Toyota Auris pessimistic fuel gauge / range ?

[Justin Smith]

I was surprised to find, when I checked, that my Auris has more or less the same size fuel tank as my previous 2006 Ford Focus.
Why ?
Well the gauge seems to drop down to only 1/4 left after relatively low miles.
Take the last refill.
I'd done 245m at a reported average MPG of 37.0 (subsequently confirmed as about right from the amount of fuel used), i.e. it had used about 6.5 gallons (30L). Thus there should have been about 4.5 gallons (20L) left in the tank. The reported "Range" was 90 miles, which, at 36mpg would be 2.5 gallons left.
However, when I refilled it to the brim (assuming the fuel pipe / tank actually let's one fill the car to the brim without operating the fuel pump cut out) it only took 6.8 gallons (31L), i.e. there was still about 4.2 gallons (19L) left in there. That's nearly 2/5 (not far off half) of the tank !
There seems to be nearly 2 gallons (8L) "missing". I understand they want to be on the safe side, but they appear to have gone a bit far here as it takes a lot of nerve to keep driving when the car is telling you it's range is zero !
Most of us start looking to refill when we have about 1/4 of a tank left, so (other than for Victoria Cross holders.....), the "range" of the car, even at 37mpg, is only about 250m.

Has anyone else found this ?

[TonyHSD]

Hi, 

what engine is your car? 
You know about these figures no need worry about it too much, just fill up reset daily trip a d unless you have a leak you know you will be good for at least 350-400miles of its a hybrid. 👍

[mcntosh]

Back in the days when I let the tank run low enough for the low fuel light to come on, I generally had about 35 miles of range left (supposedly). The light  on the hybrid model comes on when you’re down to your last 1.5 gallons.

This suggests the range indicator is working on the basis of 23 mpg. However, I average about 50mpg. 

So yes, I think the range indicator is pessimistic. I still won’t be up for a VC anytime soon: the longest I’ve ever dared with the light on is 15 miles.

[Justin Smith]

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

Hi, what engine is your car? 
You know about these figures no need worry about it too much, just fill up reset daily trip a d unless you have a leak you know you will be good for at least 350-400miles of its a hybrid. 👍

I can't afford a Hybrid ! Mine's a 106 petrol 2013 model. Only had it about 5 months.

You're right in theory, that if one knows it's pessimistic one can compensate, but it takes nerves of steel......

[YarisHybrid2016]

From what I understand, the only reliable part is the low fuel light. The gauge can't be trusted.

Quite honestly I wish the things had a calibrated sight gauge.

[FROSTYBALLS]

The bars on the fuel gauge extinguish faster as the tank empties. Toyota tends to be conservative as regards fuel reserves, which on the petrol Auris is approx 7.5 litres, and the low fuel light will come on around when the above reserve is reached.

I've had two Auris and once one gets used to how the gauge operates, I didn't have any issue.

[Justin Smith]

There's one other thing I have noticed about the Auris, in comparison to my Focus, the fuel gauge hardly moves at all even when one has done a good few miles, then seems to drop to a quarter full quite quickly !

[TonyHSD]

35 minutes ago, Justin Smith said:

There's one other thing I have noticed about the Auris, in comparison to my Focus, the fuel gauge hardly moves at all even when one has done a good few miles, then seems to drop to a quarter full quite quickly !

Perhaps you may need some more time to get use to it.
Toyota cars are very similar between their own models but different from all other brands. Ford’s are on their own game too. Each brands has their typical extras and on the other hand their niggles and when switch between different makes the driver needs some more time to adapt. Soon you will forget about fords and the Auris will become a base for comparison to whatever is coming next., or any other car you try. 👍

[furtula]

The gauge is completely useless. I wish i had the old style one. It's nice they brought it back in newer cars, i saw the Corolla has it again.

If you fill the tank full, it sticks to full for maybe 100 miles, then starts dropping. Then it comes to 60%, and sticks there for way too long, then suddenly drops to 2 "bricks", and again, holds it for longer time. It's just a rough way to estimate how much you have left in the tank, and nothing else. 

[MagicBoy]

Toyota seem to run a massive reserve, where other manufacturers don't. I ran my hybrid down to 0 miles on the range. Brimmed the tank, only got 39.7l in, must have been 5 litres still in there.

[mcntosh]

37 minutes ago, MagicBoy said:

Toyota seem to run a massive reserve, where other manufacturers don't. I ran my hybrid down to 0 miles on the range. Brimmed the tank, only got 39.7l in, must have been 5 litres still in there.

The most I’ve ever got into the tank is 37L, with about 30 miles of range.

