I'm at 105k miles. As of about 3 oil changes/~1200 miles ago, I noticed that my engine was consuming oil like crazy. I mentioned this while at the dealership, and they measured my oil levels 3 times, 1000 miles apart. They said I was consuming between a 1 quart and 1.5 quarts every 1000 miles, and that it was most likely a known issue with the piston rings on the 2AZ-FE.

The dealership has said it will cost $800 to do an engine breakdown to determine what exactly needs to be repaired. $3400 if it's just the piston rings, $8000 if the block needs to be replaced. Toyota is willing to cover 50% of those costs, since I'm a year too late to claim a free repair under the TSB.

I'm about to move to goto school, and I'm predicting that my annual mileage will drop from 17,000 to 5,000 miles (or less) because I'll be walking/bussing to campus. I asked what would happen if I didn't go through with the repair - the dealership advised that I would just have to keep replacing the oil and that the engine would get noiser/start knocking, but would still be drivable.

1. Is the dealership's assessment about being drivable without repairs correct? I'm a broke college student who can barely afford my books and rent, and I'd much rather buy oil every once in a while than have to borrow for the costly repairs.

2. Assuming you believe I HAVE to get repairs - would you recommend pulling an engine from a junkyard, or going to a non-dealership mechanic? What type of savings would I be seeing there?

 

sell the car and get a used one.

 

bump

 

first are you using 0-20 or 5-20 if so, start using 5-30 or 10-30,,, I know it says to use 0-20 on your oil cap, but that's just for mpg... rating your still able use 5-30.. its a common problem because oil is too thin.. no real need o perform any repairs if this resolves your problem.

 

burning oil doesn't hurt you as long as you don't mind the blue smoke coming out of your tailpipe.

 

Well I just came from the dealership... I have an 08 XB with only 86k miles and I am burning oil at a rate of about a quart every 1,200 miles... Called Toyota Corp and was told that because it's over 5yrs and or 60,000 miles I am out of luck until they decide to do a recall... They issued the TSB to let service techs know it could be a problem, but it's not a recall...

They told me it would cost $1900 to tear my engine apart to check the rings... No thanks... I'll trade it in for a Nissan or Honda...

My old Chevy truck with 175k miles didn't burn oil this fast and it was a V8...

Only way Toyota will do anything is if enough people call into register complaints...

 

Did you check the PCV valve and hose? I had a similar problem in burning oil for about a month and thought the rings were fried as well. Car was consuming about a quart every 2000 miles or so, which is a lot in my opinion. In any case, I found out later when installing my catch can, that the PCV hose had a bad crack in it on the intake manifold side. Replaced the hose and PCV valve for good measure and BAM, no more oil burning or consumption. Been driving for about 1500 miles so far after topping the oil off and haven't lost any.

 

It's normal check your owners book.

 

In my opinion, its normal because Toyota is covering their ___. I never burned oil when I bought the car. Slowly it started to consume oil after switching to a thin oil. I got my motor replaced and I dont burn a drop now. If you end up having to replace it just go to the salvage yard and get a healthy motor. Also, like cmc said, stick to 5w30.

I drove it burning oil for 30k miles or more. Never had any issues as long as I kept it topped off. It was just annoying. My 2 cents.

 

I just found out I have the same issue. I wrote a complaint letter and they said because it's outside the warranty it is the consumers responsibility. Wtf?! My car only had 63,000 miles when I found out about this issue with my car. My oil light started coming on just after 3,000 miles. Dealer said my car burns a quart and a quarter every 1,000 miles. They said I am looking at a $5000 repair.

 

For that price you could get a rebuilt engine+install, maybe even some upgrades.