1.33 1NR-FE Was oil usage issue fixed by Toyota after 2013 ?

[NottsTony]

Hi everyone,

After 20 years in my Camry with faultless 1MZ-FE engine, I'm about to buy an Auris (Mk2) or Yaris(Mk3) from approx 2016 for my 20yo daughter to start work in Essex.

Much has been said in these forums about oil consumption in 1.33 VVTi engines (1-NR-FE) fitted to early versions of both cars, but it has been suggested that Toyota 'cured' the problem after around 2013 manufacture.

Is this really the case, or are you still experiencing the same problems with 2013+ cars.

I don't want to risk buying an oil burner as she will be miles from home..... so perhaps she would be better off with a 1.2T Auris perhaps!

What is the consensus out there......

Thanks in advance everyone

Tony

 

[bathtub tom]

I've a '14 reg with this engine and so far (touches wood) never had to add a drop, although it has done fewer than 50K miles.Dealer serviced for the first five years (gawd knows what they used), but 0w-20 used since, except for one year when it had to have 5w-30 (0w-20 couldn't be found).

[Stevie J]

Mine's a 64 reg, and doesnt use any oil, but it has only done 33K miles, so cant speak of what happens to them at twice this mileage. If you are buying a 2016 car, then its 7 - 8 years old and could have 70K miles on it by then, so it is imperative it has had regular oil changes and service stamps to back that up. Obviously it is better to get the lowest mileage 2016 Yaris you can with full service history and you should be OK. As said already, it was only the very early examples of the 1.33 engines in 2009 - 2011 Mk2 Yaris's that seemed to have the consumption issues and later Yaris Mk3 had modified pistons and rings to reduce the problem.

If you get a late 2017 model onwards (67 reg - 20 reg)  (third facelift) Yaris, they dont have the 1.33 engine fitted, they changed them for a 1.5 litre unit which you could go for instead if you are still worried about buying a 1.33 engine.

[Cyker]

If the choice is between the 1.33 and the 1.2T I'd get the 1.2T!  

But yeah the later one you can get the less likely it will have the problem, or maybe get a hybrid one and side-step it completely...?

 

[MikeSh]

5 hours ago, NottsTony said:

she will be miles from home

Could she not check the level regularly, as we are supposed to anyway? And keep a bottle in the car? How much oil do these things potentially lose per 1,000 miles?

Seriously, if you can't afford a brand new car you have to accept some compromises. Would the extra oil cost of a (possibly high use) 1.33 Yaris be more than the fuel cost of the bigger 1.2 Auris?

[Cyker]

While regular checks are important, it would be a bit foolish to buy a car knowing it has high oil consumption...

Not sure mileage-wise off-hand, but my Mk2 was getting through something like half a litre to a litre every month at its worst - That's literally more oil burned off over a year than it holds!  

Toyota did have an replacement campaign so there are earlier ones that do not have the problem, but you need to check the maintenance history to see if it had a new engine; It seems to me very few of them actually had the replacement done, so it's best to either get the newest one you can or just don't get one with that engine.

[NottsTony]

This is all really helpful info so far, thank you all.....

She is quite good mechanically, but I know from previous experience that checking and topping up oil every week can become a real chore and is easily forgotten until one day its too late!!

She can't get the bigger engines (1.5 etc) because they almost double the insurance at her age, and CVT is not her 'thing', so it needs to be the 1.2T or the 1.33. The other problem is she doesn't like the Aurus ('not funky enough') so although that would be my choice for her, I wanted to get reassurance about the 1.33 Yaris oil problem before going ahead!!

Any more experiences from the group would be very much appreciated.......

Tony

[Slartybartfast]

Same here, 2014 pre facelift Mk3, 1NR FE, doesn't use one drop of engine oil. 0W 20 Petronas.

[APS]

I'd go with the 1.2T just because it has that turbo to help with low end torque which makes it much easier to live with day to day. While the 1.33 needs to be revved to give progress, the 1.2T is the opposite and lives between 1500-4000rpm.  It's a more advanced and, inevitably, more complex engine so there is of course more that can go wrong with it. But I don't think we've heard many horror stories about it. And, in typical Toyota tradition, they were slow to the market with their small volume turbo engine as they were probably watching and learning from their competitors to avoid making the same mistakes/

[1.33]

If you can stretch to it, I'd go with the Auris 1.2T. If costs are an issue and if the car is being used for regular long distance travelling, a later low mileage Mk3 Yaris 1.33 might be suitable. The older Mk2 1.33 is cheaper to insure and also has the £35 VED. The 1.0 Yaris has the lowest insurance group.

I've used my 2010 Mk2 1.33 for several long distance trips and I've never had an issue with excessive oil burning. I change the oil regularly and use an additive to help reduce oil consumption.

[Cyker]

1 hour ago, NottsTony said:

This is all really helpful info so far, thank you all.....

She is quite good mechanically, but I know from previous experience that checking and topping up oil every week can become a real chore and is easily forgotten until one day its too late!!

