Avensis T3-S 1.8Vvti Drinking Oil

[phizzy]

Hi There,

This is my first post but I have been a member for a short whie and have been eagerly scouring the forums.

I realise this topic has been done a number of times before but would like to get members thoughts on what my options are, and how I should proceed. Let me start by explaining my situation.

I purchased on '03 Toyota Avensis 1.8vvti T3-S in October of last year from an independent dealer with 53.5k on the clock. The car was not sold with the service book, but given its immaculate condition I wasn't put off and assumed it must've been well looked after. I did however purchase a years warranty - just in case.

At the time, I wasn't aware of the known oil burning problems with this engine - and could easily have encountered a complete disaster if I wasn't the sort of person who regularly checks oil and fluid levels.

To date, I have now done around 6.5k miles and the car has 'consumed' a total of 12 litres of oil - equating to 1 litre per 540 miles approximately - presumably this would be considered as 'excessive' ?

I'm guessing my option with the extended Toyota warranty for this fault are pretty much non-existent given the age of the car and the lack of any service history?

To claim on the RMI warranty I took out on the car at the time of purchase I would need to prove the oil consumption problem and provide specific details on the fault - any ideas how I could go about doing this?

Many Thanks for any insight anyone has to offer.

Phil

[davegooner7]

i had the same problem with my 2004 1.8 avensis, it was using about the same amount of oil as yours.i had bought my car of a Toyota garage when i brought it back to them they did a consumption test "filled oil up to max mark and told me to come back in 500 miles" they did this test twice,then they sent the info back to Toyota HQ. they told me as long as it has a f.s.h. there would be no problem. about a week later they replaced the short block of the engine with cured problem free of charge.

dave

[phizzy]

i had the same problem with my 2004 1.8 avensis, it was using about the same amount of oil as yours.i had bought my car of a Toyota garage when i brought it back to them they did a consumption test "filled oil up to max mark and told me to come back in 500 miles" they did this test twice,then they sent the info back to Toyota HQ. they told me as long as it has a f.s.h. there would be no problem. about a week later they replaced the short block of the engine with cured problem free of charge.

dave

Thanks for the info Dave, therein lies my problem though - car was bought from an independent with no service history. I guess I could try my luck....

[davegooner7]

if you could find out what Toyota garage it was originally bought in there could be some service history there, its worth a try. if i remember correctly the job would of cost me about 3000 euro.

dave

[Q.S.]

Hi There,

This is my first post but I have been a member for a short whie and have been eagerly scouring the forums.

I realise this topic has been done a number of times before but would like to get members thoughts on what my options are, and how I should proceed. Let me start by explaining my situation.

I purchased on '03 Toyota Avensis 1.8vvti T3-S in October of last year from an independent dealer with 53.5k on the clock. The car was not sold with the service book, but given its immaculate condition I wasn't put off and assumed it must've been well looked after. I did however purchase a years warranty - just in case.

At the time, I wasn't aware of the known oil burning problems with this engine - and could easily have encountered a complete disaster if I wasn't the sort of person who regularly checks oil and fluid levels.

To date, I have now done around 6.5k miles and the car has 'consumed' a total of 12 litres of oil - equating to 1 litre per 540 miles approximately - presumably this would be considered as 'excessive' ?

I'm guessing my option with the extended Toyota warranty for this fault are pretty much non-existent given the age of the car and the lack of any service history?

To claim on the RMI warranty I took out on the car at the time of purchase I would need to prove the oil consumption problem and provide specific details on the fault - any ideas how I could go about doing this?

Many Thanks for any insight anyone has to offer.

Phil

Don't like to be a bearer of bad tidings but, from what I know about insurance based warranties (like the one you have) they will only pay out on something that has failed. Wear and tear is usually excluded and as this is a well documented design fault (by Toyota) then I am sure this too will be excluded as nothing has actually failed.

I sincerely hope that I am wrong but I doubt it. I believe the only route for a short motor replacement is via the Toyota network.

Do let us know if you do get anywhere with the warranty company.

[xxl_aber]

My 2002 Avensis (1.8 petrol) had the same problem. It turned out that Toyota had a secret 7 year warranty on their engines (at least my 2002 engine. I was lucky to find the problem early and the local Toyota dealer changed half of the engine a few years ago free of charge. Since then, the problem never returned.

[Q.S.]

My 2002 Avensis (1.8 petrol) had the same problem. It turned out that Toyota had a secret 7 year warranty on their engines (at least my 2002 engine. I was lucky to find the problem early and the local Toyota dealer changed half of the engine a few years ago free of charge. Since then, the problem never returned.

It wasn't really a secret but as you said, it was limited to 7 years AND was dependant on service history (which is the bogey on this one).

[Roker]

My 2002 Avensis (1.8 petrol) had the same problem. It turned out that Toyota had a secret 7 year warranty on their engines (at least my 2002 engine. I was lucky to find the problem early and the local Toyota dealer changed half of the engine a few years ago free of charge. Since then, the problem never returned.

It wasn't really a secret but as you said, it was limited to 7 years AND was dependant on service history (which is the bogey on this one).

It is worth doing a little research on the history of your car. My Avensis was purchase from a small dealer and apparently had no service history, I contacted the prvious owner which was a fleet management company and they gave me dates that it was serviced by the Toyota dealer. I contacted the dealer who told me to send the service book and they stamped it for every service. together with the service that I had put in in for, it has a fsh. fortunately I do not have oil burning problems.

[phizzy]

Thank you all for your replies, I have spoken with Toyota HQ and they have advised me the car was from Border Toyota - Carlisle but they have no service history on record.

I have spoken with the dealer from whom I purchased the car, and he seems to think the warranty would cover a new short block if I can prove thats what the problem is. The warranty would cover the first £2000 - is it likely to be much more than this?

Thanks again

[Q.S.]

Thank you all for your replies, I have spoken with Toyota HQ and they have advised me the car was from Border Toyota - Carlisle but they have no service history on record.

I have spoken with the dealer from whom I purchased the car, and he seems to think the warranty would cover a new short block if I can prove thats what the problem is. The warranty would cover the first £2000 - is it likely to be much more than this?

Thanks again

The only way you are going to prove it, is to strip the engine down. It is a well documented design fault so that should be proof enough really. Have a look here..

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/214788/toyota_engine_woes.html

P.S. that's going back to 2008.

[The Cav]

there's a cabbie in Liverpool i know who's avensis petrol is guzzling oil like the prohibition days of the 30s in chicago