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Toyota Sienna Gas Mileage

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  • kermiekermie Member Posts: 4
    We have an 04 Seinna and the milage on the overhead display is 2-3 mpg higher that what we get. I wonder if they can be reprogrammed?

    JR
  • dnbqeednbqee Member Posts: 7
    Thanks, yea I wonder. Interesting thing is the miles to empty (usually round 300 for a full tank) is always dead on; ie. the trip computer "knows" the actual fuel mileage but displays 2 mpg more. is this deliberate ? so consumers dont have to see the awful truth of 16 mpg? ours is a awd 04 Sienna is this just a AWD problem ?
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    My trip computer is accurate (2007 LE FWD). I've measured on my own (miles for the tank/gallons to full) and it's only been off by 0.1 or 0.2 mpg, and not always reading high, either.

    Just FYI.

    Loaned the van to my lead-footed brother and he "discovered" the 266hp V6. :D 23.3 mpg.
  • dwarfl0rddwarfl0rd Member Posts: 12
    We just bought the car this last saturday. We are getting, based on the mileage display in the car, 22mpg in 50/50 mixed driving. How close is the display to actual mileage anyways? I should probably try the search feature... :)
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Mine is pretty accurate, usually within 1/10th of an MPG.

    Just got 24.9 mpg in mine doing about 50/50 city highway.

    So far this tank it says 25.6mpg from mostly highway, but I was stuck on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge last night in that traffic since that tractor trailer drove in to the water (wild).
  • yatesjoyatesjo Member Posts: 186
    My family and I just returned to San Jose, CA from visiting family in Arizona in our new 2008 Sienna LE. I took along our new Garmin Streetpilot C580 to help us along our way.

    One finding was that the odometer read 4.5% less than the GPS. This was confirmed in two ways. First it was noticed that in the "next turn" estimates that the turn would come up sooner that I expected looking at the odometer so I started marking the odometer readings with the next turn at 100 or 150 miles. This method indicated that the odometer read 95.6% of the GPS distance Later I discovered the trip meter function on the GPS and reset it and one trip odometer for the leg home. Over a GPS indicated distance of 1075.4 miles, the odometer read 1025.1, or 95.4% of the GPS.

    Because of this disparity I have three estimates of the MPG.
    Odometer: 24.7
    GPS: 25.9
    Trip computer: 25.3

    This is 2056 miles of driving on a van that only had 330 miles at the start of the trip. It is about 90% highway and 2 or 3% unpaved roads. Most of the time we were running 75 MPH through 100+oF desert (as high as 112o at one point) with the A/C running full blast. For a vehicle with this much weight and power I am impressed by even the lowest MPG estimate. The A/C can make the whole van cold in those conditions while the engine barely notices and still has a lot of passing power even while going up a 5.5% grade.

    And before anyone asks what I was doing in Arizona in August... my dad has an in-hold in the middle of the national forest in the Dragoon mountains (1.5 hrs southeast of Tucson) and it is not nearly as hot as Phoenix or Tucson. July and August are the monsoon season there and just as the day is getting to it's hottest point the rains roll through and cool the place down. We had thunderstorms most days we were there. Very nice.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Very interesting, because I would consider the GPS distance to be the most accurate.

    We have a c340, which is less accurate than yours, yet it can tell when I'm in local lanes on the highway. That means it can sense a distance of just a few yards.

    Perhaps the odometer is conservative since some people will mount bigger tires?

    The tires are new so it could not be tire wear.
  • yatesjoyatesjo Member Posts: 186
    I'm seeing the mileage on the odometer showing less than the actual so my odometer will become closer to accurate as the tires wear down/become smaller in circumference. One thing I must keep in mind too is that my actual speed is actually a little bit higher than the speedometer reading- when my needle pointed to 75mph, the GPS put my speed at 76 or 77mph and the speed signs that flash the actual speed tended to agree with the GPS.

    I agree that the GPS is probably the most reliable measure. The GPS closely agreed with the highway signage distances and is supposed to be accurate to within a few yards. It may miss lane changes or not recognize the differences between the inside and the outside of a curve, but overall those are quite small compared to the length of straight roads I traveled.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Here's the funny thing - mine is just the opposite.

    When I set cruise control at 65mph on the speedo, my GPS' dash board function usually reads 64mph.

    My Nuvi 200W is not as accurate as your c series, which has a better antennae.
  • yatesjoyatesjo Member Posts: 186
    Do you have the 16" rims or the 17"? I have the 17" rims and was wondering if small differences in the tire sizing may contribute.

