I love my RAV4, but the excessive oil consumption has gotten progressively worse. I passed an oil consumption test by the dealer in 2016, but I think the oil used may have contributed to it not passing. I was using full synthetic. I want to keep a loyal customer, but not if Toyota doesn't want to assist. This car shouldn't be burning this much oil. Just had oil change using full synthetic and after 2,000 miles the oil light came on. I was 3.25+ quarts low! For the last 30,000 miles. I have to keep oil container in the car to refill in between oil changes.

My 2006 RAV4 (finally sold with 117,300 miles) had been CONSISTENTLY using one quart of oil every 600 miles – due to defective pistons, a KNOWN MANUFACTURING PROBLEM.

Toyota had to know which cars had the faulty engines and should have issued a recall for ALL of them, but they didn’t. Rather, Toyota waited for customers to complain of excessive oil consumption, and then promised to test and then rebuild oil consuming engines on an extended warranty basis for cars less than 10 years old and with no more than 150,000 miles.

A Pennsylvania stealership performed THREE (count 'em) oil consumption tests on my RAV4, the first two of which were done within the Extended Warranty ‘window’.

The FIRST TEST (2/29/16) PASSED, but the car kept using one quart of oil every 600 miles AFTERWARDS. I bought a case of factory recommended 5W20 Synthetic Blend oil to keep the engine properly filled, as needed – about every 600 miles.

The SECOND TEST PASSED (6/30/16). I watched the technician put oil into the car from a previously poured pitcher (oil viscosity unknown). The car burned just over half a quart during the test, BUT continued to use one quart every 600 miles AFTERWARDS. When this dealer changed the oil on 3/20/18, there was NO OIL on the dipstick after just 528 miles! None! Nada! Zilch!

I opened a case with Toyota Corporate who suggested the dealer conduct a THIRD test. To ensure that the proper oil was being used, I MYSELF provided five quarts of (5W20) synthetic blend oil, and watched while the dealer’s technician placed 4.5 quarts of it into the engine. In doing so, the technician snarkily quipped that the test results would not matter anyway as the extended warranty program was over by then.

With the factory recommended oil that I provided, the THIRD TEST INDEED FAILED – the car burned over 2 quarts in 1250 miles, and this time the red oil lamp flickered for the first time! When I called them back, Toyota Corporate matter-of-factly and quite dispassionately told me that the Extended Warranty coverage had lapsed for my car, and I should ‘take the matter up with the dealer.’

The Toyota service manager promised to check with ‘his man’ at Toyota to see what could be done, but never replied back, nor did the Toyota Dealer Principal after I sent him a certified letter, followed by two telephone calls to which he never responded. I’ve even e-mailed the Toyota CEO (Mr. Toyoda – that’s supposedly his real name) in Japan – no reply from this guy either!

To recap, the first two tests PASSED (when the dealership said they provided the factory recommended oil) and the third FAILED (WHEN I PROVIDED THE RECOMMENDED OIL).

The only plausible explanation is that the technicians – for some unknown reason - placed the wrong viscosity oil in the car for the first two tests. I know they didn’t overfill it because I carefully watched them do it.

Totally frustrated, I finally traded the car in for another one at another Toyota dealership. I was honest with them about the oil consumption problem when I traded it in and therefore suffered financially somewhat. I just could not see selling this car to someone because this defect could have had very serious consequences for another trusting and unsuspecting buyer.

I have owned many new cars over the years, including two other Toyota’s (1999 and 2002) that were purchased brand new. They NEVER burned oil between oil changes at 3,000 miles. This is a consummate disgrace from a car manufacturer that touts quality!

A Better Business Bureau complaint on Warranty service was filed to which this dealer never responded. Their rating even dropped from an A to a C Minus.

Sadly, they don’t seem to care.

Their indifference was far beneath contempt.

Caveat Emptor!

