Brand New - Gas Mileage??????

[etcthorne]

My wife has had the V6 Highlander Limited for two days now and she is very easy on gas pedal and brakes during break in. It has 150 miles on it and the gas gauge is almost down to 1/4 tank. It was full when we picked it up.


I know that new cars get very poor mileage. I also know the V6 highlander is not exactly a 3 cylinder Geo Metro when it comes to mileage. Did anybody else notice very terrible mileage first tank or so?

[wylcat]

Originally Posted by etcthorne

My wife has had the V6 Highlander Limited for two days now and she is very easy on gas pedal and brakes during break in. It has 150 miles on it and the gas gauge is almost down to 1/4 tank. It was full when we picked it up.


I know that new cars get very poor mileage. I also know the V6 highlander is not exactly a 3 cylinder Geo Metro when it comes to mileage. Did anybody else notice very terrible mileage first tank or so?

you have to let the ecu learn...give it some time ...at least the breaking in mileage. trust me it will get better

[THarms]

Although the gauge looked full when you picked it up, it probably was a couple of gallons low and the gauge still showed full...

you should get about 18-20mpg in city driving and 22-24 hwy.

[ddvk]

I get 18 in city and 22 on highway, this with my tire pressure at 36 front and 34 back and being very nice to the vehicle, no hard acceleration/braking!!

I get right on the lower range as published by Toyota for Highlanders.

[VTHighlander]

ddvk and THarms ... are your "estimates" for the AWD or FWD.
I have a 06 HL Limited V6 AWD and the city gas milage is aweful,
somewhere around 13-16 ... the highway is better at 20-21.

ddvk ... can you elaborate on :
"I get right on the lower range as published by Toyota for Highlanders."
I'm not sure what that means ... I'd love to try something that might
improve my MPG !

[ddvk]

Well I have a 2006 Highlander AWD. If I am not wrong, the 3.3L engine is of their "infamous" gas guzzling 3.0L engine.

I presently get 18 city and 22 high MPG.

My friends who have the "infamous" RX300's, have kept them in the garages since they get 13-14MPG in city and 18-20MPG on highways. Your pathetic MPG rings all the bells about 2 of my friends RX300's catching dust. Now, I thought they would have something better over the years, my brother has a RX350 (new engine) and he gets 24MPG combined city/highway together, don't know how long that is going to last.

Bottom line, 3.0-3.3L V6's should give about 25 MPG on highways, that isn't the case, it would be better getting a V8 and more power.

Now, what to look for when you get bad MPG.

1) Tire pressure, keep fronts at 36 and rears at 34. In winters when the expansion is less, you can take it to 38/36 and bring it back down in summers to 36/34.
2) Check the ignition coil packs and plugs. Iridium plugs are set to go for 100K miles which I think is non-sense, change them to platinum every 60K miles. Check the knock sensor too.
3) Check brakes if there is any drag. On a flat surface with no throttle, see if the vehicle keeps moving at a slow pace.
4) Clean throttle body, pl. check how to do it before venturing out on this. These new vehicles with some "fly-by wire" whatever they call it, you can mess up the idle on the vehicle if not done correctly.
5) Change tranny fluids and use some high quality MV/Syn ATFs, that are speced to T-IV, lower viscosity can help. If you have AWDs replace the TC and diffs with RedLine Syn fluids every 30K miles.
6) Check your PS, there could be valve that is not transfering enough pressure to the rack, needing more effort and also drag.
7) Change fuel filter, it may be housed in the tank, which is pretty messy.
8) Get a general tune up including alignment.

That is all that I can think off..

Good luck, anyway if my miles come down any further I will have some tough questions for Toyota North America. I have already discouraged 3 folks who asked my how my highlander behaves, not to buy it becoz I am with Toyota and their service folks.

[LifeTech]

Originally Posted by ddvk

Well I have a 2006 Highlander AWD. If I am not wrong, the 3.3L engine is of their "infamous" gas guzzling 3.0L engine.

I presently get 18 city and 22 high MPG.

My friends who have the "infamous" RX300's, have kept them in the garages since they get 13-14MPG in city and 18-20MPG on highways. Your pathetic MPG rings all the bells about 2 of my friends RX300's catching dust. Now, I thought they would have something better over the years, my brother has a RX350 (new engine) and he gets 24MPG combined city/highway together, don't know how long that is going to last.

Bottom line, 3.0-3.3L V6's should give about 25 MPG on highways, that isn't the case, it would be better getting a V8 and more power.

Now, what to look for when you get bad MPG.

1) Tire pressure, keep fronts at 36 and rears at 34. In winters when the expansion is less, you can take it to 38/36 and bring it back down in summers to 36/34.
2) Check the ignition coil packs and plugs. Iridium plugs are set to go for 100K miles which I think is non-sense, change them to platinum every 60K miles. Check the knock sensor too.
3) Check brakes if there is any drag. On a flat surface with no throttle, see if the vehicle keeps moving at a slow pace.
4) Clean throttle body, pl. check how to do it before venturing out on this. These new vehicles with some "fly-by wire" whatever they call it, you can mess up the idle on the vehicle if not done correctly.
5) Change tranny fluids and use some high quality MV/Syn ATFs, that are speced to T-IV, lower viscosity can help. If you have AWDs replace the TC and diffs with RedLine Syn fluids every 30K miles.
6) Check your PS, there could be valve that is not transfering enough pressure to the rack, needing more effort and also drag.
7) Change fuel filter, it may be housed in the tank, which is pretty messy.
8) Get a general tune up including alignment.

That is all that I can think off..

Good luck, anyway if my miles come down any further I will have some tough questions for Toyota North America. I have already discouraged 3 folks who asked my how my highlander behaves, not to buy it becoz I am with Toyota and their service folks.

Your theory on Tire pressure is extreme.

Fact: On this H/L, Overinflation will cause tread feathering/uneven wear, Bad traction, Poor ride characteristics. 30psi is the spec. Anything over 32psi is simply NG.
The power /traction is 50-50 front-rear with VSC not operatingl. Of course there is going to be a lower MPG . These engines ARE efficient. It is the drive train bringing the MPG lower than say a Front wheel drive only.

[ddvk]

LifeTech: You know better, the GWVR is 5500 pounds for a highlander AWD. Even if the vehicle weight is 4000 pounds, you possibly cannot drive at 30psi -- right. Definetly not on the fronts with the engine?

I haven't seen many folks go by the manufacturer specificed psi (which at times looks laughable). Anyway, I always keep it higher by 5 psi so that I don't mess up the side walls of my tires and also my desire to get higher MPG.

Everyone has a different story when it comes to tire psi!!!

[VTHighlander]

Talking about tire PSI ... whats the take on using Nitrogen for better MPG ?

[asianflava]

You will pretty much always get bad mileage when a car is new. Give it some time to break in, after your first oil change.