She can't get the bigger engines (1.5 etc) because they almost double the insurance at her age, and CVT is not her 'thing', so it needs to be the 1.2T or the 1.33. The other problem is she doesn't like the Aurus ('not funky enough') so although that would be my choice for her, I wanted to get reassurance about the 1.33 Yaris oil problem before going ahead!!

Any more experiences from the group would be very much appreciated.......

Tony

Have you checked? The insurance cost of the 1.5L Mk3 and the 1.33 Mk3 should be virtually identical, ignoring the age and trim differences...! The 1.5 isn't significantly more powerful than the 1.33 as it runs primarily on the Atkinson-cycle, which is more efficient but less powerful per-litre than the Otto-cycle.

TBH if she's mechanically inclined and this is her first car, just get her a Ford Fiesta or something. They can get a good car once they've crashed it a few times  

 

[Chas G]

My 1.33 2013 Yaris with 30k miles never used a drop of oil in the 5 years I owned it.

[Stevie J]

My mother used to own the car I have now, which is a 2014 car with the 1.33 engine. She got a 2019 Yaris with the 1.5 engine, and said her insurance barely changed at renewal to what it was with the 1.33. These two engines may be a slightly different displacement, but the power output is pretty much the same. There is not a lot of difference between the visible difference between the 2014 and 2019 cars either, as this photo shows my mothers car (1.5 engine) in front and my car (1.33 engine) behind it. There is barely any difference in performance between the 2 engines either, so I cannot understand why insurance would be much more for a 1.5 car over a 1.33 car.

 

[NottsTony]

Thanks for the feedback on insurance - I don't know why there is such a difference either. I ran two searches on compare the meerkat within 5 mins of each other using exactly the same inputs but changing the car details (using reg no's from a 1.33 and a 1.5 for sale in Autotrader).

I will re-run it again tomorrow to check and will report back as it does seem odd to me too !!

Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to comment - it is appreciated!

I'm getting the feeling I'm pretty safe with both the 1.33 and the 1.2T, but perhaps to buy as new as possible and with cast iron service record, especially on timely oil changes.

Any more experiences are of course always very much appreciated....

Tony

[MikeSh]

1 hour ago, Stevie J said:

There is barely any difference in performance between the 2 engines either, so I cannot understand why insurance would be much more for a 1.5 car over a 1.33 car.

I suspect the insurance underwriters don't go that deep and just have breakpoints at certain sizes. Plenty of other examples of 'strange' logic when insurance shopping.

 

5 minutes ago, NottsTony said:

perhaps to buy as new as possible and with cast iron service record,

But you'd do that anyway Shirley?

[Stevie J]

I've just had a look at the insurance groups in Parkers guide and it seems that the 1.33 and 1.5 both fall somewhere within the groups 8 - 10. It would seem that my car (highlighted in the red box) is actually a group 10, and yet a 1.5 version (highlighted in the blue box) would be  a group 9. If the car has TSS (Toyota Safety Sense) fitted to it, then its even lower at group 8.

It pays to check the level of spec on the car and compare it to Parkers guide to see if you can find one that is in a lower group, as maybe the difference between group 8 and 10 can be significant for a younger driver. But also, it shows that some 1.33 cars can be in a higher group than you might think, such as mine is - in fact mine is in a higher group than my mother's - a 1.5 Icon Tech - in group 9 (highlighted in the green box).

So unbelieveably, my car, 1.33 is more expensive to insure in group 10, than my mother's car, which is a 1.5 and in group 9.

 

 

[Stevie J]

Of course, don't forget though, that those cars with the 1.5 engine (non hybrid versions) will be generally newer than cars with the 1.33 engine, and even if the 1.5 cars are in a lower insurance group, they may have higher premiums because they are newer and worth more. It is only common sense really that if you buy a 1.33 engine Yaris Icon registered in 2016 costing £7500, it is going to cost less to insure than a 2017 model (third facelift) Icon Tech 1.5 costing £9500 as the insurer is going to have to pay you out more if you made a claim following an accident that writes the car off.

Generally a car with lower mileage and FSH is going to cost you more than a car of the same age but that has been to the moon and back and is tired and clapped out, and no doubt the insurers are going to factor that in, if you insure a higher mileage 1.33 for a lesser value.

You may be better off buying an early 2014 Mk3 first phase model (14 plate) as these are in a lower group than the late 2014 (64 plate) onwards, and would have the same engine in effect, but I dont know if you really want a car that would effectively be 10 years old by now. Its a pity that insurance costs are dictating what you can have. Maybe a 1.0 would be a more affordable option?

[NottsTony]

Thanks again everyone.

The insurance isn't the biggest issue to be honest, - my main concern was to find out whether a car with the 1.33 engine produced after 2013 was still likely to be an 'oil-burner'.

