CarComplaints.com Notes: An increasing number of Toyotas are experiencing excessive oil consumption and the 2007 Camry seems to be leading the charge.
Owners are reporting that their engines are deprived of oil halfway through their maintenance schedules and in some cases the damage is so bad that entirely new engines need to be installed, paid out of pocket. The issue may be a result of defective piston rings.
Toyota has issued a TSB for this problem, but maintains their stance that vehicles equipped with a 2AZ-FE engine are burning through a “normal†amount of oil.
Heard a jackhammer sound under the hood. Immediately drove home dripping oil. Next day there was massive oil under the engine. Towed to Toyota dealer; they replaced the oil hose no charge. They claim no damage due to loss of oil.
Update from Dec 15, 2014: This should be a Recall, not a simple "Service Campaign" (as it was). Otherwise many people will attempt to drive to the Toyota dealer with no oil whatsoever. The engine could seize while driving and who knows what happens after that.
Called dealer and they said no recall went to Toyoya.com and there was a recall....called the number......no recall...no record of a problem.....Last Toyota.......Hello Honda
Sent this letter to Toyota management, no response yet.
<This defect has resulted in catastrophic failure to the engine of our car. Presently our car is inoperable and sitting in our parking lot. We are not in a position to spend money to fix a problem that is clearly due to bad design and inferior parts by Toyota. In doing extensive research on the Internet, we found out this is a known defect with this oil hose. This is clearly the fault of Toyota and not us and many other Toyota customers.
Not only that, we had been bringing this car to your dealership for regular service. Why at some point in time did the dealer not inform us and replace the defective part before it resulted in catastrophic failure of our car’s engine? This problem was unbeknownst to us but certainly was a known issue by Toyota.
Hopeful that Toyota would do the right thing and assess and fix our car at no cost to us, we called Toyota USA. They told us to call our local dealer. We called XXXXX Toyota and spoke to XXXXXXXX . Although sympathetic to our cause, XXXXX told us he was not in a position to help us and we should call Toyota USA. We called Toyota USA again and they told us that since there was no official recall and our car is out of warranty that they would not do anything without us paying. I wrote a letter to the general manager of XXXXXX Toyota, to date we have not received a response. This is totally unacceptable to us. We spent $22,000 on this car which is now worth nothing to us because of poor design and inferior parts. This should be on Toyota to fix on their dime, not ours.
I am aware of some of the issues in recent years that Toyota has had with quality and the spotlight it was shown under in the United States. There appears to be yet another quality issue with Toyota. We are currently being stonewalled by Toyota USA and our local dealership. My posts on Toyota’s Facebook page are now being deleted as Toyota tries to silence us.
I am hopeful that you will be able to assist. I am requesting that Toyota tows our car to the dealership, diagnoses the problem and fixes it at no cost to us. It is the right thing to do. This would be our first option. If Toyota continues to refuse this option, we will be considering all political, social, and legal options at our disposal. We will not rest until we get satisfaction. As we continue to be stonewalled by Toyota, our determination and resolve to get satisfaction will only increase. We will soon be filing a complaint with the NTSB and will be contacting local and national politicians on this matter for them to take action on our behalf and other Toyota owners who are being negatively impacted by this issue and refusal to do what is right by the customer. We are also spreading the word of our story amongst family, friends and the general public on social media. I have been hopeful that Toyota will do the right thing, but our hope is now waning. Please do what is right.
Innocently driving car, heard horrendous noise. Took to dealer and told the VVTI oil line ruptured, basically destroying the engine. Engine not fixable, given quote of $7800 to replace with used engine. Told that a recall letter went out in 2010 about this problem....(I do not recall receiving this). Told that because I did not bring the car in for a recall that Toyota would not be responsible for cost of repair. Needless to say, I am not a happy camper. This will be my last Toyota. Any suggestions?????