Same as everyone else. Bad piston ring design by Toyota that they will not own up to. Their "fix" was offering owners a "Special Warranty" that gave them the option to have a faulty piston ring replaced, but only after a class-action lawsuit occurred and they settled out of court with the "Special Warranty".

Here's the thing: they engineered the program so that owners who went to get the problem fixed faced "delays" with the parts and backlogged repairs. They knew the owners who had the problem were almost at ten years of ownership, which left them a year or so for them to get the repair done. Every time I went to a dealership, the above was the excuse; "sorry, we'll call when the part comes in". Never happened. "sorry, we're backlogged with repairs, we'll call you when we have an opening". Nope. Finally, I called the end of 2016 and they're like, "Yeah, come on in! Wait, what is the VIN for your car? Oh, I'm sorry, but the Special Warranty only applies within ten years of original ownership." Called Toyota Customer "Care" who verbatim said that they "would not fix it", corporate offices and even sent them a certified letter detailing the problem. I even called attorneys that deal with consumer lawsuits and nobody returned my phone calls, because the problem was already "settled".

They have turned their backs on loyal customers to save them millions of dollars and their asses as they were already facing backlash for other vehicle issues from across all models. They would rather further tarnish their reputation than own up to it and keep their customer base. I wrote them a final letter stating that I would not never own another Toyota as long as I live and that there are better options out there anyway.

I you have this issue and have spoken to a mechanic who has told you to either replace the engine for $4000 or get a new car and either are not an option, here's what you can do to safely keep it going longer:

Purchase the Bar's Leaks Oil Seal product (or other oil leak fix) from an Auto Parts store or Amazon. Follow the instructions. The first time I did this I was able to drive with no issues for at least four months without having to add oil and then gradually I had to add more over time but not every week like I was doing before! I just did it again and hope it lasts longer. I'm already at 115,000+ miles.

I bought this Rav 4 2006 brand new and taking them to the dealer for service right on schedule. Dealer has been up sell me the services and I end up did it even just to go in for oil changed. About a year ago I started to complaint to the service department about the oil consumption. They said they could not find anything wrong. They did other repairs and some recalls. I complaint about the oil consumption all the times but they kept saying nothing wrong.

My husband has to put the oil in quite often. Last service about a month ago, went in for 5000 miles oil change and end up paid over $400 for some brake job. I asked how much did I paid for the last oil change and it show over $400 for another brake job. When I asked the serviceman said it different kind of work one for the shoe and this one for the pad. He told me to come back after 1000 miles and I did because the light for oil came up.

I took it in this morning and he came back that said I need to replace the engine. There is no oil in the engine. I asked how does this happended? He said Toyota knew of this problem but my time for the warranty end 2 and a half years ago. He give me a quote to replace the engine (from junk yard) and 15 hrs of labor will cost me a little bit over $6000. That really upsets me. Even this complaint when I put what the dealer quote me, it said excessive charge.

I will never trust this Toyota dealership anymore. I told them to fill my oil up and have not been back to pick it yet. I plan to keep fill the oil and have other repair shop fix it. Can't sell them because may be dangerous to other.

This problem was and is fully known by Toyota motor corporation. I had not noticed excessive oil consumption because I had my rav dealer serviced since new. They never told me I was burning that much oil. I took my car in every 3500-4500 miles for oil changes.

I was taking a trip of 500 miles and checking my oil before I left, I was over a quart low with only 2000 miles since last oil change. I added oil. The dealer did one sealed consumption test at 88000 miles and said it passes because I only burned one quart in 1100 miles. They said I had to bun much more than that for Toyota to repair the defective piston and rings. I was allowed a second test and again they said it didn’t burn more than a quart in 1000 miles. They refused to let me see them change the oil or do the test.

Capital Toyota said just add oil and keep three quart of oil in the back at all times!! Toyota 100k extended warranty was a joke. No oil lights ever ever ever come on. We are in the Bay Area and with smog levels you would think a quart of oil every 1000 miles burning into our air, the state would require them to replace the defective pistons and rings not a single drop of oil on the ground or leaking. I love my rav and now service her at a great independent who is shocked to see me show up for quart top offs every 500-700 miles.

