We purchased our new Lexus 400h about 2 months ago and have put over 2000 miles on it. The mileage combines freeway and city driving. The salesman told us that the mileage on the sticker, 27/31 was not what people were getting and that it was expected that the government would soon raise the mileage by 10MPG each. Unfortunately, our mileage has been 10 MPG LESS. We drive very conservatively, and the only time our mileage is about 22 MPG is when we're coasting downhill.
The car does drive amazingly smoothly, and you cannot feel the change in when it's running on battery or gas engine. However, for all the money we spent over what the RX330 costs, our combined mileage of about 17-22 MPG is not worth what we paid for the car. Lexus looked our car over and said there is nothing wrong with it. There is something wrong with the numbers they are claiming for their MPG. This car is not worth the money for such poor mileage.

 

Well, not sure what to suggest here, but allow me to make a few comments:

Your mileage will improve a little bit with time. The engine/drivetrain needs breaking in, and the trolling resistance of the tires will decrease with use, although most of those effects occur during the first 2k miles.

Next, your salesperson had it wrong, if the EPA mileage testing/reporting will change to reflect more realistic actual use conditions, EPA mileage - especially for hybrids - will go DOWN, not up! Also, the manufacturers - including Toyota - would very gladly report more realistic mileage values, but they are not legally allowed to report anything other than EPA values, even though we all know how bogus those numbers are. These numbers are derived by following the EPA guidelines, so the fault for the discrepancy between EPA values, and real life values, lies not with Toyota IMHO, but with the EPA.

Third: the physics don't change, and people should not expect miracles. Mileage is still and will always be primarily a function of two parameters: mass of the vehicle, and drag (wind and rolling resistance). Both of those are much worse for most SUVs, than smaller, lighter, regular cars. SUVs will always get worse mileage than cars, there is no way around that. In fact, small, lightweight regular non-hybrid cars (Honda Civic, MINI Cooper, etc..) will probably always get better mileage than even hybrid SUVs, because of inherent mass, size and drag advantages. But, hybrid SUVs will be slightly better than non-hybrid SUVs.

The consolation for you may be that your RX400h should get better mileage, than a non-hybrid one under similar driving conditions. As others have posted
(see also: https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...eeks.2654.html )
with a hybrid, mileage is also a function of trip length. Short trips will absolutely kill mileage. Tire pressure, driving style, temperatures, gas type, etc.. all will have effects.
The bottom line is: in a non-hybrid Lexus RX you would probably get worse mileage. And, there is only so much hybrid technology can do for an SUV.
I would say that if you absolutely have to have an SUV, then it's still great that you got a hybrid, because you will have less impact than with a standard SUV.
You will not recover the additional cost, but you are still doing something good compared to standard SUVs, and you are promoting this technology, and that is great! In my 05 Prius, I also don't get the EPA listed mileage (I'm averaging about 45mpg instead of the EPA average of 55), but I am very happy about it, since that is much better than what I could get in another car that meets my space needs (and of course I could do even better in an Insight, but it's too small for me).

Cheers,
M

 

We're disappointed by the mileage as well. We are on the first tank (due to fill up today) and the display over the CD player says we are getting 20.6 mpg. That's a pretty long way from the EPA estimate of 33 on the window sticker. We do use the a/c because it's pretty hot and humid here in the subtropics. All of our driving is short trips and involves pretty steep hills so I guess that's why the mpg is so low--I was freaking out and thought something must be wrong with the vehicle, but found this website and am relieved that the vehicle is probably fine, but, again, we were expecting better mpg. One of my coworkers has a nonhybrid Highlander and claims to get a 3 mpg improvement by using premium gasoline. Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks for the nice forum,
Mike

 

FIRST TANK? FIRST TANK? Come on NOBODY gets good milage for awhile on any vehicle. My first tank was 45mpg in my Civic, I now get anywhere from low 50' to I just got 60 and I have over 30,000 miles. It takes about 5000 miles to really start seeing good milage depending on the driver. If the owners manual says to use reg. then use reg. If vehicles that use reg. gas use premium gas they are wasting money as the engine is not designed to burn it. Premium is used in higher compression engines and burns slower, used in a lower compression engine it doesn't burn completely so you are in fact wasting $$$.Kevin

 

I was afraid there would be disappointment when hybrid SUVs came out for the reasons quoted above: larger mass and drag.

The hybrid engine is going to help the fuel economy because if recovers wasted kinetic energy.

The Honda Insight gets great fuel economy in part because of it's aluminum body. I suspect that either that or carbon-fibre would significantly help the RX400h.

The drag seems like the most obvious thing limiting better fuel economy for a vehicle like the RX400h, but it actually has a front that should slice the air pretty well.

__________________________________________________ _

Things that can be controlled

It took several months before my fuel economy improved. It would seem like If I had been driving an RX400h rather than a Honda Insight, my improvement in fuel economy would be greater. Not in mpg, but percentage improvement and definitely in gallons saved.

I'll call it the "inertia penality" - stop-and-go will penalize larger vehicles more, so learning hypermiling techniques will probably make a more significant difference.

It's obvious that I'm not always easy on the gas pedal, as some Civics have better fuel economy, but suffice to say, there are driving techniques that will improve fuel economy even if driving is somewhat agressive.

 

Diss and Cane:

HANG IN THERE !!!

It WILL get better. Main reason is that YOUR education will improve, and you will learn how to use the provided gauges to improve your efficiency AS A DRIVER. The engine will break-in and friction will be reduced in the engine, which will mean improved efficiency of the vehicle.

It you REALLY commit yourselves to the Hypermiler techniques preached on this site, you will see even more improvement.

My first tank in my 2004 HCH was 38.43, and my best tank to date has been 56 MPG. I have taken the "lifetime MPG" from 34.4 when I bought my car as a *used car* up to 45.0 now after about 16,000 miles.

It WILL get better, and the more dedicated YOU are to making it better, the higher the number can go.

Patience my friends.....

 

Another thing that I've heard is that Toyota makes very 'tight' engines, meaning they are precise and exact in their fit, so friction losses are high at first until the components wear down a few nano-inches and loosen up a bit. It's a sign of high quality, but also does reduce their efficiency for a while when they are new, not to mention the computer is probably doing other things to 'ease' the break-in of the components and not maximizing the FE right away.

Bottom line is that if you had the non-hybrid version you would be getting a similar percentage less FE than with the hybrid version, and in the end that's what matters, regardless of the FE you are getting. EPA ratings are only useful for comparing vehicle to vehicle, they aren't very useful as a guide to tell you what you will get, especially if you live on a hill or something.

 

I wonder if it is just the tuning of the lexus. I have had the Hybrid Highlander for about a month now, and my lowest tank full was 25.7 mpg, that was the first 200 miles. I am now averaging about 28, with I high of about 31. I must say I do keep a close eye on the display, and have adjusted my driving style to take advantage of the electric only mode whenever possible.

 

I have a Highlander Hybrid and have logged 1400 miles so far. I have found that the AC greatly decreases MPG around town. On the highway, you are better off with the AC on and the windows rolled up. I have been getting between 25.5 and 28.9 with combined mileage on the fillups so far. I think I still have a lot to learn about getting the best mileage from this SUV. Hang in there and your numbers will improve. The most difficult thing for me is to resist the urge to use all the power this car has.

 

Turn off the A/C and roll down the windows halfway. Your MPG will improve some.

troy