8.3

pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
No data
Average Mileage:
118,950 miles
Total Complaints:
6 complaints

Most Common Solutions:

  1. not sure (6 reports)
2012 Toyota Prius engine problems

engine problem

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2012 Toyota Prius Owner Comments

problem #6

May 022022

Prius

  • Automatic transmission
  • 100,704 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The car has has excessive burning of oil for several years. The dealer has said it was normal for these cars. I recently learned that there is a TSB for this problem. Dealer would only offer me a free top off of fuel when needed.

- estafford, Newbury Park, US

problem #5

Apr 062021

Prius V

  • Automatic transmission
  • 143,680 miles

I think Toyota needs to do a better job of standing behind their O rings!

- Steven P., Ankeny, US

problem #4

Aug 152019

Prius

  • Automatic transmission
  • 133,878 miles

Bought this car brand new and always perform maintenance on time. This has happened twice now and it is getting worse between oil changes. I keep my cars for a long time but if they don’t fix this I will have to get another car. I have a 2005 Camry with 189,000 and have never had a problem.

- Brian F., Hallsville, US

problem #3

Sep 012018

Prius V4

  • Automatic transmission
  • 110,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

After about 110000 miles my Prius 3 start using excessive oil. I found that there is thousands that have this issue. Is there anything that can be done?

- Denzil B., Coal City, US

problem #2

Nov 062017

Prius Prius 4 1.8L Dohc 16v Vvt-I 4-Cy

  • Automatic transmission
  • 140,421 miles

I took the car in to Toyota to find out why it was going through so much oil. They did an oil dye test to see what was happening. The cost was $71. They said there was not problem. They said I should make sure I get my oil changed on a regular basis, WHICH I DO!!!!! Then I hear on TV that Prius's are burning oil about 2 weeks ago. Then I look on line that sure enough they are burning oil. I was driving yesterday and turned and the oil light came on!!! I had car in on Feb. 21st it is April 1 and the oil lift is coming on!!!

- Dani K. M., New Glarus, WI, US

problem #1

May 252016

Prius 1.8L 4 Cyclinder

  • Automatic transmission
  • 84,901 miles

Had an 85,000 mile servicing with a green check mark on the engine oil. About 2000 miles after this 85,000 mile servicing a check engine light came on. After a quick check found NO oil on the engine dipstick. Took 3 1/2 qts of oil to fill. Brought this to the service departments attention at the 90,000 mile servicing. They ran diagnostics and of course found no codes saved in history. In their (what I now know as famous) state of denial they added to their comments being a possible leak but of course unable to determine & excessive oil spillage under the hood.There were no leaks or excessive oil. I started checking for leaks immediately after discovering this problem. Then I questioned about the service tech who gave me a green check mark on the engine oil at the 85,000 mile servicing. Of course that tech didn't work there anymore and they could only go by the paper records. This was also the time I was introduced to their (Toyota's) definition of excess oil consumption as being 1 qt in 1200 miles. Becoming aware that I needed to inspect my car before and after each servicing I found at that time the oil consumption was about 1 qt in 2000 miles under normal driving conditions which includes quite a bit of time on electric drive. After the 105,000 mile servicing I went on a 2000 mile trip and into hilly areas where the engine was worked harder than normal. On this trip I went through 2 1/2 qts in the 2000 mile trip which over qualifies for their definition. I talked to the head of this service department after this. He agreed I shouldn't be having these kinds of oil consumption issues and we agreed to set up an oil consumption test. Well surprise surprise the test didn't meet the excess oil consumption standard SO I didn't have a problem. I'm sure if we set up the test again and I pounded out 1200 hard and hilly highway miles I could meet that definition of excess oil consumption. ( neither convenient or practical) I did file a complaint with corporate Toyota customer service but after talking to that bozo (who was in that same famous state of denial) I was told that of course if I did meet the definition of excess oil consumption in the future - Because this engine was not under warranty any longer any repairs would be at my expense. At the 85,000 mile interval where this showed up the car still was under extended warranty coverage. After going through this and running into this Denial status on many different fronts led me to post this complaint here. I also changed my opinion on that service tech that did my 85,000 mile check. I thought that he might have had some responsibility on this issue but now I have to wonder if he realized there was a problem here and didn't want to give me a green check on the engine oil but wasn't allowed to and maybe that's why he wasn't working there anymore. Hope this does some good for someone.

- buchhom, Plover, US

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