    I chose the C series because of the strong reception. I love this GPS. It made traveling so much less stressful around the big cities and helped me plan where to stop by looking at where rest areas, gas stations and motels ahead of us along our route. Ours also has the MSN service that tells us the traffic, weather and gas prices around the big cities. Going through Phoenix they were working on 101 and the Garmin knew the detour route even before we got there.

    One glitch in the Garmin was that in a remote area it was wanting to send us down unpaved roads- including one that is not maintained and I knew to be impassable without a serious 4-wheel drive truck. I took the route I knew and it kept telling me to turn off on every gravel road I came to. Strangely enough when I turned off the unpaved road avoidance it plotted the most correct (and paved) route. I would guess that the map people coded the paved and unpaved roads backwards in the areas around Dragoon/Cochise/Pearce, AZ.
  • raj1raj1 Member Posts: 27
    My trip computer displayed around 2 mpg less than manual calcualtion in my new xle!! btw, what does instantaneous?? mpg mean?
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Yeah, I do have the 16" rims.

    Instant MPG is an estimate from the computer on the mileage you are getting on-the-fly.

    I'm sure that's not that accurate, for instance you let off the throttle and it immediately goes to 99mpg, where it seems to top out.
  • yatesjoyatesjo Member Posts: 186
    The instantaneous MPG is the speed of the vehicle divided by the rate at which gas is being fed to the engine at that second. It goes down when you press the gas and up when you let off the gas and coast. It is basically a tool for watching what habits consume a lot of fuel and what doesn't. I used it with cruise control to know how hard the engine is working at that moment so I would know if I was on a flat or a gentle up slope or gentle down slope.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    It's the car's own bio-feedback. ;)
  • samilcarsamilcar Member Posts: 4
    My first six tanks:

    1st tank - 375 miles, 22.7 MPG, 50% highway 50% city

    2nd tank - 261 miles, 19.8 MPG, 30% highway 70% city

    3rd tank - 357 miles, 19.8 MPG, 30% highway 70% city

    4th tank - 472 miles, 32.1 MPG, All highway - 60-65 MPH average

    5th tank - 501 miles, 27.9 MPG, All highway mountain driving - 55 MPH average

    6th tank - 535 miles, 28.5 MPG, All highway - 70 MPH average

    Total of six tanks - 2501 miles, 25.2 MPG

    I am very pleased with these numbers. One of the main reasons I chose the Sienna was current Sienna owner reports of 30+MPG on the highway. The 32 MPG tank above was achieved with a fully loaded van (three people and 400 lbs of cargo).
  • trademarkgurutrademarkguru Member Posts: 7
    I am new to this forum so please excuse me if there is a prior message on such horrible gas mileage. If you could point me towards the right post that may address this, that would be great.

    We just purchased our Sienna a couple of weeks ago (it is a limited AWD), and were expecting a little hit from the AWD but not this. The on-board computer said like 12.5 mpg when we got the van at 120 miles (I thought it might just be the lead foot test drives), but it is at 700 miles now and reports 11.5 mpg average for that 700 miles, and we drive normally (3 kids in the back :). I topped off for the last two fills and we got 11 mpg this last tank (65% city, 35% highway). I'll be taking her in for service, but any ideas? Acceleration and power seems very good, but we are very concerned when we fill up and the DTE says 215, and we now know that it is accurate. I thought there must be some "mistake" for the first full tank. If our odometer is a little off, that might explain things a bit, but not this much.

