Toyota Avalon Real World MPG Numbers

rsblaski · November 2005

First of all, I have a 2 week old Limited as well and am getting @18-19 mpg.
Some things to consider. First, if you have low mileage (I have about 300 miles on mine) you can expect low mpg. Once it is broken in it will improve, I hope.
Second, if you do a lot of stop and go driving, this will also affect it. I live in the Las Vegas area and the stop lights are notoriously long, sometimes over 2 or 3 minutes, depending on the left turn arrow sequences. I am sure this affects my mpg.

I just traded a 2005 Honda Odyssey Touring, and I didn't start to get decent mileage until I had almost 5,000 miles on the car. After that, highway mpg went up to around 25-27 miles per gallon. (EPA estimates about 28 highway)

So for now, I am writing off the mpg to the fact that the car has few miles and most of my driving so far has been around the city. Once the car is broken in and I do some longer highway trips, I will base my satisfaction on those results.

Good luck, and I hope we both see a great improvement on fuel economy.

ps, the demo I drove at the dealer indicated the mpg since last fill up was 29mpg, which would make me happy if I were to get that eventually. I didn't make a note of how many miles were on that particular car.

pcc49 · November 2005

I have about 800 miles on my 06 limited. I use only 91 octane gasoline. I average 26+ mpg with combined city and fwy driving.

brown3 · December 2005

". . .The way I read it, ethanol is added to the fuel for the tests."

I re-read the site, and it still seems to say that the fuels are required to have 8%-10% ethanol.

If you're testing a fuel, why would you add 8%-10% of ethanol just for a test? I mean, if it's not in there to begin with, what would be the point? :confuse:

monamilar · December 2005

What kind of mpg did you get the first 1500 miles you drove? I've been told that I won't get good mileage until the car is broken in, about 5000 miles. Was that your experience?

zekeman1 · December 2005

I've never gotten less than 23 mpg. I could get less, but I don't floorboard the car nor do I play "race the other guy." Frankly, I'm somewhat fascinated with the many problems people seem to be having with their Avalons, i.e., engine noise? Come on!!!). Maybe it's just a fluke, but since I've bought Toyota's and one Lexus, mine have been totally trouble-free - no exaggeration! Had some issues with Honda's and most recently a CRV (my wife's) - getting rid of it and getting a Highlander was the fix.
When I got my Avalon, I asked my salesman about a break-in. He said it wasn't really necessary - break-ins were something done 20 years ago. I think common sense dictates: just don't dog the car.
I'm extremely pleased with my Avalon and wouldn't hesitate to buy another.
zekeman1

tampabob · December 2005

I have 500 miles on my 06 limited and have averaged over 27 mpg with the cheapest gas available on a mixture of city/highway eg. a 60 mile round trip takes me 2 hours (40 minutes driving over 70 mph and 1 hr 20 minutes in stop and go. Very satisfied with mpg (5 mpg better that my '98 buick lesabre).

lmacmil · December 2005

Doesn't gas containing ethanol have to state so on the pump? I'll look next time I fill up at a Phillips 66 but I don't recall seeing that posted.

rabbi · December 2005

I have just bought a 2002 Avalon with 26,000 miles; my first tank averaged 27 mpg. I switched to AMSOIL synthetic oil and automatic transmission fluid and started using fuel injector cleaning additives at each fuel fill up. I am now getting around 32-33 mpg. You could also use Mobil 1 but it is not as good as the AMSOIL product. No I do not sell AMSOIL I am just a happy user.

jimcvirginia · February 2006

After my 03 Avalon got totalled crashing into a red light runner (all of the safety features worked very well -- I was not injured!) I replaced it with a new 06. One of the features I liked was a larger fuel tank: 18.5 vs. 16.5 gallons. I got the limited with voice nav, etc. The first time the low fuel light came on, I checked and saw that my driving range was about 25-30 miles. When I filled up after it hit empty, the tank held about 15.5 gallons. I once went about 8 miles after the nav system said my driving range was 0 miles, and managed to squeeze 15.9 gallons into the tank. When I ask anyone associated with Toyota (sales, on-line, service), I am told "it needs that much reserve". My question is to anyone with an 06 who does not have the nav system: When your fuel tank reads empty, how much can you pump in? I am convinced there is a bug in the nav system that does not take into account the larger tank, but maybe I'm wrong...

