2015 Camry 4 cyl antienvironmental oil burner

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I just completed my 1,200 mile oil consumption test. I used between 0.8 -0.9 quarts. To qualify to be fixed the vehicle had to use 1 quart or more. I'm using about 7 quarts of oil between oil changes (synthetic 0W20), and Toyota will not fix my car unless I use 8 and one-third quarts between oil changes. I have opened a case with Toyota and have a case number assigned to my vehicle. They know I've owned new four Camry's. They know the number four cylinder has a plug with residue on it which means I have one bad cylinder where most of the oil is being used.

Question 1. What pollution is going out my tail pipe? Toyota says it is just "Natural Clear Gas" but that gas has chemical components that they refuse to discuss.

Question 2: Does Toyota use the same 1,200 mile test in all parts of the country? I'm in Illinois, and we don't do emission tests. What is the oil consumption test Toyota uses in states that do emission testing?

Question 3: How to I get Toyota to do the right thing and fix or replace my Camry?

Question 4: How much in common do Toyota's Oil Consumption test and Volkswagen's environmental cheating beyond both being stupid, arbitrary, and motivated by profits over doing the right thing.

The service manager will not help me. I've complained and challenged him till on my last visit he told me to shut up and get into the customer waiting room. He wasn't talking to me any more. Here is how I'm making myself so unpopular. I was standing in front of my vehicle with the technician, the partner/general manager, the service manager, and the shop manager. The technician unseals the dipstick, pulls it out. We all lean forward to read the stick. The oil is about half way down. I asked the technician how much oil it had used, "half a quart" was the answer. All the people nodded in agreement. I ask, "How much oil between the full mark and the fill mark, "one quart." Everyone nodded in agreement. "Nope, that's 1.6 quarts between those two marks on the dipstick and it has used about 0.8-0.9 quarts," I stated. Everyone is shaking their heads from side to side. "Don't trust me, just pull the owner's manual out of the glove box and check it yourself." The partner/general manager said he was going to check it.
 
Originally Posted By: WayneandAnna
I asked the technician how much oil it had used, "half a quart" was the answer. All the people nodded in agreement. I ask, "How much oil between the full mark and the fill mark, "one quart." Everyone nodded in agreement. "Nope, that's 1.6 quarts between those two marks on the dipstick and it has used about 0.8-0.9 quarts," I stated. Everyone is shaking their heads from side to side. "Don't trust me, just pull the owner's manual out of the glove box and check it yourself." The partner/general manager said he was going to check it.


I thought it was a quart as well from the low to full marks on the dipstick. I'm surprised you didn't pull out the owners manual right then and there to show him. They probably didn't like how you asked the question when you already knew the answer.
 
Just remove enough oil from the vehicle at the next "test".

Or move up to xw30.
 
Try using some semi-synthetic 0W-20 or 5W-20. Maybe even a run of 5W-20 dino. It may help the rings seat better. At this point it can't hurt.
 
I would trust that guy as far as i could throw him.

Have your lawyer standing next to you in 6 months. Or trade it in and buy another one.

And drain the OIL and get EXACT ounces.
 
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Hmmm, interesting posts from another thread:

Originally Posted By: WayneandAnna
I've a new 2015 Camry, 4 cylinder, that uses oil. My brother says the vehicle will use less oil as the oil gets dirty, and the particles in the oil help seal the rings. My son says the vehicle will use more oil as the viscosity thins as the oil gets more miles on it. Who is right?


Originally Posted By: WayneandAnna
I've used a little over 5 quarts in the first 12,500 miles. The usage rate is double in hills and mountains as on flat ground here in Illinois. The last 1,200 mile test was screwed up, so we're redoing it.


Originally Posted By: WayneandAnna
The service manager gets hot under the collar when I try to extrapolate the short term oil usage to what the engine will likely use between oil changes -- 10,000 miles. If fact, he's so mad at me asking questions that I keep thinking he'll have a heart attack while I'm talking to him. I think the engine will use more oil as the oil gets dirty. My son agrees and my brother doesn't. Both or better mechanics than me.


Originally Posted By: WayneandAnna
My gas mileage is 32 mpg. The sticker said I should get 35 mpg.

Any thoughts or advice?
 
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Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Get 2 different dipsticks and......


The dealer seals everything up to prevent tampering.
 
For what it's worth, most auto manufacturers use the "1 quart per 1000 mile" threshold when it comes to oil consumption problems, not just Toyota. If the car is consuming less than 1 quart per 1000 miles, they're not going to do anything about it.

As far as emissions goes, even if it's burning oil, it'll probably still be way under the state's allowable emissions levels. Many states just do an OBD-2 test for emissions anyway. They don't actually "sniff" the exhaust and analyze what's coming out of it. They just plug the machine into the car's computer. As long as the car's computer says "Everything's working fine," the car passes emissions.
 
Uses that much???

There's LOADS of people that never check oil between changes.

Just think how many of those cars that drive around on LOW oil!!!
 
I have a new 2015 Camry 4cyl. My oil is a little low. About 1/5 of the way down from full with 4500 miles on it. I'm also getting about 32 mpg highway instead of 35 but I drive faster than what I assume they measure highway mileage at.
 
Nobody is bashing Toyota for this? I wonder if instead of that Camry was a 3 series or a god forbid Fiat oil burner..

OP, you are in a difficult situation here. It's reasonable to except when buying a new car that it shouldn't burn that much oil. If you can turn the car back, and get another one it would be best for you.
Personally, I wouldn't let them to try to fix it. I'd rather switch to 30 grade oil and hoped that consumption slower down.
 
You could drive around at in lower gears for the next test period. Staying between 3-4krpm on the highway won't hurt anything but fuel mileage. Leave it in 2nd around town to get lots of vacuum going when decelerating.
 
Originally Posted By: satinsilver
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Get 2 different dipsticks and......


The dealer seals everything up to prevent tampering.


Well, you could run at a lower gear at highway to run at higher rpm, as well as downshift for engine braking. This should create a bigger vacuum and therefore burn more oil to push through the threshold.
 
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Do they seal up EVERYTHING, or just the dipstick? I would see if I could unscrew the oil filter and reinstall it. A good half quart or so should spill out as soon you remove the filter.
 
I think this all comes down to how the engine is broken in. You've gotta seat those rings which means lots of pedal and highish revs.


At this point if you want that engine to fail this test I suggest driving it hard with lots of high rpm for that 1000 miles. Sure it's going to burn more fuel but it's also going to burn more oil.
This means trying to maintain 4000 rpm or more when driving down the highways. And use the gears to slow yourself down so the engine has a lot of vacuum on deceleration. It'll burn more oil for sure.
If you want a new engine you gotta make it fail and the only way to guarantee that is to drive it hard.
They aren't going into the ecu to monitor how the car was driven.

You'll never get a new car out of them but they might re-ring your engine. If they do I suggest you look up motoman on google and follow his engine break in instructions to the letter.
 
I don't like the fact that a new car burns this much oil.
However our GM trucks and cars in the late 70's-80's burned one qt. per 1000 miles and all lasted so long that the suspension and body rotted out. However I was very vigilant in changing and checking the oil of the fleet.

That said my sympathy is lost when people complain about their mpg
versus the EPA sticker. Ninety percent of the people on the road drive like crazy idiots and thus there mpg suffers. When you push things this far people don't want to help you.
 
They probably didn't like how you asked the question when you already knew the answer. [/quote]

The reason I did this was that they put on a previous invoice that the vehicle had used a "Half Quart" because they had read the dipstick. I wanted to see if they knew what they were talking about. They didn't.
 
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