Unacceptable Oil Usage

[Disgruntled Rob]

I am living in South Africa. I recently bought a brand new Corolla 1.4 D4D for my wife. From day one it started using oil....lots of it. After exhaustive testing, firstly by the dealership and then by the dealership on behalf of Toyota SA ( spanning many months ), they discovered that it consumes on average about 300ml of oil / 1000km. This equates to about 4.5 litres of oil between service intervals. Despite even their own mechanics stating that it is in all likelihood the result of a defective turbo, Toyota refuses to do anything about it, as it, and I quote " falls within the preferred specification, as recommended by the Toyota Technical services group, in that it can use 1 litre of oil per 1000km.:

Toyota is therefore happy that you put in 15 litres of oil between service intervals. I find this, and their attitude to it, absolutely unacceptable for a new vehicle under warranty. I would be most grateful if people would email Mr Yaseen Smith of Toyota SA ( ysmith@tsb.Toyota.co.za ) and let them know your own thoughts on this.

I have the official letter from Toyota in this regard and will happily forward it to anyone interested.

[FROSTYBALLS]

As far as I'm aware, in the UK Toyota judges heavy oil consumption as being more than 500ml per 1,000km.

[olddriver]

I would have thought that if it is a gasket/sael problem then you should be able to see the leak, have a look round the engine.

[Disgruntled Rob]

Dear Olddriver

Thanks for your interest. The car is not leaking oil at all. The engine is clean of leaks. It is using oil and basically blowing it out the exhaust. From all accounts, it is defective turbo seals that allow oil to leak from the turbo housing onto the compressor fins and then blows it out the exhaust. I have found 5 of these engines with the same problem. Toyota has now issued a memo to dealers for the same problem in the RAV 4's, so it seems to be an endemic issue. This I can understand, but what I cannot accept is their refusal to do anything about it. Thing is, even if you live with the consumption issue, your catalytic convertor will fail as it is clogged with oil.

[Cyclingfan]

Dear Olddriver

Thanks for your interest. The car is not leaking oil at all. The engine is clean of leaks. It is using oil and basically blowing it out the exhaust. From all accounts, it is defective turbo seals that allow oil to leak from the turbo housing onto the compressor fins and then blows it out the exhaust. I have found 5 of these engines with the same problem. Toyota has now issued a memo to dealers for the same problem in the RAV 4's, so it seems to be an endemic issue. This I can understand, but what I cannot accept is their refusal to do anything about it. Thing is, even if you live with the consumption issue, your catalytic convertor will fail as it is clogged with oil.

Rob, I am so glad I have stumbled upon your post. I also live in SA have the same car with the same problem. I have reported it to Toyota SA because the dealer said that they can not explain the excessive oil usage. They contacted me and said that I must take the car back for another oil check. This after they have checked it 3 times already. After the engine light came on they fetched the car on a "Low Bed" and took it to the dealer. My ca's oil light came on at 12000km. I was shocked because it is a new car. If they clame that it is normal for the car to use this much oil why did they not tell me that I need to check the oil levels of the car inbetween services because it is heavy on oil? I have emailed "YSmith" as well and am now waiting for a response. If they claim that it is normal for Toyota Diesel's to use this much oil I think it should be made public especially before they launch the new Hilux and Fortuner diesels. I will keep you posted.

[Heidfirst]

mmm, you should check the oil levels on any vehicle at least weekly ....