1. Car on a hill
2. fuel gauge reads 1/4
3. Won't start
4. move to level location
5. Car starts
6. Faulty fuel sending unit/gauge

My 91 Ford Explorer have that problem. Less than a 1/4 tank parked nose first on a decent hill and no go. Ford came up with a fix using a tank mod.

Short of that, keep the tank at least half full.

But doing a search, there are many references to this happening with that era car. Not only Toyota but others.