Bingy212

I think the driving style argument means very little. I have leased BMW's and Infiniti's before Lexus. I have also driven other RX's of my same year that produce better results than my car. I should not be getting under 15 mpg straight highway driving on a car rated about 25 mpg highway. This discussion is big because I am guessing a lot of people are annoyed by it. The Infiniti JX does much better. The new Acura MDX does better - I have good friends in both. And both of them can be filled up nearly to the capacity of the tank unlike the RX which never crosses 16 gallons in a 19.2 gallon tank. This is my first personally owned Lexus and likely my last. Every other luxury brand I have owned has resolved even bigger issues than this - not just called them normal.

jfelbab

Another datapoint. My 2014 RX350 with 12 fillups so far is averaging 23.1 MPG measured. Highest MPG was 24.7, lowest 20.8. I don't think 15 is normal unless you are driving in San Francisco.

wase4711

something is either wrong with your driving style or your vehicle..
In Chicago,the last 2 weeks, with temps between -20 and +20, on my FIRST tank of gas, on a brand new car, which of course is the worst mileage you will EVER see in a vehicle, I got 16.8 mpg..

Bingy212

For my trip to Cape May, 2/3rds was cruise control so it is hard to believe driving style did it. If that was the case, I would not have obtained the published mileage or close to it on all my prior cars. My Lexus dealer has told me 3 times after checking it that it is normal,and the breaking in period.

markrivers

Document it.
Take pictures of your RX mpg.
Ask an SA to drive with you before leaving the RX in the service dept.
Request a loaner for a day or two and drive in the same way you normally drive.
Again, take pictures.

wase4711

how many miles do you have on it?
have you tried different gas stations?
maybe a different dealer is a good idea?

jfelbab

IMHO, that's just an easy way for a dealership to make you go away and not have to deal with a difficult issue to resolve. Unless you are only driving in the city, all stop and go, lots of hills and a heavy foot, I see no reason that you should be running 15 MPG at best. My first tank of gas delivered 22.8 MPG measured in 60% highway driving. I have driven in 20 below cold and 90 degree heat, in major cities like Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Tampa and over most of the freeways in between. Even in these cities my MPG (measured, not the computer readout) never dropped below 20 MPG. Minimum 20.5, Maximum 24.7. It would certainly appear that something may not working properly in your vehicle.

Beside my 2014 RX350 AWD, I also drove a 2004 RX330 AWD for 10 years and averaged 23.1 measured MPG. Minimum 17.2, Maximum 28.7

Breaking in the car as a solution is complete and utter BS, IMO. While it is true that MPG should improve slightly over time, 15 MPG is an extremely low starting point. I'd ask the dealer to document what specific tests they have performed. Have they tested the vehicle emissions? I'd suggest to your dealer that many others here at Club Lexus are reporting their fuel economy and that 15 MPG highway seems clearly abnormal and I'd document this and mail it to Lexus Corporate.

I've found that dealerships hate it when they are contacted by Lexus Corporate about an issue they should have handled. It is like they get a black eye for their dealership and this may affect their corporate discounts or allocations. Same is true for the Lexus Corporate satisfaction surveys. If your dealership won't handle this on their own, I'd encourage you to ask Corporate to get involved and see if your dealership takes notice and looks a little harder to resolve this. That's what I'd do anyway.

Bingy212

I sent an email to Lexus corporate customer service and the head of customer service at my dealership. Fyi, at 5,000 miles my car says 14.3 mpg overall and latest tank is getting 13.2 thus far. I appreciate all the helpful replies on here. I am really disappointed as I thought Lexus had a great reputation for customer satisfaction, and they are not living up to it.

wase4711

VERY smart; get corporate or, if you don't hear back in a day or so, call you local Zone office, and tell them about the dealers' lack of action on this issue; GUARANTEED you will get better service and a resolution once the zone/corporate gets involved..

Tom558

Do your calculations of MPG verify this? You should be very skeptical of the vehicle reported MPG.

Bingy212

My calculations do confirm this. I am usually under 14 mpg I calculate myself at every fillup. I only use premium and i have tried multiple stations and gas brands

rparian636

My 2010 RX with 65,000 miles on it has never seen MPG less than 17, and that is in the winter with stop and go in heavy traffic. Over all I aver 22.9 MPG with a 50/50 mix of highway and city. Driving on cruise control at 65MPH I will get @ 26MPG. I think the dealer is trying to get you to go away with the "breaking in" mileage. Ask him what exactly is "breaking in". Another idea is to bring it in for a complete diagnostic test and ask to borrow a 350 and drive the same route and test the mileage. Something smells and I think Lexus Corporate needs to hear this, not just the problem but the manner in which the dealer is dealing with you.

coachlkg

On more than one occasion you have said, "EVEN if you factor in the difference of the RX posted vs actual calculated, let's say 3.3 based on coachlkg mathematics."

I believe it was Tom558 who mentioned 3.3, not me.

kitlz

Bingy212, sorry you're having problems with mileage. Have you tried using regular? That's what you're supposed to put in your RX350. Save yourself the money, NY gas prices are insane enough. The break-in period is real, it doesn't happen exactly at 5,000. It may take some more miles to notice a difference. It was around 5,400 for me. Now the weather lately hasn't been helping either. Believe me I'm not immune to lower than expected MPG. One thing I find that helps is having at least half a tank of gas in the RXh at all times. And please keep us posted on what Lexus Corporate and the head of customer service at the dealer says.

erom43

I would have to agree, that 15mpg is low, no matter what kind of driving you do......other than towing. You are smart to go straight to the manufacturer with that. I also question any "break in" logic after about the first thousand miles. My 2013 RX350 is getting around 18-20mpg around town in Orlando, and 22.5-23.5mpg doing 70+ on the interstate.......consistently up to 13,000 miles.
As far as apples and oranges go......can you really compare, let's say a 2010 RX to a 2014 RX. Are the engines, weights and drags the same?