Toyota Oil

kjn1000

Hi All,

Really need some help, my 2012 Yaris has now been through about 12 bottles of oil in about as many months.

I have taken it to the garage and they have said it would need a full refill of oil every 1000 miles but there is nothing wrong with the car that is just how it works.

Now I have spoken to ALOT of people who have said that what the garage have told me is rubbish, my brother in law who runs the fleet at Ocado who says his vans do far higher mileage than I do and they only have to be topped up once a month and my other half says the same.

Am I being fobbed off by the garage as I have bought extended warranty on the car and it is nearing its end of life (92,000 miles and counting) or should i just accept what they say?

Many thanks in advanced for the advice

Aylesbury_Duck

No, that's not normal. Are you talking about 12 1-litre bottles, one each month?!

Are you sure the garage said it needs a full refill every 1,000 miles, or did you perhaps confuse that with it needing an oil change every 10,000 miles? Even if it's the latter, you still have a problem if you are having to add oil at the rate you are.

I had a 2003 Avensis which was known to have a fault which meant it began to consume oil after about 70,000 miles. Mine started to need topping up regularly after I'd hit 85,000 miles and I was well beyond the age where I could get Toyota to fix it, so I just kept topping up the oil, but not the quantity you are adding, and mine was a 1.8L engine. I would add four litres every six months (about 5,000 miles) or so but the car ran sweetly and returned 60mpg so it was a negligible cost. It effectively had new oil every few months!

kjn1000

No mistake sadly, I have got it written on a piece of paper that it is every 1000 miles should have another fill up.

Yes 12 1 litre bottles and that is being done at least every month.They did an oil consumption test where they checked the level, i went off drove 500 miles and then returned, they said that the oil consumption was well within the limits.

It doesn't smell or leak so I have no idea what to do...Also because of the extended warranty we bought the car has to go to that particular dealer, service, warranty etc.

ssparks2003

I would be getting a different garage to look at it as it really does not sound right

Aylesbury_Duck

The problem you face is that if the garage have measured the consumption and it is indeed within permitted tolerance, there's not much you can do other than continue to top up the oil or replace the car. I'm assuming that the garage have checked the sump plug isn't leaking, or the sump cracked? Do you notice any oil under the car? Have you tried sliding an old sheet or big piece of card under the engine when you get home and checking it the next morning? If oil isn't leaking from somewhere it must be being consumed by the engine.

As I said, with my situation I was happy to just keep topping up because it was an old workhorse of a car, still ran sweetly and economically and only went to the scrapyard this year after a terminal cylinder problem that wasn't economical to repair. I started to see oil loss at 85,000 miles and it ran until 130,000 miles. If you do decide to persevere, don't buy oil in one-litre bottles, it costs much more that way. I used to buy 4 or 5 litre bottles from Euro Car Parts, Halfords or Amazon, whichever had the right grade on offer at the time. I could sometimes get it for as little as £3 per litre but typically £4-5 per litre.

sevenhills

kjn1000 wrote: »

Am I being fobbed off by the garage as I have bought extended warranty on the car and it is nearing its end of life (92,000 miles and counting) or should i just accept what they say?

kjn1000 wrote: »

It doesn't smell or leak so I have no idea what to do...

At 92,000 miles its likely that your engine is burning oil, which would make it a like smokey. It is normal to burn oil, but 1ltr per month sounds excessive, so the smoke should be noticeable.

Manxman_in_exile

Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »

No, that's not normal. Are you talking about 12 1-litre bottles, one each month?!

Are you sure the garage said it needs a full refill every 1,000 miles, or did you perhaps confuse that with it needing an oil change every 10,000 miles? Even if it's the latter, you still have a problem if you are having to add oil at the rate you are.

I had a 2003 Avensis which was known to have a fault which meant it began to consume oil after about 70,000 miles. Mine started to need topping up regularly after I'd hit 85,000 miles and I was well beyond the age where I could get Toyota to fix it, so I just kept topping up the oil, but not the quantity you are adding, and mine was a 1.8L engine. I would add four litres every six months (about 5,000 miles) or so but the car ran sweetly and returned 60mpg so it was a negligible cost. It effectively had new oil every few months!

We had a similar problem with our 53 plate Avensis back in 2007. Oil light suddenly came on in the middle of nowhere in the Scottish Highlands. Had to keep topping it up with oil everyday for a week to get home. I suspect it was a well known Avensis problem and our dealer took it back and replaced the engine.


(I know - we should have checked the oil more regularly but it cost us nothing to get it fixed. Lesson learned though!)

Aylesbury_Duck

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

We had a similar problem with our 53 plate Avensis back in 2007. Oil light suddenly came on in the middle of nowhere in the Scottish Highlands. Had to keep topping it up with oil everyday for a week to get home. I suspect it was a well known Avensis problem and our dealer took it back and replaced the engine.

Yes, it was a well-documented problem with that family of engines and a lot went through a process to have the engine modified - I think piston rings needed sorting out because oilways got blocked and forced oil past them or something like that. We were well out of time and mileage when our troubles started. Part of the modification was a recalibration of the dipstick to increase the maximum marker. The recommended amount of oil for the sump was too small and the oil overheated, exacerbating the problem. By adding more oil to the engine it helped keep oil temperature a bit lower. One of the DIY fixes the owners club forum recommended was making your own mark on the dipstick and filling to the higher level.

molerat

Google Yaris oil consumption, seems quite usual and an accepted usage rate :eek:

VW used to have an acceptable 1L/1000miles.

sevenhills

molerat wrote: »

Google Yaris oil consumption, seems quite usual and an accepted usage rate :eek:

VW used to have an acceptable 1L/1000miles.

And it may still pass the MOT, the test should be much tighter.

Aylesbury_Duck

sevenhills wrote: »

And it may still pass the MOT, the test should be much tighter.

What's it got to do with the MOT, unless the oil is pouring out somewhere that makes it unsafe?