    Thanks.
  • dnbqeednbqee Member Posts: 7
    Welcome to the forum. I am fairly new to the forum as well but I came here for the same reason:lousy mileage on our 2004 AWD XLE Limited. I bought the car used with 75000 miles on it and have never cracked the 18 MPG mark, even with all highway driving. Overall average is 15.2 mpg 50/50 city-highway. Overall, the AWD models consistently seem to get mileage that is 25-35% less than the FWD models, no matter what. That being said (disappointing, I know) your situation is truly off the charts. I see 300 DTE after fillup which is accurate, and I'm disappointed, as I've seen several FWD posts that boast 500 DTE at fillup. Some
    of your low MPG could be attributed to new engine break in but not of that magnitude. Something must be wrong, I would definitley make A LOT of noise with your dealer. I have seen several posts that referred to the accelerator sensor (commonly known as the throttle position sensor or TPS) as being out of adjustment, but this is just one possibility. I have included the following list of posts that refer to poor AWD fuel economy. Take these to your dealer. You are not alone and us AWD owners feel your pain, but you shouldn't have to feel THAT much pain. Keep us posted as to the outcome and good luck!!
    Discussion Title Date Author Comments
    Toyota Sienna Gas Mileage #218 08/21/2008 trademarkguru X
    Toyota Sienna Gas Mileage #179 05/09/2008 mleonardo X
    Toyota Sienna Gas Mileage #142 02/06/2008 gmui X
    Toyota Sienna Gas Mileage #141 02/06/2008 gmui X
    Toyota Sienna Gas Mileage #138 02/04/2008 gmui X
    Toyota Sienna Gas Mileage #137 02/02/2008 adeleon1 X
    Toyota Sienna Gas Mileage #131 12/06/2007 oeko X
    Toyota Sienna Gas Mileage #126 11/21/2007 metmdx X
    Toyota Sienna Gas Mileage #47 07/13/2007 beeman4u X
    Toyota Sienna Gas Mileage #44 07/13/2007 beeman4u X
  • dnbqeednbqee Member Posts: 7
    Its me again, another possibility. Have your dealer reset the PCM (computer). The computer literally learns the driving habits of the driver over many trips, and ressponds accordingly. If your vehicle was only driven by REALLY leadfooted people on test drives, (most people tend to "stomp" on it to check out the power on a test drive.) that could be contributing to your situation. Just a thought. I'm a novice but learning fast! Let us know how it goes.....
  • trademarkgurutrademarkguru Member Posts: 7
    Thanks. I'll take a look at these posts. I spoke to the dealership and they said to wait until we crack the 1000 mile mark. He said we have lots of hills where we live and it may be that we just get this type of mileage. Not a very good argument.

    We tried a pure freeway test and for 100 miles at 70 mph, we got 14 mpg. Pretty lousy. I put super in just to see if it will make a difference this next time around, but I doubt it.

    I'll try the PCM reset when we go in, and I'll request that they check everything. I told him we could have bought a V8 and gotten better mileage in a large SUV. He did not really disagree. We bought the AWD because the EPA estimates were just 2 mpg off from the 2WD.

    I'll keep you posted, and thanks.
  • trademarkgurutrademarkguru Member Posts: 7
    Hey Beeman4u - did you ever figure out what was causing your 12 mpg on your Sienna AWD? We have the same problem - 2 weeks old, 800 miles, getting 11 mpg mixed driving and 14 pure highway. Our DTE says 215 on fill up and it's pretty bad. Dealer says to bring it back at 1000 miles.

    When did your mileage open up, and did you ever find out what the problem was? What are you getting now?

    Your insights would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks.
  • trademarkgurutrademarkguru Member Posts: 7
    Hey Adeleon1 - did you ever figure out what was wrong with your AWD? We just bought a 2008 limited AWD and are having the same lousy mileage. 11 mpg city/highway and 14 pure highway. 800 miles on the van now.

    When did it open up for you? Thanks.
  • trademarkgurutrademarkguru Member Posts: 7
    Gmui - any luck with finding out your problem on low mileage? We are having the same problem - 2 weeks old and 11 mpg mostly city driving and 14 mpg pure highway. 800 miles on the van (2008 AWD limited). Ours does not seem to coast either - it is always engaged. Thanks for sharing what happened with your van and what you get now.
  • samilcarsamilcar Member Posts: 4
    http://www.siennaclub.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=19383&hl=">link title

    To those experiencing poor mpg, it might be worth checking the rear brakes. If they're very hot after a long drive, they might be dragging. This post at siennaclub is from a guy whose rear brakes prematurely wore out at 20,000 miles. He suspects that they were dragging since the van was new, because after being worked on his mileage went up by 5 mpg.
  • skynetskynet Member Posts: 5
    I have about 750 miles on my sienna and the trip computer shows 16.2mpg. Mine is a XLE FWD. Do you think this is low?. I am reading that it will reach its peak performance after 1000 miles but not sure if I should be getting above 20 by now.. Probably I am driving 20% highway and 80 % city.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    That sounds low even for mostly city driving.

    How are your driving habits, though? Are you doing jack-rabbit starts, enjoying that 266hp engine a bit too much? ;)

    I have found that I can break 30mpg if I try, but you have to keep speeds down and practice other efficient techniques. Basically if you rarely use the brakes you've done well. That's highway, of course.

