars I've had was 500 miles, with an optional 30 gallon fuel tank. Filling THAT beast took a while.

In summary, if you hate the TX500h, sell it and get something else. Its resale value is about the best in the business, so you have options. Maybe a Camry would be a better fit. It can hit 48 MPG and 500 miles practical range. But it has a fraction of the capacity, acceleration and luxury. Its a trade.

Or just learn to use the TX500h properly. Its NOT an economy car. The "F-Sport" badge and Lexus brand makes that pretty clear.

Based on what you are posting, it doesn't even seem to be the same car I have.

Did you ever get the gauge cluster softwate update, BTW?

 

Thank you so much for the input. The TX 500h is not our first car. We do enjoy the car for the amenities that it has to offer. We have one of the first TX hybrids made and I do think they have improved the range for the 2026 models. I have concluded this from other posts made on the Internet. I think a Camry would be quite a radical difference from the TX but thank you for the suggestion. The 2 cars are not even close in similarity. I will check into the gauge cluster software update. I am not sure that update has been performed. We have had the car for over 2 years. If we absolutely couldn't stand it, we would have replaced it. We were not sure about owning a hybrid car but have enjoyed what it has to offer. The TX 500 h performs well for its size. My original point of concern is the information that Lexus advertises to the consumer. I now understand what the real world situation is. I can choose to live with it or sell it. We may sell it if and when we find something that surpasses what we have now for the price that we want to pay. The TX 500h was not an inexpensive car but certainly was not the most expensive car in its category.