First of all, thank you for an amazing Website. Happy to discover it!!!

I have RAV4 2008 Engine CYL/SIZE 2.4L. 154,000 mileage. My car "eats"/burns oil like crazy. End up refilling less than every 1000 miles.

Just called National Toyota Customer Service. They have mentioned something about Extended Warranty, which has passed, and informed that I have to do all the repairs at my own expense. What an aggravation... I was recommended Toyota cars as reliable, unstoppable and eternal... REALLY??? What a disappointment...

I feel for everyones pain and disappointment, who came across this issue. Please let me know if you come up with any solution to the problem. If I were a men, I would probably attempt replacing pistons and seals myself. Consulted my dad, and he identified the problem right away. It is a pity he is far away.

Thank you,

Volha

I bought my car 3 years ago and it was great. Shortly after it started burning oil. I'd put oil in every 3 weeks or so. Id add additives. Now, I fill the reservoir completely up weekly and i maybe drive 400miles a week. I called toyota.no help. It's a known problem and 2008 was the worst year for it.

My option is to replace the catalytic converter and know when it gunks up again I'll need a new one. Or I could rebuild the engine. Or pray my car is totaled. Because no one is going to want to buy a car that has an oil drinking problem. I love my Rav4 but am disgusted that they don't stand by their product.

I bought this one owner 2008 Rav4 with 65000 miles on it back April 2019 from a reputable Chevy car dealer as it was a trade in. I have no idea if the previous party got a recall notice. I've always kept an eye on the fluid levels on a regular basis on the vehicles I've owned. I notice that I have to add a quart of oil every 500 miles. If I would have known about the recall at the dealership, I would have never bought it. I wonder if I have a lawsuit against the Chevy dealership for not disclosing this to me.

I was driving home and about mile away from there, my car engine started to stall and engine oil light came on. Lucky I was not far from home. I was able to make it and checked the oil level and there was none. I just had an oil changed about 3000 miles ago.

Manager first denied that i had any problem at all. He said it was normal for car to consume excess oil after 80,000 miles. I told him I had no oil and my car was stalling and it was a dangerous to drive a car like that.

Then I dialed Toyota factory number and reported the problem and they recognized the problem as excessive oil consumption and admitted that Toyota RAV4 2008 do have an issue. They called my my dealer and ordered an oil consumption test.

Then I went back to dealer and they agreed to recognize the problem and decided to do oil consumption test.

The Toyota Dealer name is DCH Toyota of Simi Valley. Service manager diagnosed problem as an excess oil consumption on ZE7 engine.

They decided to oil consumption test at asked to bring back at 88594 or 88794 miles to check how much oil my car has consumed.

I took the car back at 88851 and they said that car only consumed 3/4 of an quart. So oil consumption test passed and not eligible for warranty repair. I think that study was flawed and it was false.

I am still adding extra oil about 2 quart every month.

I took the car back again at 92541 miles and they decided to do oil consumption test again and asked to bring after 1200 miles. Again they passed that and said that car did not consume enough oil to do the warranty repair.

Bottom line is the DCH Toyota did not a good test and must have faked numbers to avoid warranty repair.

Now every 1000 miles i add at least 1.5 to 2 quart of oil now. and my engine oils every 3000 miles instead of factory recommended at 5000 miles.

Bottom line Toyota as a company failed to recognize this problem and did not fix the problem.

I do not know what the final solution is to this problem. I watched a one YOUTUBE video and they have concluded that this was design problem with piston ring.

This is my first to TOYOTA car and I bought it because of Toyota has good history of reliability, but in this particular case it failed.

I think Engine repair fix will cost about $5000 or more.

Dear Toyota.

We drove our 2008 Rav 4 from Surrey BC Canada to Cannmore, Banff Alberta this Summer 2020 at the end of Aug to September. This is about a 2000kms round trip thru the mountains in 30C or 86F hot weather. The SUV was checked, and the oil topped up just before we departed.

When returning home from Canmore we found our oil dip stick dry.

It took 6 liters of oil to get us home.

We had to stop even after only using 1/2 a tank of gas after topping up the oil to again add another 2 Liters.

There were no leaks even after a stopping at Toyota Salmon Arm who topped us up again.