Toyota you should do the right thing and credit us owners the 3500-5000 repair costs to add to a down payment on a newer Toyota that doesn’t pollute our air like this. Shame on you Toyota motor corporation. I’ve called your Torrance offices and you’re polite but won’t help us loyal owners out. I can’t even sell this to a college student because I don’t want them being killed in a crash from it running out of oil and the engine blowing up. That’s what happened to at least two others and why the class action and civil suits were filed.

This is a great car and you should do the right thing and fix it or credit owners with added money for a newer Toyota. My rav is 2006 limited and only has 114k lovingly maintained miles. I’d love to be able to sell it to a person or family that needs a good car. But I’m stuck trading it in to have a clean conscience.

Shame on you Toyota you know this is you’re bad design and backwards installation of the rings. I’ll be calling your offices again and again over the next year until you make this right. I’m sick of paying ten bucks a quart for oil every few hundred to thousand miles and pissed at you for letting us loyal Toyota owners eat your bad mistakes.

While applying the brakes I noticed the oil light would come on quickly then go out. Checked oil and nothing on the dipstick. Waited till engine cooled and checked it again. No reading on dip stick. Puzzled so I went and got my Haynes Manual and read up on it.

Called the Toyota Dealer where I purchased my Rav 4 to make an appointment for an oil change, before I left I added a quart of oil as I had to drive 20 kms. My advisor told me that I will consume oil as it is one of the engines that wasn't build right. He has suggested that I receive more frequent oil changes as my engine is burning internally. He also advised me not to rebuilt it. Come on Toyota, that is a shame that you put a bad product out. Was this engine not tested before it was sent to the customer??

Shame on you and I thought my Rav 4 would last me for 25yrs...….now at the pumps I will be asking to fill the oil and check the gas. I was a believer in all Toyota vehicles, but not anymore RECALL RECALL RECALL

Toyota oil consumption. When changing the oil, the oil pan only drains roughly 2 quarts of oil. I checked online to see if there were any recalls on oil consumption for the make, model, and year of the car and there was. Unfortunately, when typing in the VIN it did not have a recall for that specific vehicle. But it did matched exactly what the symptoms of that recall was. I called the 1-800 customer help line and they were unhelpful. I was told the recall expired and the previous owner did not take action with the recall. This can be a huge road safety hazard for both the driver and other drivers around the vehicle. The car is consuming oil due to the pistons recall. Please help.

Known defect with many Toyota engines. Somehow they dodged having to do a recall. The fix requires new pistons and piston rings, so it's a major engine overhaul job. Would have cost Toyota many millions to correct, so they were able to put some nice limits on their liability and take responsibility for only a small percentage of the defective vehicles.

I bought Toyota because I trusted the brand and knew there would be no major issues. I was wrong. Worse: as a company, they've failed the consumer. Even worse: this will not affect their sales or popularity.

Update from Jun 5, 2018: The local Toyota dealer quoted $4000 to use Toyota's repair "kit" and do the repair.

I asked their sales team what trade-in value I could get on the car, and they said $500 without the repair, $4500 with the repair done.

My car was purchased on December 6, 2006. All my services (each 5000 miles) was done by the same dealer where the car was purchased (Toyota South Atlanta). I had no problem until I reached 75,000 miles where all of a sudden my engine light came on my dash board. It required 3 quarts of oil. At my next service I request a test and test result was positive. I face the manager who let me know that the 10 years warranty had expired, I let him know that there was a recall exactly for that problem around 2013 or 2014 therefore his 10 years warranty can not be applied. He disagreed.

Please advice.