captain2 · February 2006

a couple of things I have found with my 05 Touring - no NAV
- odometer is off about 4% (reads low - 100 miles shown = 104 miles driven) but computer calculated mpg is right if you correct to actual miles driven
- range will never show over 400 miles to empty (generally about 380) even though I have gone as far as 515 on a tank (highway trip). At a 70% highway mix, I generally see 440 miles per tank and something about 26.5 mpg meaning that I'm generally putting in 16-17 gallons about the same time that DTE is reading zero.
- these new high speed pumps do shut off well before tank capacity is reached - usually a gallon or two short of real capacity. This 10% difference will skew calculated MPG and also range from fill-up to fill-up.
Overall, I don't worry to much about running out of gas when the trip computer says '0' - understanding that there is about a 2 gallon reserve. Keeping in mind I do a lot of highway driving, I consider a 450 mile average range on a car the size and power of the Avalon amazing.

reitster · March 2006

Agree...450 mile range for this car is amazing. I have gotten 28 on the highway with a mix of 65 to 80 mph speeds. Just sold an 00 camry V6 manual that didn't do that. Driving in rural mountin areas on back roads gets closer to 25. However this has just been in the cold northeast in a car with less than 2k miles....so I expect better as the engine continues to break in and as the weather improves.

duramaxx · March 2006

We filled our 06 Avalon Touring for the first time, trip average said 28mpg and when we figured it out it was 30.6 mpg, we are very happy with those numbers, we drive 2 lane roads 20 miles to work and drive mostly 55-58 mph, average on display went back up to 28 mpg on next day after filling, hope this keeps up, very happy with car!!!

manatoc5 · March 2006

Optimum speed for mpg is 57 mpg, same as prius, etc.

avalong06 · April 2006

hello, i got 30 mpg first trip from dealer then we got 34 mpg so i bought a tornado at 1200 miles and put in got36 mpg but weather now requires a/c so i am getting 29/31 mpg and have 1900 miles on car! tornado cost 40 dollars and takes phillips and about 4 minutes to put on!

lmacmil · April 2006

Good thing it was only $40 because no one (meaning car magazine controlled tests) has ever proved those gas saving devices do anything for mileage.

rwm741 · June 2006

Although others who have posted here have had much newer Avalons, the thread is still "Real-Life Avalon MPG". So, my car is a 1997 Avalon XL. The EPA sticker on it says 21 city and 31 highway. Over the nine years I have owned the car, I have consistently been between those numbers, although on the low end of that range. Until last summer (when I started driving slower) I generally averaged about 24 mpg, with about two-thirds expressway driving but at 75-80 mph.

With gas prices as they are (I recently filled up at $3.15/gallon on 87 octane fuel in Connecticut), I have been driving slower, and generally keep my expressway speed at about 60 mph, even though the speed limit is 65. Generally by doing this I get about 28 mpg, with a high (in almost all highway driving) of 31 mpg.

I have never reached 500 miles on a tank of gas in any car (oftentimes because I didn't have the nerve to try), but on this tank I am currently at 492.5. A bit nerve-wracking with the low-fuel light on, but I should be able to go another 7.5 miles until a fill-up. The light starts to come on when I still have about three or four gallons (out of an 18.5 gallon capacity), and on the current tank the low-fuel light started to come on at 451.7 miles.

The car now has 192K miles on it. I think I got my money's worth.

rwm741 · June 2006

Replying to my own message; this time I'll keep it short. Filled the car up yesterday morning, after reaching 500 miles:

Miles = 500.1
Gallons = 16.599
Miles / Gallon = 30.1

Cost = $51.44

tjc78 · June 2006

I must have a heavy foot. My '06 XLS with 2400 miles has never broken 22 MPG. I do 60 Hwy / 40 City mix. Even a few tanks with more highway still the same result. I was told the '06 would get better MPG than my '03 Avalon but its really about the same.

petras2 · June 2006

on a 300mi. hwy trip several months ago, i got an honest 36 mpg doing a steady 65 with cruise control on and a/c off, as it was fairly cool...everyone was passing me but i was impressed that having cruise control on can make such a difference as previous drives netted me 30-31 mpg at best...

mark_h · September 2006

I've got a 2002 Avalon and the BEST I get on the highway is 26. I normally get around 16-17 in the city. Since I am in the northeast and we are using oxygenated fuel our mileage is about 10% less. So yours seems to be in line with expectations.

4439 · September 2006

I have a 2005 Limited that ran over some unpacked gravel yesterday. The passenger side of the car bottomed out and some gravel was lodged into the bottom portion of the car near the passenger side tire. Since this incident, I've noticed that my MPG counter as well as miles left to go has not been working correctly. The MPG will jump all over the place and the miles left to go will count down faster than before. The other two functions, miles travelled and speed average, work correctly. Does anyone know where the computer is for this information? I'm wondering if maybe a wire was damaged as a result of the vehicle bottoming out. I do not have a fluid leak that I can see nor do I smell gasoline leaking. The car is going in in one week so any info before then would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

terrymac · September 2006

I have a '99 Avalon XLS that I otherwise love but not getting very good mileage. Overall I only average 18-19 with lots of city driving. Even on a mostly freeway tank I've only gotten 22 mpg. This was after my 120K tune-up and fuel filter cleanout. Any thoughts about what, if anything I could do to improve the mpg? Thanks.

steve326a · September 2006

Has your mileage always been there from the get-go or has it gone down only recently? There maybe an underlying issue that has not been addressed.