Upon further research I found the problem is due to a recall Toyota issued Aug 11 2011 and a Toyota Limited Service Campaign (LSC) ZE7 related to defective parts in the 2AZ-FE engine which consisted of replacing the piston and piston ring set which was covered but ended Oct 31 2016.

So now I'm stuck paying to fix a problem which is Toyota's fault. I'm stuck with a lemon.

To add insult to injury the block is cracked. (No reason for a block to be cracked in our climate.)

My vehicle has been at Jimmy Pattison Toyota North Surrey since Oct 28 and its now Nov 13 and they still have not received the new small block that was ordered from California.

Even the service manager is frustrated with dealing with head office to get this block in as it should have arrived long ago.

Toyota has me paying for an engine rebuild to which they are responsible for. I'm paying for the small block and they are delaying getting it to the dealership. I am also paying for a rental for which Toyota should be covering for the delay.

Toyota, what are you going to do about it? How much longer are you going to make me wait for the small block? Are you going to cover the full amount of the rental?

I'm paying a ridiculous amount of money for this and am receiving terrible service from Toyota and this is a problem I should not even be paying for at all.

Talk to my certified mechanic about the problem. I was traveling to see my daughter form Fillmore CA. to Whidbey Island WA. I first notice about the problem when the maintenance light came on we are in the in unfamiliar area in WA check oil to find out it's almost empty. I poured 1 quart in it and go to my daughter house then went to Jiffy Lube get oil change.

After spending 3 weeks in WA we traveled back home, with a complete change oil maintenance when we were in Oregon. The maintenance light came out again, so I poured 2 quart of oil again, until we arrived at home in Fillmore CA. Then I go back to my mechanic to see if the car is safe for driving. He said it's the engine problem - estimate 8000 K for repair.

This is my 4th Toyota and I am very disappointed.

I purchased the Toyota RAV4 based upon the reputation of Toyota. My other 3 Toyotas were awesome!

1990 - Toyota Truck with V6 1997 - 4Runner with V6 2012 - Tundra with V8

Most importantly, I am disheartened to think that I need to spend approx. $ 3,000 to rebuild the engine on a car that doesn't have 140,000 miles on it yet. I have FULL maintenance records to support the vehicle has been maintained per Toyota's recommendation as far as oil changes

I would have hoped that Toyota would have stepped up to the plate and taken care of their customers.

NOT sure if I will buy another Toyota ........

Bought my 2008 Rav4 brand new at a Toyota dealer. Used it myself for 8 years and then it was used briefly by my son, a high school junior. Low miles and then he went to college, while it sat in my driveway, waiting for summers. In 2017, my daughter started driving it and during an oil change, my mechanic advised me of the excessive oil consumption. Said to keep an eye on it. At the following oil change, they said it was still a problem and recommended contacting Toyota. This was 10 years and 2 months after the vehicle was "first driven".

This wasn't a recall, it was a warranty extension "if you see a problem". I was well under the 150K miles and Toyota refused to even pay for the testing. I too will never buy another Toyota. My case# was 1808181671. The Toyota representatives were extremely nasty on the phone. I just can't believe a company with the profitability of Toyota can justify that lack of accountability on an issue that is so obviously widespread and caused by the manufacturing of the vehicle. We actually kept a 5 gallon jug of synthetic blend oil in the car at all times and it still ended up dying while in use. Junked the car for $500 at 153K miles and only 12 years old.

I also did not do my research. I bought my 2008 RAV4 used at 106,00 miles in January of 2016. I was completely unaware of the excessive oil issue. I was told to keep an eye on it, that higher mileage engines burn a little more oil. Now that I have to add oil more frequently, I looked into it and found the issue on line. Of course not by Toyota sending me any notifications. The dealership I bought it from was not a Toyota dealership. By reading several complaints I know that being past the 10 year mark I am on my own. I just don’t know if it is worth it to keep or get another vehicle, not Toyota. By the way I was told by a Toyota dealership that you should do all recommenced service. They are recommended for a reason. I don’t think that would have prevented this issue. This was my first and last Toyota. What a shame, I would be getting a new vehicle in a couple of years and same with my husband. I guess loyalty today is not what it used to be. Feeling bummed.

