As do many of these older Camrys, mine started burning oil... there was not a leak - the bottom of car is clean, but it's burning about a quart per 750 miles. I noticed the problem at about 190K miles. Mechanic said replacing the engine was the only fix and not worth doing on this age car. Rate of consumption was a little unpredictable, so had to keep checking weekly. Full synthetic oil. He suggested using a slightly thicker oil to slow down the leak. Also said we could try an oil treatment but that it might not work... unfortunately before we did that the car got hit and due to age insurance totalled it. sad. But at least it held its value well enough that I could find something to replace it. Loved my Camry Hybrid, but debating a Corolla as there are more of those available on the used market and gas mileage is almost as good as my older Camry Hybrid.

This problem occurred when I was on a needed family vacation; I have had the vehicle serviced at dealerships since I purchased it (we would joke at the dealership with the possibility that the car would get over 400,000 miles). This has made me put off other bills, put in a situation that bills are now behind and I have had to look for other employment. This car gave me no problems before - and this issues has me wondering about the credibility of manufactures.

I purchased this vehicle with 20 miles on it - as a student in North Carolina traveling back and forth to New Jersey - it was a tremendous help. Gas mileage, affordability and dependable - it met all of my needs. There was no indication that this vehicle would go out or the extent of the problems. This vehicle was never towed into shops, it never needed extended time period for repair and the largest problems were tires and brakes (an ideal vehicle).

When on this faithful trip the problem went from simple to complex quickly. There was no indication that the oil was out (there were no signs when stopping the vehicle, the oil pressure gauge reported normal and there was still sufficient power in the engine). It started out as a simple issue, then a scratching sound and a dragging noise. In under 30 minutes a summer trip became a disaster - the vehicle motor had seized and stopped running. The time period that this happened and the location (it was the Chesapeake Bay Bridge at 10:00 pm). This issue has cause a financial strain, anxiety and questioning manufactures normally reliability.

About one year ago at around 100K miles, car starting consuming one quart of oil between oil changes (oil change every 5K miles). Recently the car is now using up to 2 to 3 quarts of oil between oil changes (car now has ~120K miles). I have to add about 1 quart of oil every month. There is no oil leaking below the car. Other than the high oil consumption, no other significant problems with the car. I'm very worried that I will have to start adding oil every week so as not to run the engine dry. Even when the oil level has been extremely low, I've never gotten a low oil pressure alarm - weird. Not sure how to fix the problem.

I have been noticing my car burning excessive oil for over a year. I did not know that it was a Toyota wide issue. I have been taking my car in to various car maintenance places for oil changes and mentioning the problem but no one told me there was a technical service bulletin issued regarding this problem. I do not take my car to the Toyota dealer for general maintenance because it is too expensive and not convenient. A friend of mine found there was an issue and a warranty enhancement and also this website. I have called a local Toyota service department but they said that I am within the warranty buy years (less than 10 years) but over my miles (154,000). They suggested I call the Toyota motor company directly. I called them on June 15, 2017. They will not repair it since my car is over the mileage coverage of 150,000. I told them that I never received a letter for the warranty enhancement. The lady I spoke to could not tell me when the letter was sent out or to what address it was sent. She also made a comment that I do not bring my car into Toyota to get serviced. .

Today 7/12/2017 I called again. I told them that I had taken my car to Toyota numerous times and I was never told of this issue. She said that I wouldn't have been told unless I had noticed it and told them. I should have asked her then why was there a letter allegedly sent then but they didn't tell me at the Toyota service department . My car is burning a quart of oil a week. They refuse to fix it. I asked to speak to her supervisor. I am scheduled to receive a call back within a day.

At the last regular maintenance appointment the mechanic said that there was less than a quart of oil in the motor, and that I should report this to Toyota, and may need to consider having the engine rebuilt. He said that this is a known issue with this year Toyota Camry Hybrid, and is related to the installation of defective piston rings at the time of manufacture.

This 2009 Camry Hybrid has been serviced regularly (5000 mile intervals) by expert Toyota mechanics since new. Prior to this, the car has never consumed oil, had any significant issues, and has never been abused. The majority of the miles on this car have been accumulated on major highways at relatively constant speeds. My previous two vehicles (both Honda Accords) went well past 200,000 miles before I sold them, with no issues.

An auto technician told me this is a very common problem (in fact Honda has a recall for the exact same issue) due to the oil viscosity being too thin and allowing the heat to build up. He indicated that (and bear with me here, I'm no mechanic, so some of what I describe is in layman's terms) there are rings around the piston heads that sit in a groove....these rings are supposed to be able to expand and contract. When they expand appropriately, this keeps the engine from burning too much oil by not allowing it to pass the piston head. However, due to overheat, these rings seize in the groove, thus not allowing for appropriate expansion; therefore, allowing excess oil to bypass the piston head and "consumed" (burned up) by the engine (excessive oil use). He recommended changing to a different oil viscosity (i.e. 5W20, etc.).

My 2009 Toyota Camry Hybrid started using an alarming amount of oil earlier this year, after we hit about 85,000 miles. When it got to the point where I had to run the car over to Jiffy Lube between oil changes to add oil, I took it to the dealer. They changed the oil (for which they charged me $90) and started their "engine oil consumption test" and told me to return with the car in 1,100 to 1,300 miles. Well, I checked the oil dipstick after just 3 weeks and found the oil level was down by half.

I called the dealer in a panic and was told not to add oil or touch the dipstick again until the 1,300 miles ran out, even if the car oil light came on or the engine froze up. The service manager told me that if the engine froze up, Toyota would tow the car to the dealership for me and replace the engine. This is crazy. I don't have any such promise in writing from Toyota, and in any event, my extended warranty expressly says that "in the event of a mechanical failure, You must take immediate action to protect the vehicle from further damage." I don't know what to do.

Now that I've taken the car to the dealer for this problem, an entry has been added to its service record (which shows up on Carfax) reflecting that I had the car tested for excessive oil consumption. So I can't sell my car for what it should be worth. And from what I'm reading here, I can't get it repaired by Toyota, either, unless the oil over consumption is extreme enough to damage the engine. Toyota should not get away with this.

I just paid off the car and have both a Warranty Enhancement (for "replacement of parts related to Excessive Engine Oil Consumption") and a platinum extended warranty to 100,000 miles, but I don't think either is going to do me any good here.