Steve :shades:

maniax · November 2006

I bought an Avalon limited about 2 months ago. I've only been putting "super" gas since then. I drive about 40% highway/60% city, and my highway trips are no more than 10 miles at a time. I also warm up the car for about 3 minutes when I start it cold (as opposed to when you've driven it in the last few hours and the car is still warmed). I'm distraught to see I only get 17.5 MPG. I thought the computer was wrong so I clocked the miles myself and divided by how much I filled up the next time, I was right. I'm not sure why I'm getting such crappy mileage. Any ideas?

steve326a · November 2006

I've read from previous posts that new engines start with poor mileage until it breaks in and all the rings and seals seat themselves in. Mileage improves when this happens.
Keep us informed.

Steve :shades:

mitran · January 2007

I've purchased a new 2007 Avalon XL recently. After the first 150 miles I'm getting only 12 city (Chicago) / 16.5 highway MPG (according to the "blue screen" i.o. 22 city / 31 HW). There is so little or rather non-existent expert (Toyota) info about what to make out of these readings. I've heard about engine break-in time, still when you get only roughly half of what the sticker says, you worry no matter what the dealer or forums says. Besides I don't want to wait 2000 to 5000 miles to find out if the dealer was right. Toyota should do more to address these concerns and legitimate questions and explain clearly what to make out of these numbers. I can understand there can be bias when making these estimates but I'd be OK getting say 5 MPG... for the first few thousand miles knowing it will jump to approx 20 city and 30 highway MPG because "TOTOTA SAYS SO". I don't think people will hold Toyota responsible if they get say 2-3 miles less per gallon (because Toyota already stated in the fine print... "you may get 2-3 MPG less or more... than what's listed on sticker"). I'm grateful to all users who wrote about their experiences as it helps address (to some extent) my MPG related worries.

Mitran :confuse:

bobwiley · January 2007

mitran: I assume you are doing a lot of "stop & start" driving? I have an 06 Limited and in the daily driving around the hilly area around lake of the Ozarks, I get 26-27 MPG. But, there's not must "stop & start" driving. On trips I average 30 MPG+ and that's at 75 MPH with the air condtioner on. I have gotten as high as 33.8 MPG when I kept it at 70 MPH. I also assume you don't try and be the 1st away from the light which of course will affect your mileage. I'd certainly address the issue with the dealer.
Bob

mitran · January 2007

Hi Bob - I still "like" to believe is too early (150 miles so far) to judge the X-low MPG I'm getting. I consider myself a "gentle" driver and my "stop & start" driving is a normal, no rush hours city driving (pleasure, shopping, etc.) What I'd like to know and would give me peace of mind are 2007 / 2006 Avalon owners who achieve similar MPG in their (very) early engine break-in time. Thank you for your thoughts. Mitran.

captain2 · January 2007

05 Avalon Touring - total miles 41250, gallons used 1505, calculated FE 27.4, highest indicated mpg per tank (trip computer) 33.6, lowest 23.3. Usual driving about 70% highway at about 70 mph.

captain2 · January 2007

understand that your average mpg blue screen readout out is cumulative for that tank. Therefore if you started out with the city driving at 12 (which I find hard to believe) and ended up at 16.5 after some hwy driving, your FE for the hwy portion was likely something in the 25 mpg range (also a low number), depending on how many miles of those 150 were actually highway. Since you only have done 150 miles, you will also soon find out that the computer resets itself every fill up. Do yourself a favor and schedule some sort of out of town trip, at a constant 65-70 mph you should see a big number 29 (or more) on your screen, and it will additionally serve to 'loosen' up the engine a little. But I wouldn't worry about it, know several Avalon owners that all report average FE numbers well into the 20s.

rpfingsten · January 2007

mitran...If you want to be absolutely positive as to the actual gas mileage you're getting, start with a full tank of gas. before you leave the gas station, zero out one of your "trip" odometers. then the next time you fill up, see how many miles you have accumulated on the trip odoemeter and write down the # of gallons it takes to fill up your car. then simply divide the # of miles driven by the # of gallons needed to fill up... that will give you a relatively true miles per gallon estimate. I've noticed that the mileage shown on the blue screen on my avy is usually about 1 mile mpg off. btw, I average around 26.4 mpg driving to and from work. some stop and go, short hiway jaunt totaling around 6 miles each way.