    In the city we never get less than 22mpg, but I'm still trying to be as efficient as I can, coast to a stop, again the less braking you require the less energy you've wasted.

    Also check tire pressures - 35psi at least!
  • skynetskynet Member Posts: 5
    22 mpg in the city sounds really good. I now have about 750miles and I got 19mpg for the last tank of gas. Probably I had about 30 percent highway and rest city. I hope it gets better after the official break in period(1000 miles). How many miles do you have on your vehicle? thanks,
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I'm close to 14,000.

    Mine did improve steadily for the first few thousand miles.

    Good luck.
  • metmdxmetmdx Member Posts: 270
    Had my '08 XLE AWD for 13 months now....best hiway # was an interim 23 Mpg while driving and 21 (cruise @ 72, slightly downhill most of the way) overall for the trip....locally the milege is miserable with either my wife or I driving - can't get more than 14, with her driving and 12-13 with me.....don't understand how they get 21-16 rating. I drove van for about the first 4 months and couldn't get better than 16+ (= to city #) in combined suburban/hiway (50/50). I have '08 Subaru Legacy AWD rated 27-20 and on exact same route average 22 (over the city #). Acutally got 32.3 on hiway with cruise set at 72 going slightly uphill...go figure the #'s :(
  • jimoasejimoase Member Posts: 4
    We have 76,000 on our van. I have run two 20,000 tests. Each has averaged 24.x

    We live in South Dakota during the summer so do more highway than city driving. We drive the posted speed limit, freeway here is 75, four lanes are 70 and two lanes 65, gravel 55, city 25...30

    We live in Arizona during the winter and do mostly city driving at 45, two lane 55...60, freeway 70

    As much as possible we avoid ethanol blend gas because we have found a 2...3 mpg decrease in milage over several successive tanks.

    Hope this is useful information

    Jim
  • adeleon1adeleon1 Member Posts: 3
    Sorry it took me a while to answer you,,,,,,,,,, it hasn't really opened up,,,,,, I already have 23k miles on it and I'm still getting between 14 to 16 mpg's per full tank. I always complain at the dealership every time we bring her in for service but now they just say that those numbers are what they have been getting with the bigger engine on the sienna AWD's,,,,,,, I should have just convinced my wife to get an SUV :(
  • trademarkgurutrademarkguru Member Posts: 7
    Wow, awesome mileage on the open road. We can't get above 15. Around town, our numbers are like yours -- 12-13 and sometimes 14 if we have been on the freeway a lot. Average mileage is at 13.7 with 7000 miles on our van ('08 limited AWD). The dealer did not care and said mileage varies and you can't rely on the posted numbers which are done on a machine for something like 65 mph highway and 35 city without the starts and stops. DTE still reads 250 for every fill up and it's pretty pathetic. Our catalytic converter is bad, and needs to be replaced, although the dealer said that probably would not affect mileage.
  • trademarkgurutrademarkguru Member Posts: 7
    Thanks for your reply. At 7000 miles, I'd be happy with 14-16 overall. We are getting 12-14 depending upon driving conditions. 14.5-15 is the most we can get on long drives. SUV next time - might as well have the V8 for what we are getting. I wish it were something like the brakes riding - could not get that lucky. Good luck and know that misery loves company :(
  • jmbuddiesjmbuddies Member Posts: 6
    Recently my 2002 Sienna reached 80,000 miles, right before that, my engine light and 2 others came on. The problem was the CAT (catalitic converter). Luckily the converter was in the warranty (80,00 miles) and the dealer replaced one of them (near the engine block). I asked how do they know which one would be bad and they said they did not know, but most likely would be the one by the engine, for there are 3 CAT's in this van.

    Prior to all above described, I was getting about 22mpg, after that, 17mpg and also with a "pop" noise every-now-and-then on the gas pedal. My mechanic did not have an answer for this problem.
    Did anyone run into something like this?
    Help.
    Thanks for any info
    Jorge
  • 2007_siennaLE2007_siennaLE Member Posts: 2
    I just bought a used 2007 Sienna. (I utilized some of the issues discussed in this forum)

    My question is "How do I reset the trip computer?" :blush:

    I'm not talking about the one on the dash, I mean the one on the overhead console that calculates avg mpg.

