58 replies to this topic

[dkan]

I've just brought a 53reg T2, 54k and reading throught the forums it seems like owners of the new Avensis are also affect by the heavy oil consumption ? Can anyone confirm this ?

Also, does this problem affect other VVTi engines, I also have a Celica 190, 42k miles 52reg, and it's been fine..not a drop of oil.

thanks

[bbmad]

I've just brought a 53reg T2, 54k and reading throught the forums it seems like owners of the new Avensis are also affect by the heavy oil consumption ? Can anyone confirm this ?

Also, does this problem affect other VVTi engines, I also have a Celica 190, 42k miles 52reg, and it's been fine..not a drop of oil.

thanks

I have a Toyota Avensis VVTI (2001) and oil consumption was normal until 6 months. I need to fill the oil after a long journey (200 miles). I am looking for possible leaks but so far have found nothing.

Cheers

Maj

[Steve84]

I've just brought a 53reg T2, 54k and reading throught the forums it seems like owners of the new Avensis are also affect by the heavy oil consumption ? Can anyone confirm this ?

Also, does this problem affect other VVTi engines, I also have a Celica 190, 42k miles 52reg, and it's been fine..not a drop of oil.

thanks

Engines effted are 1.4 1.6 1.8 vvt-i. Toyota claimed it was from 2000-2002 i had a 2001 1.4 vvt-i corolla that liked a drop of oil. I know of a 03 t2 1.8 using oil and a t4 1.8 53 plate drinking oil. the t4 has only done 27k.

[Ray99]

Toyota know about the heavy oil consumption and will help out in most cases. Get your dealer to do an oil consumption check. This will mean presenting the car and having the oil topped up to max. You drive the car as normal and go back to your dealer after about 500 miles. They top up the sump and do the calculations. If your consumption is more than 1 litre per 1200 miles, you should get a replacement short motor. That is a block, pistons con rods and crank. The rest is swapped from your original engine. For the old shape Avensis, Toyota will still replace your short motor up to 100,000 miles and 7 years old, but you have to prove service history. Not necessarily with a main dealer, just to show that the engine has had regular oil changes.

[Steve84]

Thats how it should be done ray99, but my local dealer took almost 25k to replace my corolla engine. I was going throw almost a gallon of oil per 1500 miles it was smoking had poor perfromance sounded like a bag of spanners all this on a corolla with 49k on the clock. I first noted oil problmes at 24k told dealer who was most unhelpfull. When they did swap it they messed it up that resulted in the new engine blowing up after 1500 miles.

[famz]

i have this same problem, i have a toyota avensis 1.8vvti 02 model and it DRINKKKKKSSS oil, i have to keep topping it up, so you say toyota will help out but does that mean they will do it for free as they know its a problem? what documents if any do i need to take down?

my avensis now makes a rattling noise at 2000rpm too now so i really need this sorting
thanx guys

[Ray99]

Hi Famz
Just your service book full of dealer stamps right on time! If you can't prove full service history, they may make an adjustment depending on how many services have been missed/late.
Sorry to hear of your engine problems Steve, your dealer is not typical, most of them are only to pleased to get such a big warranty job in.

[Electric]

Hiya,

The problem with modern cars is the manufactures have extended the service interval meaning the oil has to maintain its viscosity longer…
Make sure it’s fully synthetic and maybe change it sooner, once an oil breaks down it will leave your engine anyway it can, it’s not always a leak

Cheers

[Avensis luna 03]

Hiya,

The problem with modern cars is the manufactures have extended the service interval meaning the oil has to maintain its viscosity longer…
Make sure it’s fully synthetic and maybe change it sooner, once an oil breaks down it will leave your engine anyway it can, it’s not always a leak

Cheers

I think this is a well made point.

The new service intervals are too long, especially for cars that do a lot of city driving.

My wife drives a 1999 Avensis 1.6 that we have had from new. It is the Lean Burn engine but notwithstanding this, I always changed the oil and filter at 5000 mile intervals to the nearest 100 miles. I have always used branded semi-synthetic or synthetic oil.

At 120,000 miles the engine sounds and drives like the day it came out of the garage. In fact, at the time of an oil change, the old oil comes out golden brown rather than black-brown which would be the norm.

I would look towards cutting the recommended service inerval in two. The car will be the better of it!

[DTO]

My engine (2002 1.6 VVTi ) must be one of the bad batch but I'm currently at 48k and have been changing oil every 4.8k miles (every 7500kms for those on mainland Europe) after the first 10k mile service (severe service schedule according to dealer service schedule). I use the basic 10W-40 semi synthetic Toyota oil. There is virtually no oil consumption at the moment but I'll be watching for the next 20k.
Even Toyota in their TSB dated May 2006 note that "oil consumption may increase if vehicle is driven frequently at high speed". I don't drive at high speed (I max out at around 70mph due to the kid) and if I go by the tyre mileage of my tyres (47k on original tyres) I'm probably not pushing it too much. Sure the 7 yr warranty is reassuring 'cause there is no way I'm going to reach the mileage limit but it means paying over the top for a simple oil change during the scheduled 10k services. When I do the intermediate 4.8k service I'm only essentially paying for the oil (the labour charge is 15% of the normal labour rate since not really considered a 'service').

I'm thinking people are getting us worried to keep us in the dealer network. Anyway since things are getting changed under warranty I'm not going to start worrying too much. As long as I don't see the garage more than 2 times a year (for oil changes) I'm happy. And after 4.5 years things will go wrong and they probably will be expensive but less than the depreciation on the thing. And the 60k service (done at 90kms=56kmiles must be pretty expensive considering that valves have to be adjusted etc.


Probably if it was built in Japan it would probably have been much more reliable (I can testify that a 1995 diesel Carina is still going strong (albeit scruffy) having hit the 400k mile limit living somewhere as a taxi) but costwise it would probably been out of reach and uncompetitive feature-wise. You can't have everything.