[MagicBoy]

53 minutes ago, mcntosh said:

The most I’ve ever got into the tank is 37L, with about 30 miles of range.

I'd swear once you get under 1/4 on the gauge, it plummets along with the range counter on the trip computer. Did a 25 mile round trip to see a family member on Sunday. Went from 85 miles to 40. Averaged the usual 50 ish mpg for the trip.

Reminds me, need to fill up. I'll report back how much I squeeze in. I'm estimating 37-38L.

[TonyHSD]

Tbh the fuel level gauge doesn’t matter much, what matters is the range that you can cover and the mpg the most. I can see ranges from 414 lowest to 550 highest in summer. Currently showing around 445 miles which is respectable at around 52mpg average. I like to fill up full as soon as it gets below half mark and usually takes around 20ltr on average. Once I went 40 miles since the range showed 0 miles remain, I know the car had a reserve but I won’t be doing that again. I felt a bit uncomfortable 🙂👍

[MagicBoy]

Yeah, tend to agree. The light caught me by surprise last week. The Battery went flat a couple of weeks ago, so the trip counter reset. 

Unless I'm doing a long run it's usually 350-375 between fill ups, I'll stick some in when it hits a quarter on the Mk2 analogue gauge of inaccuracy. Usually translates to 30-32L.

[Justin Smith]

On 2/28/2023 at 12:34 PM, TonyHSD said:

Tbh the fuel level gauge doesn’t matter much, what matters is the range that you can cover and the mpg the most. I can see ranges from 414 lowest to 550 highest in summer. Currently showing around 445 miles which is respectable at around 52mpg average. I like to fill up full as soon as it gets below half mark and usually takes around 20ltr on average. Once I went 40 miles since the range showed 0 miles remain, I know the car had a reserve but I won’t be doing that again. I felt a bit uncomfortable 🙂👍

The problem is the consumption I get from my cars varies hugely as to if it's pretty much all round town and short trips (even worse in the winter) or a long run cruising at 65. Just in the 6 months I have had the Auris (I haven't done a really long motorway run in it yet) the best was 39.9mpg and the worst 30.5.

For my Focus, which I had for about 10 years, the best was 46.6 (and that was just before I sold it and it'd done over 100,000 miles ! ) and the worst 27.5.
The max range (minus one gallon) would have varied between 330 and 512 miles and thus one cannot reliably use just the trip meter mileage as a guide to when to refill. Not if one wants to avoid unnecessary trips to the petrol station !

[MagicBoy]

Oh, the answer was 39L. Trip range went from 30 miles to "---"

So in theory there was at least 5 litres in there.

[Justin Smith]

On 3/9/2023 at 12:49 PM, MagicBoy said:

Oh, the answer was 39L. Trip range went from 30 miles to "---"

So in theory there was at least 5 litres in there.

The low fuel warning light has just illuminated on my Auris, despite the fact it's only done 277m (at "33mpg") which equates to about 8.5 gallons, i.e. there must be about 2.5 gallons in the tank, about 23% of its capacity !
The range is reported as 21m, which, at 33mpg, would still mean not far short of 2 gallons would still be in the tank with "zero range". That equals, more or less, the calculated "missing amount" in the opener.

[Gray86]

My dads old 2008 1.6 Auris used to do over 30miles beyond 0 range comfortably. The tank is much larger than the fuel gauge allows for

[AisinW]

The measurement must be on a level road and at mild speed and loads.  Typically we still have about 3 gallons when the lights is up.  It is very common on most cars.  Too low fuel can be problematic on up and down roads. Therefore, the lights is up to acccomodate climing and down hill roads.

[Justin Smith]

I cab confirm the Auris fuel gauge seems to almost drop down in quarters.
It sticks at full, then the next time I note it the reading is 3/4 full, then half, then a quarter, then almost empty !

My low fuel warning light just illuminated after 300m at "36.4mpg", i.e. it had used about 8.3 gallons of an 11 gallon tank. Therefore nearly 3 gallons were left, which is about 25% of its capacity !

[Justin Smith]

16 hours ago, Justin Smith said:

I cab confirm the Auris fuel gauge seems to almost drop down in quarters.
It sticks at full, then the next time I note it the reading is 3/4 full, then half, then a quarter, then almost empty !

My low fuel warning light just illuminated after 300m at "36.4mpg", i.e. it had used about 8.3 gallons of an 11 gallon tank. Therefore nearly 3 gallons were left, which is about 25% of its capacity !

I refilled "to the brim" and it only took just over 2.5 gallons, thus confirming the above estimates