- tpacman,
Birmingham, AL, US
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As I parked the car in the garage I noticed a trail of engine oil on my driveway. I looked under the car and there was a puddle of engine oil. The car is now at the dealer's for repairs and I am waiting for the verdict; I am using the computer of Northridge Toyota to report the problem. It appears that Toyota knew about the problem but did not notify the car owners about it.
In addition to the above I also had transmission problems and after three shop calls Toyota replaced the transmission.
I am not happy about the attitude of Toyota Motors not informing car owners about potential problems especially in Southern California where we rely so much on our cars.
I was taking my son's girlfriend home in the evening and when I came back I noticed a big puddle of oil where I had parked my car. I couldn't believe it could come from my car because no warning lights came on. Anyways, I got a flashlight and looked under my car. There was a lot of oil dripping on the ground. Next, I opened the hood and was shocked to see oil all over my engine compartment. What a mess. I called my toyota dealer and told them my problem. The service advisor knew right away what the problem was. He said it was the vvti oil pressure line. He made arrangements for a tow truck to come pick up my car the next day. I was concerned that it could cost me a lot of money to fix because my car was out of warranty for about six months. I was relieved when Toyota picked up the tab for everything. My car was fixed and cleaned up. Thanks Downey Penske Toyota.
Heading out of town on a business trip when all of a sudden smoke comes pouring out. No warning lights. Pulled into a gas station and opened the hood. Oil was sprayed all over the engine compartment and pouring out onto the ground. When the tow truck pulled it out there was a huge pool of oil on the ground.
Had it towed to the nearest dealer. Service writer acted like I was out of my mind. When service tech took a look at it he said he knew exactly what is was. A small hose on the V6 engines fail and oil is pumped out of the engine. They have a tech bulletin on it. No mention of a recall.
No rental car allowed. They didn't even wash the oil off the car!! Not what I expected from Toyota. Lousy service. Next time its going to be a Honda.
I bought my Toyota for its reliability...had Honda before...never not once did I have a problem w/ my Honda. This Camry only had 30,500 miles on it and it is in the shop already. Last night ALL the oil came gushing out of it onto my gargage floor. I called the dealership and they said that there has been a recall on the "VVTI oil pressure line." Apparently it came off??? THey said a RECALL letter went out ...never got it! and I don't believe they ever sent out such a recall.. I really would have been pissed off if this happened to me when I was out of town....does anyone know a good Honda dealership??? Does anyone want to buy a 2007 Camry???
My wife was on her way home from the store when she called me to come outside and help her with some groceries. As I came out and she drove into the garage she said that the engine sounded strange. I listened as she drove in and the valves began knocking and smoke started pouring from under the hood. The engine made a loud noise and stopped. Oil began pouring out from underneath the car at that time. Almost 4 quarts were on my garage floor. I called the dealership first thing in the morning and had to pay for it to be towed there as they do not offer towing. After leaving with them over the weekend, they called me to say that it would be covered through the warranty and that it was an oil line leak for the VVTi system. They told me that the parts were back ordered and that I would not be able to get my car back for a month possibly. They arranged a rental, but not even a Toyota and it is awful. I asked them if there were any known problems with this in other cars and they denied knowing about the issue.
After coming home, I did a little research and found that Toyota has known about this oil line problem in the 2005 Avalon, Lexus ES and RX 350, Sienna, Rav4, and others, but have been quietly fixing them as the problems occur. I feel that this is unprofessional and irresponsible of Toyota and they need to own up to and correct this for all before it ends up causing harm to someone.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Heard a jackhammer sound under the hood. Immediately drove home dripping oil. Next day there was massive oil under the engine. Towed to Toyota dealer; they replaced the oil hose no charge. They claim no damage due to loss of oil.
Update from Dec 15, 2014: This should be a Recall, not a simple "Service Campaign" (as it was). Otherwise many people will attempt to drive to the Toyota dealer with no oil whatsoever. The engine could seize while driving and who knows what happens after that.
- William S., Little Rock, AR, US