On March 2008 I decided to purchase a 5 speed manual 2001 Toyota Celica GT from a third party. After inspecting the vehicle with a certified mechanic I bought it with 98,000 miles. The next day, as Massachusetts law states I went to get the inspection sticker for the vehicle and everything went ok. Also, I decided to do a full check on the car (brakes, oil, filters, etc). However after 4 weeks the car started to make a grinding noise when I would let go of the gas and I also noticed that the red oil light on the dash board would blink for a second when I came to a full stop. Afraid that the car could have an oil leak I went to the shop right away to get a new oil change. At the shop the mechanic immediately checked the engine and told me that it was completely dry. Now how is it possible that this could happen if I had changed the oil just 4 weeks prior? I only drive about 40 miles daily so that's only about 1100 miles! I researched online to see if there was someone else experiencing the same and found many owner's with the exact same problem. I bought Toyota because I thought they were a reliable company and that you could trust the vehicles they make. Sadly in this case that is far from the truth. After requesting quotes from multiple shops I found out that in order to fix the engine the piston rings would need to be replaced. Such work was quoted between $2000 to $3600. I do not plan to spend that amount of money for something that it is not my fault but Toyota's. I can prove that the vehicle was taken care of by the previous owner and that I have taken very good care of it since I bought it. Therefore this oil issue was not caused by my 'lack of maintenance' rather by Toyota's poor engine design. As a professional product engineer I have learned that a device must comply with a series of reliability tests before going to market; and in the case of malfunctions attributed to the manufacturer, they (the manufacturer) must respond accordingly to the public.

- Acton, MA, USA