Serge

I received a letter from Toyota and their so call enhancement warranty program last year regarding excessive oil consumption. However at the time the letter said if you aren't experiencing this problem no need to respond along with the fact that they did not have the parts on hand for the repairs anyhow. So using the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" philosophy I carried on. This year around March or so I changed the oil like I have every 2500 miles along with the filter only the amount of oil that drained out was about 2 quarts less than expected. I thought maybe I had made a mistake so I started to monitor it and sure enough the problem had showed itself. So I took it in to Toyota today and they informed me that the October 31st 2016 deadline had passed and as a consequence I'm out of luck. So you see if you drive your vehicle less than average every year your actually punishing yourself. I can't blame the dealership and they gave me the number to Toyota and that was a waste of time. Bottom line is they don't care. I am in the business of new home warranty and regardless of time limits when you build in a defect you stand behind the product and take care of it and for those who don't they go through the legal ramifications and end up making the repairs and paying extra on top of it. But in this case I am just the average Joe who can afford a new car about once every 15 years so I guess should be held accountable for repairing "their" defect. There are several other issues with this car with the "dreaded front end clunk" that started around 50,000 miles and other minor issues that can be overlooked but I was planning on keeping this car awhile as it still looks brand new. The reason I purchased it was my wife had and still has a 1995 Toyota Corolla with 352,000 miles on it and it burns less oil than this one. I will pick this up at the dealership at the end of the day and I will take a bar of soap and write on the windows to let everyone knw what a "POS" it is and that Toyota will not stand behind their product. My parents own property along the interstate and it will be parked in plain view for all to see. This is the last Toyota my family and I ill ever purchase. In today's market there are enough vehicles to choose from and those who stand behind their product will hear from me. Today's Toyota and their products "Suck" as far as I am concerned. Save your hard earned money and go somewhere else.

Put a quart of oil in every 600-700 miles. Toyota replaced the pistons/rings under the TSB oil consumption, drove the vehicle 1,500 miles and the engine failed. So, now I'm out of a vehicle and Toyota is doing NOTHING about it. The Toyota left my daughter sit on the side of a major highway and oh, by the way, the vehicle only had 51,000 miles on it (year 2006) but the piston/ring replacement was done 1 year 3 weeks ago so beyond the "1 year warranty". How convenient.

An engine shouldn't go bad at 51,000 miles. Come on Toyota, you can do better than that. A loyal customer of Toyota for 40 years, sorry, but I'll go to Honda or Subaru from here on.

I've had the pain in the a*** problem way too long, not to mention the expense of the oil I have had to put in. I only have 119,00 miles on my RAV 4 and have really enjoyed it until this problem arose. I bought it new with only a few miles on it. I've been timely on all my oil changes, every 5000 miles, and have taken very good care of it. It's going thru the 2nd "oil consumption test" - the first one "only used 1 quart" in that a1200 miles so I'm hoping they'll fix the problem even though it's a little "out of the warranty". It's been a real pain!

Update from Jan 27, 2018: The second oil consumption test failed! I asked how much to fix it and they said "roughly $5000.00"! "ROUGHLY"? If there should be any "Class Action Suit, going on or starting, please advise me as I certainly want to be included! If I knew how to start I'd certainly be on it now and including all that I've listened to and read about. This is really the worst situation I've ever been in with my vehicles.

BROUGHT THE RAV4 TO HAVE CHECKED FOR EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION. THEY SAID IT DID NOT QUALIFY FOR THE FACTORY FIX, THAT WAS ON 4/ 6/2015, IT HAD 82820 MILES ON IT. THE 2ND TIME I BROUGHT IT BACK WAS ON 10/21/2016. IT HAD 102840 MILES ON IT. THEY SAID IT DID QUALIFY BUT TOYOTA REFUSED TO FIX BECAUSE IT WAS PAST THE COMPLETION DATE WHICH WAS 10/31/2016. I ALWAYS FELT THAT THIS VEHICLE USED WAY TOO MUCH OIL. COULD NOT BELIEVE IT DID NOT QUALIFY THE 1ST TIME. TOYOTA SCREWED UP AND THEY ARE TRYING TO GET TO BY AS CHEAP AS POSSIBLE AND THEY KNOW IT.