Roland

captain2 · January 2007

the mileage shown on the blue screen on my avy is usually about 1 mile mpg off
rpfingsten-
there is a reason for this - if your Av is like mine the trip odos read about 3-4% low, check it out with some hwy mileage markers - 100 miles shown actually is about 104 miles driven. If you add that 4% in that equation 25 mpg actually equals 26, I have found that the computer indicated mpg is actually right after the correction. Speedo, however, checks out as on the nuts - haven't figured out yet how the odo and speedo aren't both off the same amount, something that has been the case in any other car I've owned. The other problem I've run into in terms of verifying FE on a tank-by-tank basis is that the pumps will shutoff long before (a gallon or 2) the tank is really full - typically when my DTE is '0' the car will take about 16.5 to 17 gallons, but the gas pump (it depends on the station) can shutoff as early as 15.

richdag · April 2007

Hi everyone: Don't have an Avalon but very interested in one, Is it true the Avalon does not have an instant mpg read out and you have to wait to fill up the tank to get the reading? If so that's kind of strange, even even my old OLDS minivan has it.

66gman · April 2007

Yes you're correct. I just traded a 2000 Avalon XLS for a 2007 Avalon Limited, and trip computer now has less options than before. I do find that the two options (ave. mpg and miles to empty) are the ones I used before and they work great. Wow this is one great car!!!!! Far exceeds my expectations our 2000 XLS ran up 100000 miles without a hitch.

captain2 · April 2007

it doen't have anything for instanteous mpg (category: worthless information) but does keep avg mpg by the tank, elapsed time, and distance to empty. It automatically resets itself every time you fill up which is what is unusual because you can't get a multiple tank average on the computer (on a long trip, for example), but it does show mpg changes as the tank empties. Would encourage you to check the Avalon, has more than enough power to keep up with almost anything on the road and my little blue screen always reads about 27 mpg - amazing.

ovlee1 · April 2007

Hi Rich: You are right: the 05-07 Avalons do not have that instant MPG readout. But as someone else said, and I agree, having owned an '00, and currently own an '01 and just bot a new-to-me '06, (obviously we do like Avalons very much.), instant MPG is really rather useless,(except for bragging, as you point to 45 MPG, for example, as you coast down a hill) compared to the newer Av's which compute from fill-up to fill-up, and provide us with an MPG for that tank just replaced, which I feel is a more usefull number. Incidentally, I am proving to myself what a friend told me about a year ago, that 'country' gas gives MUCH better MPG than 'city' gas, due to the pollution-control additives mandated by states and/or feds? Can anyone provide more precise info on this subject?.......For example, fuel purchased in Waco, TX, (apparently 'country' fuel, gave us 36.6 MPG, whereas 'city' gas here in Fort Worth gives only about 30 MPG highway readout. And, yes, one should check total miles on a tankful divided by total gallons. I find THAT number to be just under what the on-board computer figure stated: about a 5% disapointment....Hey ain't this Edmunds Forum cool?!

captain2 · April 2007

true, instead of using MTBE (?), the Feds have mandated the use of 10% ethanol (both octane additives) in many cities across the US. This hurts gas mileage by 5-10% and also increases the price of the gas a bit. BTW, next time you take one of those good long highway trips check your trip odos vs. some mileage markers, think that will answer where some of your computer 'error' is.

richdag · April 2007

What grade of gas is everyone using? Do you have to use premium or is using regular ok?

Rich

ovlee1 · April 2007

Hi Rich: We are on our third Avalon, and in none of the three, has there ever been a drop of anything but regular. When we bot our first, a 2000, I did read in the manual, and on the filler cap, that you MUST use premium. I had been told by the salesman that regular was okay, so I called him to confirm, and he stood by his recommendation. I have been told that to approach federal milage standards, and the milage shown on the sticker, one would have to use Premium. I have gotten good milage in all three Avalons, and have never paid the premium price. Them's my thots....ovlee

lofgren · April 2007

On regular fuel (varying from 85 to 87 grade) on 1500-mile trip, got 30.58 mpg(US) at 75-80 mph on interstate.

steve326a · April 2007

On my 97 XLS, I use only regular gas and it runs great. I get 33.4 MPG at 60-65 MPH

Thanks,
Steve
** 97 XLS w/ All The Toys! **
** My Baby! **
** Enjoy & Long Live Your Avalon! **
** NO! YOU CANT HAVE MINE! **

Toyota Avalon Real World MPG Numbers

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