TampaOwner

inflated the tires to 36psi and im getting 32mpg now.. its an incredible machine

SueT

I can't imagine that all of you are getting such great mileage. I've had my 2011 rx450h for a year and 3 months. Have 12,000 miles on it. I have checked the mileage every time I filled up and have not gotten more than 21 mpg except once, when I got 23 mpg! This is my 3rd rx (had my last one for 7 years), first hybrid (also had an es300). When I was looking, 2 different salesmen told me not to get the car (hybrid) and that I wouldn't get anything near the 32 mpg that I was expecting. I also spoke to a guy who was selling his 2010 hybrid who told me he got around 26 mpg. I was told how to drive the car, and I drive on flat roads in Florida. I can probably drive idle and not press on the gas or brake with any car and get good gas mileage. I don't have the luxury of driving like that in real life though. I think it's criminal that Lexus can advertise 32 MPG and deliver 21 mpg. Then nobody at lexus wants to discuss this. No reply or passing the problem off to others. Service dept. back steps and finds other things to discuss so that they don't have to address the poor mileage issue. The hybrid is a dog also, which would be fine if it delivered good gas mileage. My sister in law has the 350 which is very quick and handles nicely. Mine drives more like a truck. I am very unimpressed with the hybrid. Luckily, I purchase my cars so I'm not locked into a multi year deal. I will try to unload this car soon, and maybe it's time to move onto another make instead of being so loyal to Lexus. I can't imagine how one person can get 21 MPG and others are getting 30!

Cruiter

Sue, welcome to the forum.
I can't imagine you're getting that kind of mileage if you're driving it properly. You mentioned you "don't have the luxury of driving like that". I'm not sure what you mean exactly but if you don't drive a hybrid with a driving style to get get mileage then you won't, plain and simple.

I have a 2010 and my mileage since late June of 09 has been in the 30+ range but I've altered my old driving style of fast starts and hard braking to light acceleration and when possible coasting more as the regen braking system helps to slow the car.

And cold starts with short trips (under 10 miles) are hard on mileage as well as the engine doesn't get to full operating temp or just gets there when you reach your destination. The best mileage comes when the engine is already warmed from driving.

If you adapt a very un-aggressive style you should start experiencing the mileage it can give and far more than the standard RX350 is able to deliver. It's not criminal as far at the advertising goes. Many of us achieve it easily.

Let us know how it goes

GoHuskers

I read the message many times. It sounds like someone is pissed at her/his current car. Sometimes it is hard to fool ALL of us here......

Alpy64

Driving hybrid is a learning trip in itself!
1- reduce as much as possible the air conditioning which activates system and participate to higher consumption... I know it is comfortable but reduce ventilation to an acceptable speed (and noise).
2- When you accelerate (not too strong!) you can release the pressure of your foot and find the "rupture point" of the fuel engine to stop which is relayed by electrical engine (battery...).
This can be reached on flat roads, at various speeds (even above 70km/h, trust me! when outside temp is above 20°C).
3- Use decelaration (anticipation) rather than breaks,
4- use intelligent (I joke) mix of pulse and glide mode to maintain as much as possible energey level in batteries and
5- avoid long stops, engine running, with air conditioning in service, lights, CD's, etc.
6- Try, try and try but you driving style must change to reach our figures.

UCSB

21 MPG sounds to low. I think you have a problem with your car. If you search this hybrid forum and the normal RX forum carefully, I think you can find a post by someone else that had this problem and fixed it by replacing a defective sensor in the car. The post may be tough to find. I will attempt to work from memory here ... but, this may not be completely accurate. As I remember the problem, the sensor detected something like whether the car was going up a hill or not and was starting the engine much more frequently than it should have. The cars computer system collects data from sensors in the engine and car and reacts to these inputs. If a sensor is sending faulty info the car will operate incorrectly.

You might try your Lexus dealer. If that does not work try another Lexus dealer, maybe two. If they do not work, contact Lexus corporate and see if they can have someone work with you to resolve this problem ... perhaps they can send out a senior tech that has a higher level of training than your local dealership.

These kinds of failures are rare. There have only been a couple of people come on the forum with this very low gas mileage. One solved the problem, the other did not (or at least did not make us aware of the solution). So it is possible that your local dealership has never seen this problem.

Since you are expecting 32MPG, I am assuming that you have the FWD 450h. With a light foot on a flat freeway going in the 60 to 65 MPH range you should be easily able to get over 26 MPG (I typically get in the 28 to 32 MPG range). Around town driving conservatively at speeds under 50 MPH your should be able to get 29 MPG to 32 MPG with careful driving. Driving very aggressively, I don't think I could get down to 21 MPG (perhaps 24 MPG at worst; I don't think I have seen anything less than 27 ever). The truth about hybrids is that you have to really baby them to get the higher mileage numbers ... it requires some thought and focus. But, you should be able to come within 2 MPG with normal conservative driving.

Another thing that leads me to believe there is something wrong with your car (or driving technique) is that you say your car drives like a truck. This just does not sound right. My 450h is a serene driving environment ... something is off here. Serene in part because it is running on battery only or engine/battery often. The CVT transmission should be keeping the engine RPM down. It just sounds like your car is working to hard because it is not operating correctly.

