2009 Highlander Hybrid Extremely poor MPG

banban1banban1 Member Posts: 2
edited January 2016 in Toyota
Hi everyone,

I just bought (ten days ago) a 2009 Highlander Hybrid Limited, hoping to take advantage of the very good MPG advertised by Toyota.
The vehicle has 70,000 miles and in pretty good condition.
The problem is that I have a terrible 13-14 MPG. I did some research and I can not find what is wrong. I do everything by the book. No abrupt acceleration or braking. No AC. I drive only in city.
The batteries levels are good according to what I can see on screen.
I am a little worried because even for a regular gas engine Highlander 13 MPG is pretty bad !

Anyone had that kind of problems ? Any idea ? Is this covered by the 30 days warranty on a pre-owned (not certified) vehicle ?

Thanks for your help !

Comments

  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I've been looking at owner reports of MPG at fuelly.com and they really do vary, but most owners seem to report about 20-22 mpg average. I picked the owners who had averaged a large number of fill-ups, not people who only did 6 or 8 fill ups. There was one owner though in the same boat as you.

    I'd certainly have the vehicle checked out by whoever is backing up that warranty. Maybe you have a bad sensor (coolant temperature sensor?) or faulty fuel injectors. Something might turn up on a computer scan.
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 257,245
    How far have you driven? To get an accurate reading, you need to fill up, reset the trip odometer, and drive until you need to fill up again. Then divide the mileage driven by the gallons of fuel used.

    Just 10 days of driving in the city. Are you judging mileage by the readout, or have you calculated it manually?

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  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Ah good catch! I didn't see where the car has only been driven 10 days. That's barely one tank of gas. You can't get an accurate mpg reading from that small amount of data.

  • banban1banban1 Member Posts: 2
    kyfdx said:

    How far have you driven? To get an accurate reading, you need to fill up, reset the trip odometer, and drive until you need to fill up again. Then divide the mileage driven by the gallons of fuel used.

    Just 10 days of driving in the city. Are you judging mileage by the readout, or have you calculated it manually?


    Thank you for your post.
    Yes. I have been driving the car for 12 days only now. True. But when I realized that my current MPG was 14 according to the on-screen info, I checked the previous fill-ups, also available on the small display. The 5 previous fill-ups are all between 13 and 16 MPG. I also did the math. I filled up the car when I left the dealership. I drove 160 miles and did a fill-up: 13 gallons. That results in a gas mileage of +/- 12, which is even worse than what appears on screen.
    Also, I can't wait too many fill-ups because according to the NY lemon law, I am covered for a period of 30 days.
    I just wanted to know what could be wrong before going back to the dealership.



  • dpbrew1dpbrew1 Member Posts: 1
    Our 2010 HH averaged around 18 in the city. I traded it in. My gas 2016 Pilot gets 20 mpg.
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