Hello, new guy here

[RobertV]

Are you logging your fill-ups anywhere?
It'd be great to see them here on Fuelly so we can compare to other users with similar make/model.

You're asking for advice on diagnosing a lower-than-average MPG vehicle, but not really giving us a whole lot to go off of.

[raybliu]

I've owned the car for less than 2 months and about 1000miles. I did not log on anywhere. The image shown came from my car's display panel. The info is recorded in my car's computer. I don't know how to download it. I presume a Toyota mechanic with his diagnostic machine should be able to extract the info.
I don't drive much as you can see from my milage. I drive 2 round trips daily for about 3 miles each, mostly city driving with occasional highway trip of 10 to 20 miles.
I get that the stop and go will kill the average but didn't expect such low showing. That's why I'm asking for advice to see how to fix it.
As you can see from other Highlander owner's experience, my MPG is off the chart low.
http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/highlander
I'm getting zero help from Toyota and certainly not from the dealer.

[trollbait]

What are the actual tire pressures?
The TPMS light won't come on until the pressures are at least 5psi below the placard values, and modern tires won't look low until they have lost more air than that. The placard value is the minimum for good fuel economy and safety. If the tires are damaged, there could be a slow leak.

Does the alignment seem alright?

[raybliu]

The alignment seems ok as the tires seem fairly evenly worn. That said, two of the rear tires have crack on them. One of the two has a deep gouge from bad curb rash. I tried to point out to the dealers but those sleazy xxx unmentionables don't even return call.
Good points about the tire pressure. I'll have to check tomorrow.
The car is an all wheel drive those it's listed as a 4WD. No doubt the full time 4 wheeling is sucking the gas out of the tank but it seems no other Highlanders are experiencing the same MPG issues I have.

[trollbait]

Toyota's AWD is asymmetrical; it's a FWD most of the time. Unless it is stuck in AWD all the time it shouldn't be the cause of your low fuel economy.

You should start tracking miles and fuel economy here. I wouldn't put too much reliance into the factory monitor, or even a third party one. Yesterday, the scangauge said my morning commute was around 38mpg, and the evening one around 39, but the average for the day was 36.

[RobertV]

Originally Posted by raybliu

I don't drive much as you can see from my milage. I drive 2 round trips daily for about 3 miles each, mostly city driving with occasional highway trip of 10 to 20 miles.

That's the problem right there.
Not enough time for the engine to reach optimal operating temp. Colder engine means it's running rich (more fuel).
When I was traveling less than 5 miles a day I saw my fuel economy drop as well. Went from 23 to 17MPG and even as low as 14MPG.
Now I work from home and try to plan my commutes to be longer.

[raybliu]

Originally Posted by trollbait

Toyota's AWD is asymmetrical; it's a FWD most of the time. Unless it is stuck in AWD all the time it shouldn't be the cause of your low fuel economy.

You should start tracking miles and fuel economy here. I wouldn't put too much reliance into the factory monitor, or even a third party one. Yesterday, the scangauge said my morning commute was around 38mpg, and the evening one around 39, but the average for the day was 36.

The only average I read is the one from the summary after fill up as shown on my photo image of the display. 5 fill ups in 1000 miles averaging 9 to 12 gallon each comes out to be about 11 to 12 mpg.


My car is labeled as a 4WD and not AWD maybe semantic but it has no means to turn off the 4Ws. Since my dealer is not responding to my calls, I have no way to know what the car is doing.

[raybliu]

Originally Posted by RobertV

That's the problem right there.
Not enough time for the engine to reach optimal operating temp. Colder engine means it's running rich (more fuel).
When I was traveling less than 5 miles a day I saw my fuel economy drop as well. Went from 23 to 17MPG and even as low as 14MPG.
Now I work from home and try to plan my commutes to be longer.

I understand the short trips would lower milage but such was never a problem with my 15 year old 4 Runners which took the same trips. Also my trips were mingled with highway rides as well. Bottom line, 9 to 12 MPG are just shockingly low. BTW, I do warm up before running the car, again I just find the low MPG shocking.

[BDC]

Robert is right on the money. I'm willing to bet that you had just overlooked the mileage in the runner and that you were actually getting worse mileage in that car.

Warming up will actually reduce your mileage because you're burning gas to warm up the car and getting no useful work out of that gas. Probably also contributing to your problem.

SUV + short trips + lots of idling = shockingly low MPG indeed. It's a familiar story.

[RobertV]

Yeah... running the car and not moving (warming up the engine) is wasting fuel. 0 MPG isn't helping your fuel economy at all.
Vehicles nowadays don't need to be 'warmed up'. Computer operated vehicles have sensors and can adjust to outside and internal temp variations. Doesn't mean you'll get the best MPG on a cold start, but sitting in your driveway waiting for it to warm up isn't the way to go about doing it.

I challenge you to skip the long idles/warm up, and try and take longer trips. Regardless if they are city or highway driving. I'm willing to bet your mileage shows drastic improvement.