If you are able to solve the problem, please come back with your solution and some detailed info. If it turns out that it was a sensor, please start your own thread with a clear title indicating sensor failure.

Good luck.

EDIT: I did a search and found the post that I referenced above (you might want to read the entire thread in addition): https://www.clublexus.com/forums/7147588-post29.html

The post may be of interest to others and so I will quote it here--- it was created by Traveler1 from Tokyo, Japan :

"I've met the same situation after my trial, they couldn't specify the problem. What I did was getting TaSCAN computer (TOYOTA's vehicle testing tool) and check its status. I found the gravity sensor value was incorrect. The HV ECU (Hybrid Vehicle Computer) monitors road slope, to reduce power on downhill and to increase power on uphill, I believe. On the flat yard, it showed "downhill", and I additionally check the bank on a hill from both side, and the absolute values are not the same!. So that I initialized zero point of gravity using TaSCAN. After then, I've been getting 28-35MPG. Now easy to control running without using ICE."

Traveler1

Hi,
After my posting, I was asked "what is TaSCAN". Following is my reply:
----
If you google "toyota diagnostic tester", then you'll find it.
I've just found the same one on e-bay by searching "Toyota Intelligent Tester II", and they are tagged from $600 to $800. (Only $600!? I bought its Japanese version at $1,700 on auctions.yahoo)

Japanese dealers use the tester, so I believe dealers in the US also use the same one, or the equivalent one named "techstream" (it's not exist in Japan).

The tool provides slope angle from HV(hybrid) ECU, yet I am not sure if your dealer has already known HV ECU has the data and is possible to reset to zero. I've also bought "Electronic Tech Manual for RX450h" in Japanese to learn many many many parameters. Meanwhile in the US, you may need to subscribe TIS to refer the technical library for RX450h. Detailed procedure to reset the gravity sensor is described on the part of ABS ECU (brake). I hope you'll get support from your dealer.

Anyway, excuse me but I'm just guessing the equivalent way in the US, please allow me if there is something different between the countries.
----
Before applying the adjustment, it was too difficult to reach good MPG driving like Cruiter and/or Prius drivers say. It was like, to say, the electric motors were so weak that assistance of gas engine was required, especially at startup and during low-speed running on shelving uphill.

sleepysurf

Actually, looks like I also have one of those "underperforming" hybrids as well. I'm getting 26-30 MPG (28 avg) after 17,000 mi. It's a FWD, and I drive with a very light touch, 70:30 city/hwy, using only Shell Premium. I bumped tires up to 33 PSI cold (38 warm), and made sure A/C is recirculating. I once hit 31.5 MPG, but that was short-lived. I also live in FL, so weather/hills not to blame. At 10,000 mi I asked my service manager if they could check it out, and he said "28 MPG is fantastic, nothing wrong with that" and blew me off. I'll use Toyota for next service, and see if they'll run diagnostics.

Traveler1

Hi SueT,
I think I need share my body spec to compare:

RX450h - AWD
Order: Sept. 2010
Delivery: Dec. 2010 - 1.5 years - likely close to yours.
Tire: (previous) Dunlop Sport Max 235/55R/19 (since Nov 2011) Michelin Latitude Tour HP 235/55R/19
Tire pressure: 280KPa (40PSI?) - I make it higher than standard. Allowance is 350KPa.
With Air suspension, openable grass roof, rader cruise, clearance sonar, roof rail, Navi, 15 speakers, full airbags, etc. - so I think it's one of the heaviest setup.
Mileage: 25,000km (15,600miles)
Recent Record: 14.1km/l - last 400km (31.2MPG - last 250miles 80% highway)

SueT

Well, I'm just plain jealous that all of you get such great mileage. I have a 2011 RX 450H, 12500 mi, and I've had it since April, 2010. I went to the dealer and they checked out all the things that I read on the forum that could be wrong. Then they took it out and checked it with a computer and said everything is running fine. They also said that during their very short test drive, they got 26 MPG.

I have changed my driving habits completely and it didn't make any difference. I drive with the little monitor on so that I can see how many MPG I'm supposed to be getting at the time. I keep the little line above 30 MPG most of the time. I still get 21.++ MPG consistently. I have checked the gas mileage on EVERY tank of gas I've purchased since I owned the car!

Good news is that Lexus will give me $2000 less than what I paid for the car on a trade in. I will be sending out some emails tomorrow and see what kind of deal I can get on a conventional RX. They are getting around 17-18 mpg, so not such a difference. I'm very disappointed and I would look at other makes of cars if Lexus didn't hold their value so well!

DunWkg

Sue,
Sorry to hear you are so dissatisfied with your 450 you're going to trade it. I have acknowledged I have a lead foot and enjoy driving fast, but even at the speeds I drive I do better than the numbers you state. However, on the tank of gas I'm on now I have forced myself to drive 5-10 mph below the speed limit. I made it to 32.9 on the first quarter of a tank before running out of highway. I will be so glad when this tank is empty and I can drive faster than my age and quit being passed by semis on interstate.

So I might suggest before you trade fill up your tank and go out and drive on the highway at speeds safe, but slow. Don't let the needle get into the white power zone. Only watch the mpg since fill number, watch the minute by minute consumption display on the nav and watch the instaneous mpg display on the multi-information-display. And stay out of the city, that will kill your efforts.