2021 Toyota Highlander

I REPORTED MY GAS TANK NOT FILLING PAST 12.9 GALLONS OF GASOLINE ON NUMEROUS FILL UPS ON MY NEW 2021 HIGHLANDER HYBRID PLATINUM TO TOYOTA SERVICE DEPARTMENT. THE HIGHLANDER ON INVOICE SAYS IT'S A 17 GALLON TANK CAPACITY. TOYOTA SERVICE DEPART REFILLED MY EMPTY TANK TO12.6 GALLONS VERIFYING MY COMPLAINT. THE SERVICE ADVISOR INFORMED ME THEY NOTIFIED TOYOTA AND TOYOTA RESPONDED IN SAYING THEY ARE AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND THERE'S NOTHING TODO. THE TOYOTA SERVICE ADVISOR INFORM ME UNTIL THERE IS ENOUGH COMPLAINTS THEN TOYOTA WOULD ISSUE A RECALL

I BOUGHT MY 2021 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER XLE AWD FROM TOYOTA OF DALLAS ON 4/11/21. I HAVE HAD NOTHING BUT TROUBLE FROM THE FUEL GUAGE / DISTANCE TO EMPTY SYSTEM. FROM SHOWING FULL WHEN THE TANK IS NOT FULL TO REFUSING TO CHANGE FROM FULL EVEN AFTER DRIVING OVER 100 MILES, I HAVE BECOME VERY DISTURBED BY THIS VEHICLE. I AM UNABLE TO GET TOYOTA AND THE DEALERSHIP TO RESPOND TO ME AFTER SEVERAL ATTEMPTS. MY CAR IS CURRENTLY SITTING IN THE GARAGE SHOWING A FULL TANK AFTER DRIVING 169 MILES AFTER REFUELLING! WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON? SOMEONE PLEASE KINDLY HELP. [XXX]. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

TOYOTA MANUAL SPEC AND WEBSITE ADVERTISE THE TANK CAPACITY IS 17.1 GALLONS. HOWEVER, I CAN ONLY FILL TOP OFF AROUND 12.5-13 GALLONS WHICH MISLEADS TO CUSTOMERS. THE PROBLEM IS THAT I DON'T KNOW WHETHER THE GAUGE IS INCORRECT (SHOWING FULL TOO EARLY) OR THE TANK IS OUT OF SHAPE WHICH I CAN'T FILL TO 17.1 GALLONS. THIS CAN CAUSE UNWANTED SITUATION WHERE PEOPLE THINK THEY CAN GO COUPLE EXTRA HUNDRED MILES BEFORE IT GOES EMPTY OR PEOPLE CONTINUE FORCING TO PUMP MORE GAS AFTER 12.5 GALLONS DUE TO 17.1 GALLONS CAPACITY. THE TOYOTA APP ALSO GIVES THE RANGE AROUND 420 MILES WHICH IS AN ESTIMATE FOR MPG OF TANK CAPACITY AROUND 12 GALLONS. IT IS HARD TO KNOW WHETHER MY CAR GOT ISSUE OR COMPANY FAULTY ADVERTISES THE TANK CAPACITY (LONG RANGE PER FILL) TO ATTRACT CUSTOMERS. I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON SO I CAN USE IT PROPERLY.

GAS TANK ONLY HOLDS 12.5 - 13 GALLONS WITH A RANGE OF 425-450 AT MOST WHEREAS TOYOTA CLAIMS IN THEIR ADVERTISING AND SPECS THAT THE TANK HOLD 17.1 GALLONS AND THE CAR HAS A RANGE OF 598 MILES. I CONFIRMED WITH TOYOTA THAT THIS IS OFF SPECIFICATION AND THEY SAID THE TANK WILL ONLY TAKE 14 GALLONS AND THE RANGE WILL DECIDE ITSELF. I USE THE CAR FOR LONG TRIPS, BOUGHT IT FOR THE TANK SIZE AND RANGE AND AM CONCERNED I AM GOING TO RUN OUT.

