Fuel Tank Capacity and Gauge not in sync

[sluebeck]

I have a 2025 Landcruiser. Got it in late November, just under 2,000 miles. I've looked through the forum and haven't seen this exact issue discussed.

According to the owners manual and specs online, the Landcruiser has a 17.9 gallon fuel tank. However, when I run my car down to essentially empty and refuel it only take 15 gallons, which tells me there is still over 2 gallons of gas left in the vehicle or the fuel capacity of the tank isn't really 17.9 gallons. Are any of you noticing this, is this normal?

 

[NoMe cruiser]

Run it right till it is empty, until it stalls out then see how much it takes to fill up.

 

[Nuke]

Run it right till it is empty, until it stalls out then see how much it takes to fill up.

Right... Do it, and report the results...

 

[FarooqMCSE]

I have a 2025 Landcruiser. Got it in late November, just under 2,000 miles. I've looked through the forum and haven't seen this exact issue discussed.

According to the owners manual and specs online, the Landcruiser has a 17.9 gallon fuel tank. However, when I run my car down to essentially empty and refuel it only take 15 gallons, which tells me there is still over 2 gallons of gas left in the vehicle or the fuel capacity of the tank isn't really 17.9 gallons. Are any of you noticing this, is this normal?

Hi sluebeck,
I checked ChatGPT and it says LC has a 2 gallon reserve.

 

[FarooqMCSE]

Hi SlueBeck, ChatGPT says LC has a 2 gallon reserve.

 

[PDPete]

As someone that’s owned a few Toyotas, I can attest to the fact that their vehicles are very conservative when it comes to “mileage to empty” estimates and when the gauge hits “E”…i.e. they don’t want you to run out of gas (and likely don’t want you running the tank completely dry outside of emergency situations either). As someone already mentioned, there’s usually about 2 gal. still left in the tank when it first hits “empty”

 

[Roonie]

Yes when I run mine to empty I only put in 15 gallons or so. They have a 3 gallon reserve almost as its bad for the hybrid system to run out of gas. So that means we really only have about 14-15 gallons usable gas which isn't much if your going by the fuel gauge.

 

[Bajacruzzer]

I have a 2025 Landcruiser. Got it in late November, just under 2,000 miles. I've looked through the forum and haven't seen this exact issue discussed.

According to the owners manual and specs online, the Landcruiser has a 17.9 gallon fuel tank. However, when I run my car down to essentially empty and refuel it only take 15 gallons, which tells me there is still over 2 gallons of gas left in the vehicle or the fuel capacity of the tank isn't really 17.9 gallons. Are any of you noticing this, is this normal?

Just look at this way, Toyota does not want you to run out of gas. When you think you’re going to run out of gas you basically have another 40+ miles to find a gas station. I’m hoping in the future they put a 24 gallon tank in for future models.

 

[sluebeck]

So, what's the point of a 2 gallon reserve? With my 4runner, the fuel light would come on when the fuel gauge was just below one quarter left, telling you that you had 30-40 miles left. On the Landcruiser, it tricks you into thinking you are approaching empty, but you apparently have the same 30-40 miles left. I've never seen any Toyota do this.

I haven't seen the fuel light come on in the Landcruiser yet, apparently I will have to wait for the gauge to reads empty first? Dumb.

 

[Roonie]

So, what's the point of a 2 gallon reserve? With my 4runner, the fuel light would come on when the fuel gauge was just below one quarter left, telling you that you had 30-40 miles left. On the Landcruiser, it tricks you into thinking you are approaching empty, but you apparently have the same 30-40 miles left. I've never seen any Toyota do this.

I haven't seen the fuel light come on in the Landcruiser yet, apparently I will have to wait for the gauge to reads empty first? Dumb.

it's generally recommended to keep at least 2-3 gallons of fuel in reserve on a new Land Cruiser, especially because running completely out of gas can potentially damage the hybrid system within the vehicle; when the gas runs low, the car may rely too heavily on the electric motor which could lead to strain and potential issues. Also the fuel pump is lubricated and sits off the bottom of the tank soaked in fuel. Running it dry can also damage that. That said I wish they increased the capacity to 21 gallons or 24. Its crazy we have only 13-14 gallons of usable fuel to use. One of the biggest issues IMO.