    Thanks in advance.
  • dnbqeednbqee Member Posts: 7
    Hi to reset the overhead computer: While parked, 1. select the avg mpg display. 2. Hold down both outside buttons at the same time until the display goes blank...(about 3seconds) . Trip computer should be reset......let me know if this doesnt work...I am doing this from memory away from my car thanks good luck
  • CanineCurrierCanineCurrier Member Posts: 2
    Just bought a 06 used Sienna, I have had it for a week. I was looking forward to the cumulative MPG meter- which seems to be stuck at 17.7 mpg. This cannot be right, as most of my miles are highway.
    Is the meter broken? Is is 17.7 mpg over the whole life of the van (32 K miles)?
    I reset both odometers (trip A & B) and just refueled. No change.

    Is there are reset button or am I missing something...
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    You can reset it - first put it in Drive. Then go to the avg mpg readout. Next, hold to two outer-most buttons on the trip computer.

    It will flash, then read 0.0.

    I do that each time I fill up, basically.
  • CanineCurrierCanineCurrier Member Posts: 2
    BINGO!

    It worked- thanks sooooo much.
  • steve115steve115 Member Posts: 9
    Just picked up my new 2009 LE 7 Passenger FWD Sienna this week. It had 70 miles on it leaving dealer. Drove it to work and back yesterday, about 25 miles each way. Reset the average MPG before I left work. Drive is mostly freeway, ran into some bumper-to-bumper traffic but averaged about 65 mph. At end of trip, the average was 27.1 mpg. I am very pleased. I think the new 3.5L engine paired with the 5 speed transmission works well. At 70 mph, the tack reads 2,000 rpm. I think that's what results in the good mpg. I will post again later once I have done the actual mileage calculation between gas fill-ups.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I think the new 3.5L engine paired with the 5 speed transmission works well.

    Sure does. In the last C&D minivan test it was both quickest and most fuel efficient. Nice to have both.
  • robertreloadrobertreload Member Posts: 1
    have you check your RPM.or your trans shifter it may be at the {d4] not at curve toward the passer side. I was doing this and I check, and saw my mistake. oh I was get 15-19 ,miles per4 gallon on getting 21-26

    whitefang :)
  • mes0707mes0707 Member Posts: 1
    Just purchased a certified used FWD LE w/ 16K miles this week and immediately took it on a 700 mile road trip. Highway/Interstate travel with speeds from 60-80 mph depending on area and limit. 1st leg of journey included about 100 miles of city and mountain driving and was 26.5 mpg (both from trip computer & manually calculating it at tank). Second leg (return trip) was all highway (2 lane) driving through mountains avg. about 60-70 mph, with about 40 of the 360 miles on the interstate at 80 mph... haven't filled to check manually but trip computer returned 30.1 mpg !!!! I love this new van! Coming from a 2004 Mazda MPV this is a HUGE improvement.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    MPV was my favorite van for a while, but you pointed out its flaw - despite being smaller and less powerful it just didn't show any advantage in fuel economy.

    I'm glad I got my Sienna. MUCH more power and my mileage mimicks yours.
  • dwarfl0rddwarfl0rd Member Posts: 12
    We have ~13,000 miles on our '08 XLE FWD Sienna and love this car. We get about 22-23 MPG in mixed city/hwy and about 29MPG on hwy. If we drove a bit slower, took out the rear bench seat Im almost certain we'd break 30mpg. It still isnt as fuel efficient as my '09 Vette. I get 32MPG Hwy and that car has 430HP! Still love the Sienna though, very smooth.
  • ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    The vette has something like a 0.50 ratio on that tallest gear, so the engine is virtually off until you hit seriously high speeds.

    Interestingly the Sienna has pretty tall gearing too, it seems to have about half the revs of my Miata's 6th gear. Mazda has super-short, tightly spaced gearing.
  • kannarajeshkannarajesh Member Posts: 2
    I got 30.1 mpg from Jefferson,NH to Northborough,MA.I love this engine. Very efficient. I was driving around 65mpg. I did not set cruise.
    :surprise:
  • garyw4garyw4 Member Posts: 4
    Averaged almost 26 mpg over a 5000+ mile trip (Baltimore - Yellowstone). Got as high as 28.5 mpg across the high plains of Wyoming and would have done better at less than 75-80 mph. Overall, the 2010 delivers better highway mpg than my 1998 Sienna XLE but worse mpg elsewhere. Using Mobil 1 synthetic 5W-30 and running the OEM tires at about 37 psi.

    I've found the on-board mpg calculator in the Sienna fairly accurate; unlike the one in my 03 'Vette which typically reads 1 mpg too high.
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