At around 90,000 - 100,000 miles Car started burning oil 1 quart every 1500 miles. Brought to dealer in Bronx, NY. They said it was not a problem, also said nothing about any recalls. As years have passed car keeps burning more and more oil. I set tripometer and when it reaches 400 miles, I need a quart of oil. I have maintained this car religiously, changing oil every 3000 - 3500 miles since the day I purchased it new. I feel that this is a problem Toyota has known about, but has simply ignored. At some point, I feel the engine will just fail. I have been quoted prices ranging from $3000.00 to 4500.00 to fix. I'm stuck with a car that is too much $$$$ to fix and that I cannot honestly even sell to anyone. Sad thing is that otherwise, the car is in all around great shape.

I had an oil change last summer and the technician suggested that I have an Oil Consumption test run by a dealer because my car burns through oil. I went to Nalley Toyota of Roswell and had an test run. When I returned for the 2nd part of the test on 11/7/17, the results was PASS any my mileage was 113262. I was told if the problem gets worse to return before the car reached 10 years or 150,000 miles. My car mileage is currently at 118121.

Meanwhile, I had an oil change a month ago which states that I need my oil changed again at 121334.

Today I had an Oil Consumption test with a different dealer - Marietta Toyota. They tested my oil, added 2 quarts but told me that my car has passed the 10 year mark on 6/6/08 so that I was not eligible for the recommended dealer solution but that I could stop in for oil if it needed.

I don't believe my oil issue manifested itself in that short of a time-frame. I think it was always there and the original dealer did not want to deal with the consequences or repairs.

Engine began burning oil around 90k miles. By 115k it burned 1 qt every 700 miles. I mentioned the oil consumption when I talked to my local Toyota dealership service dept when the vehicle was 9 years 10 months old and around 105,000 miles. He informed me Toyota does not consider it a problem unless it burns more than a quart every 1200 miles. He suggested they could do an oil consumption test. I did not make an appointment for it immediately. I scheduled service with an independent auto repair shop to check into this problem. The independent shop informed me of the Toyota TSB for the 2AZ-FE engine excessive oil consumption. They told me to make Toyota fix it. However, by this time Toyota finally acknowledged the problem and that there was an extended warranty to cover the fix. But my car was now past the 10 year limit by a few months (but well under the 150,000 miles) . Toyota would not repair my car. And I will not buy another Toyota.

After less than 50,000 miles, my 2008 Toyota Rav4 began to use a quart of oil between each oil change, 3000 miles. Before I had even reached 100,000 miles, the Rav4 was using 2, and sometimes 3, quarts of oil between oil changes, every 3000 miles. I went to Dublin Toyota in Dublin CA and asked to have this checked and they said that Toyota had a notice sent out to test for this problem. Apparently there had been numerous complaints for the same problem. They said that if my Rav4 used a specified amount of oil within 1200 miles, they would fix the problem. According to them, it didn't lose enough oil and therefore they were not required to fix the problem. I now have 146,000 miles on my 2008 Rav4 and have been adding at least 1 quart of oil for every 1000 mile.This last oil change, 5000 miles, I have added 7 quarts of oil to the Rav4 in between changes. I have changed to 5000 miles because oil changes are not inexpensive where I live and I am on a fixed income. Apparently Toyota doesn't care if we Rav4 owners are ever interested in buying another vehicle. Otherwise they would make this repair and enhance their "reputation" for caring. But, they just don't give a damn, they have plenty of other customers. In addition, why is Toyota not being held responsible for all of the "Oil Pollution" that they are allowing to emit from their defectively designed vehicles?

Like most people mentioned on here. Car uses a lot of oil, I always took it to dealer for oil changes and sometimes 1000 or more km before service was due. during my 2 years of bringing the car there for service not a peep was heard or said about my oil level being low. I wish I would of looked in to this before ( total Engine failure!!) but I didn't.

My thought was that if I'm bringing it in to them and they don't seem concerned about it, it should be all good right ?? WRONG!!! Plus I trusted the brand that they have bubbled up over the years. They were also supposed to have given a letter to each customer about this issue which would lead to the consumption test, which i never knew existed until my engine totally failed on me.

Touche Toyota, touche, way to keep quiet about this issue till i went over the extended warranty and my engine Failed. Funny tho how they always mentioned every little thing they wanted to change on my car, like cabin filter $40 and not a peep about oil consumption.. I call for a class action lawsuit.