This will be my daughters first insurance with no NCB yet, so it seems sensible to keep her premium below £1000 which the 1.2T and 1.33 seem to be. I have ruled out the 1.0 as I'm assuming its more of a city car and not really ideal for long journeys back up the M1 from Essex to Shropshire!

Thanks again everyone, this is a really helpful debate!

Tony

 

[MikeSh]

1 hour ago, Stevie J said:

It is only common sense really that if you buy a 1.33 engine Yaris Icon registered in 2016 costing £7500, it is going to cost less to insure than a 2017 model (third facelift) Icon Tech 1.5 costing £9500 as the insurer is going to have to pay you out more if you made a claim following an accident that writes the car off.

You are missing a big chunk of liability. Third party. Or more bluntly - what they might do to other people or property.

If someone is injured or killed the payouts will likely dwarf the value of the cars involved and, unfortunately, young and inexperienced drivers are high risk. Pretty much every week I see news of cars with 4 young people in them having serious accidents, usually late at night. You don't need to be Einstein to see some connections.

And even without that then their cheap car could still hit a much more expensive one.

For people with a long track record of no claims then your car's value may be a bigger factor, but for young drivers it's probably not significant.

[NottsTony]

I never consider 3rd party only insurance any more (maybe when I was 17!) - in my own experience, cost is now very similar to Fully Comp.

In all honesty, although insurance cost is important and a consideration in choosing an engine, my main objective is to check whether the 1NR-FE 1.33 has had its oil-burning problems resolved since around 2013. 

I would also consider a 1.2T in the Auris as an alternative on the back of the feedback received.

Thankfully all comments so far seem to indicate both engines are durable and non-troublesome if well maintained.

If you know otherwise, please let me know!!

Thank you

Tony

[Cyker]

I must admit I'm not 100% sure when the revised engines were fully deployed, so the only advice i could give is get the latest one you can!

And yeah, I don't get third-party (/fire+theft) - I find it's actually MORE expensive than fully comp sometimes, especially because you can't play with the excess to get it lower.

I sometimes think Third party should be a flat-rate that is the same for all insurers and set by the government, because at the moment it doesn't really serve any useful purpose.

[NottsTony]

A quick update on the insurance for Yaris and Auris models with various engine sizes.....

I ran numerous cars (all Icon spec, 2017, 30-40K miles) through compare the meerkat this afternoon, and the results are that 1.33 and 1.2T Auris models both came in at approx £1000pa for my daughter. The 1.0, 1.33 and 1.5 (non-hybrid) Yaris were £775, £875 and £860 respectively.

So the conclusion is that all are 'affordable' and that the a 2017 model 1.5 Yaris is actually cheaper than a 1.33!!

Given she thinks the Yaris is more 'funky' I'm now torn between the 1.33 and the 1.5.

Does anyone know if the non-hybrid 1.5 (1NZ-FE??) has a history of high oil usage, as inferred here:

Toyota 1NZ-FE/FXE 1.5L Engine Specs, Problems, Reliability, oil - In-Depth Review (motorreviewer.com)

Thanks once again

Tony

 

[Stevie J]

The later Mk3, 2017 second facelift (on plates 67, 18, 68, 19, 69, 20) usually come with Toyota Safety Sense, (TSS) which has lane assist and collision avoidance, at least, it has it on my mother's car, and this may be why the later ones come in at a lesser insurance costs than the earlier 1.33 which didnt have TSS fitted. I suppose that even though it is a 1.5 engine, the fact it has more fitted safety equipment means it can be less risk and cost a bit less to insure. I know it's fitted to the Icon Tech models with the 1.5 engine, so you might want to look at one of these - it wont come fitted with the 1.33 that you are worried about.

To be honest, I'm not worried about my own 1.33 as I know its been looked after and never done more than 6000 miles between oil changes, and since the last service in Dec 2021, its done 5700 miles and the oil is still on the max mark on the dipstick, and still pretty clean, but I'm booking it in for oil change in May when it will have then done 6000 miles. It's all urban driving too, which is harder on the oil than prolonged steady highway speeds.

If your daughter is driving from Essex to Shropshire then she might like to get the 2017 (67 plate) onwards 1.5 Icon Tech 6 speed manual, (All 1.33 engined cars got 6 speed  too btw)  as it also has cruise control and ideal for fuel economy on the motorway.

[Stevie J]

As far as I was aware the 2017 - 2020 Non-Hybrid petrol Yaris uses the new 1.5L 2NR-FKE which uses the Atkinson cycle to further save on fuel consumption. The 1NZ-FXE is used in the Hybrid version.

Toyota lines up new 1.5-litre petrol engine for Yaris - Toyota UK Magazine

[Stevie J]

Just a few pictures of the interior of the second facelift (67 plate - 20 plate) 1.5 Icon Tech, showing the updated dashboard and instrument cluster over the earlier (up to 17 plate) Yaris. This has Cruise control, and Toyota Safety Sense plus other additions over the earlier cars. (It is my mother's car btw and comes in at a lower insurance group than my 2014 1.33 Icon does.