THIS IS NOT A SAFETY ISSUE PER SE BUT ONE OF FALSE ADVERTISING. TOYOTA ADVERTISES THE RANGE OF MY HYBRID HIGHLANDER AS 600 MILES ON 17.1 GAL TANK AT 35 MPG. I DO GET 35 MPG (WHICH IS QUITE COMMENDABLE FOR A VEHICLE THIS SIZE) BUT I CANNOT FILL THE FUEL TANK MORE THAN 12-13 GAL EVEN WHEN NEARLY BONE-DRY EMPTY. IN TURN I CANNOT DRIVE ANY FURTHER THAN 450 MILES WITHOUT FILLING UP. SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH EITHER THE DESIGN OF FUEL TANK SUCH THAT NOT ALL THE FUEL CAN BE ACCESSED OR THE DESIGN OF THE FUEL FILLER HOSE SUCH THAT ONE CANNOT FILL THE TANK COMPLETELY. ANOTHER OPTION IS PERHAPS THE FUEL TANK IS NOT TRULY 17.1 GALLONS AS DOCUMENTED. TOYOTA SHOULD NOT ADVERTISE A RANGE OF 600 MILES WHEN THIS IS NOT REALISTIC EVEN WHEN ACHIEVING 35 MPG.

THE 2021 HIGHLANDER HYBRID IS NOT TAKING MORE THAN 10-11GALLONS PER FILL UP AND THE DISTANCE TO EMPTY INDICATOR ONLY STATES APPROX. 420MILES NOT THE 590-615MILES BASED ON THE STATED 34/35 MPG PER TOYOTA ON THE HYBRID MODEL. WE HAVE FILLED THE VEHICLE SEVERAL TIMES AND AT MULTIPLE GAS STATIONS AND EACH TIME THE TANK WILL NOT ACCEPT MORE THAN 10-11GALLONS.

THE 2021 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER HYBRID GAS TANK IS EXACTLY 17.1 US GALLONS IN SIZE BUT EVEN WHEN THE LOW FUEL INDICATOR LIGHT TURN ON AND THE THE FUEL GAUGE IS AT NEAR EMPTY IT WILL ONLY ACCEPT A MAXIMUM OF 12.9 TO 13.8 GALLONS. TOYOTA STATES THAT THE MAXIMUM RANGE ON A FULL TANK OF THE VEHICLE IS 615 MILES BUT WHEN FULL THE MAX-RANGE ALWAYS FALLS BETWEEN 460 TO 490 MILES GIVEN MY MPG OF 34.5 TO 36.5. THERE IS AN ISSUES WITH THE FUELING SYSTEM THAT DOES NOT ALLOW THE VEHICLE TO BE PROPERLY FUELED OR THE SYSTEM IS DEFECTIVE. OTHER DRIVERS HAVE BEEN HAVING THE SAME ISSUES TRYING TO FILL THEIR GAS TANKS TO THE INDICATED AMOUNT AFTER THE FUEL INDICATOR COME ON AND HAVING LOW RAGE LEFT OF ABOUT 25 MILES. THIS IS AN ISSUES THAT HAPPENS AT VARIOUS GAS STATIONS SO THE ISSUE IS NOT THE PUMP BUT THE VEHICLE.

THE DTE INDICATOR ON THE VEHICLE IS OPERATING INCORRECTLY. I FILLED THE HIGHLANDER UP WITH 10 MILES DTE AND IT ONLY TOOK 13.2 GALLONS OF FUEL. THE DTE INDICATOR WAS 425 MILES AFTER FILL UP. TOYOTA ADVERTISES 600 MILES PER TANK. MY HIGHLANDER IS 175 MILES OFF OF THE MANUFACTURES ADVERTISED EXPECTATION. I DON'T KNOW IF I AM OUT OF FUEL AT 0 DTE OR IF I CAN DRIVE ANOTHER 175 MILES BEFORE EMPTY. I AVERAGED 35.6 MPG ON THIS FILL UP BUT EVERY TIME I FILL THE TANK I GET SIMILAR RESULTS.